The New England Not-For-Profit Accounting Advisor

On March 27, 2020 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) extended the mandatory 403(b) plan document restatement deadline from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020 due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. All organizations that sponsor 403(b) retirement plans must restate their plan documents by this new date using either the IRS’s pre-approved document or an individually designed plan document.

Not-for-profit organizations have an opportunity during the restatement period to align their retirement plan procedures with their written plan documents to help ensure that their retirement plans are following best practices. Changes may need to be made to the operations of the plan, the provisions in the plan documents, or both. The following can help organizations with their review process.

Topics: not-for-profit, IRS, 403(b), NFP, nonprofit, 403(b) Plan Document Restatement, Department of Labor, DOL, Internal Revenue Service, COVID-19, extension, deadline

With only a few months left, the countdown to the mandatory 403(b) plan document restatement deadline is officially underway. All organizations that sponsor 403(b) retirement plans must restate their plan documents by March 31, 2020, using either the IRS’s pre-approved document or an individually designed plan document.

Topics: not-for-profit, IRS, 403(b), NFP, 403(b) Plan Document Restatement

Alternative investments offer attractive features for employee benefit plan sponsors. Investments in real estate, businesses, and partnerships tend to yield higher rates of return when compared to traditional investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. But those alternative investments could also come with tax consequences. Plan sponsors may not be aware that their plan investments are generating unrelated business taxable income (UBTI), which could lead to compliance issues.

Topics: tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, UBTI, unrelated business taxable income, NFP, nonprofit, UBIT, Lisa Burke

Not-for-profit organizations have a long-standing debate with regulators about whether revenue generated by certain organizational activities should be taxable. In the 1940s and the 1950s, the IRS noticed that more and more not-for-profits were reporting non-charitable business income alongside their charitable revenues. These organizations were applying their tax exemption to revenues that would otherwise be taxable as corporate business income. There were growing concerns that this created a competitive disadvantage for their for-profit counterparts that were required to pay tax on identical revenue streams.

Topics: tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, UBTI, unrelated business taxable income, NFP, nonprofit, UBIT, Lisa Burke

Recently, the IRS made several changes to the rules related to hardship withdrawals for not-for-profit organizations. The changes may be adopted by plan sponsors as early as Jan. 1, 2019 or, if later, the first day of the plan year beginning after Dec. 31, 2018.

Topics: not-for-profit, IRS, 403(b), NFP, nonprofit, hardship withdrawals

The effective date for the new leasing standard under ASC Topic 842 will be here before you know it. Not-for-profit organizations that issue or are conduit bond holders for securities that are traded, listed, or quoted on an exchange or over-the-counter market begin adoption for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2018 (and interim periods within those fiscal years), and all other organizations must adopt the standard for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2019 (Jun. 30, 2021 financial statements).

Topics: GAAP, tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, NFP, nonprofit, Lease Standards, Leasing, asc topic 842

In the spring, we did a deep dive into the core Form 990 and provided compliance tips for Part I through Part XI. Keeping your supplementary schedules up-to-date is also critical to your compliance. Below are some tips for the Form 990 Schedule A, Schedule R and everything in between. If these schedules are applicable to your organization, the following information can help ensure that you are filing a complete and accurate Form 990 that presents your not-for-profit in the best light and helps avoid IRS scrutiny.

Topics: tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, Form 990, NFP, nonprofit, Lisa Burke, Form 990 Roadmap, Form 990 Schedules

The IRS may be faced with a declining workforce and budget, but it’s still active in monitoring compliance for not-for-profit organizations. In its 2018 work plan, the IRS stressed its data-driven approach to selecting Form 990s to examine. Each filed return is scanned and analyzed on 200 data points. Those meeting certain criteria are flagged for potential exam. Some of those data points include:

Topics: tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, Form 990, Form 990-EZ, NFP, tax effect, Lisa Burke

With the May 15^th due date for calendar year not-for-profits just around the corner and provisions inthe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increasing scrutiny on not-for-profits’ executive compensation, employee benefits, and unrelated business income, it’s a good time to take a look at the message your organization’s tax return is sending. In years past, the IRS Form 990 was no more than a compliance task; an annual filing requirement to keep the IRS at bay. After all, there is no tax due, so what’s the big deal?

Topics: tax-exempt, not-for-profit, IRS, Form 990, Form 990-EZ, NFP, Charity Navigator, GuideStar, tax effect, Amazon Web Services, Lisa Burke

Data-driven analytics are here to stay when it comes to compliance enforcement for not-for-profit organizations. The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities FY2018 Work Plan outlines strategies and approaches that the IRS will use to monitor tax compliance for tax-exempt organizations.

Topics: not-for-profit, IRS, Non-profits, NFP, tax compliance, Betty Isler, tax exempt bonds, NFP Compliance, 2018 IRS Work Plan, tax-exempt organizations, IRS Work Plan