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| [The New] Form 990 (for 2008) |
| This page is going to be an evolving work in process. I will add to the page as I learn new things and develop new materials. There is a lot to do. I will be teaching a day-long course on the New 990 on December 11, 2008 in Portland, Oregon sponsored by TACS - Technical Assistance for Community Services, and three 75-minute sessions on November 19, 2008 in Jackson, Mississippi sponsored by the Mississippi State Society of CPAs. See my home page for details. |
| The Form 990 and instructions are finalized. In June 2007, the IRS released draft forms and instructions and opened them up for comments. I submitted comments as did many others. In December 2007, IRS released final Forms (still marked "draft" but their stated intention is to fix only typos or errors). The have all the forms and instructions and more, here. The also have some basic background and positioning pieces here. Between drafts, they responded to many commenters and removed, thereby de-emphasizing, the first page "dashboard" relying heavily on functional percentages (program / mgt&gen / fundraising), as well as another couple of ratios such as fundraising cost as a % of total gift income. They also moved program service revenue from the back of the form to Page 2. My overall take on the form (with thanks to Gary McGee, CPA of Portland Oregon) is that in most respects it is just an attempt to formalize the information which has always been required but was lost in the "(attach schedule)" in various questions and preparers' failure to look up the instructions and respond completely. Some of you will remember the advent of Schedule B - for many years Form 990 Line 1d said "(attach schedule)" and the schedules were missing or incomplete, so several years ago IRS promulgated Schedule B to force that preparation. That's still true, only now it's way up to more and more schedules. They released draft instructions in March and accepted comments for a couple months, and now the instructions are out, also marked "draft" but the same sated intention to fix only typos or errors). |
| Current Status (9/08): Final 2008 Form Final Instructions (it's time to get busy!) |
| Governance: IRS "crown jewel" |
| Public Support Tests & the Advance Ruling Period: Big changes! |
| Relief: 990-EZ for certain groups for 2008 and 2009 |
| Relief: Delay on Hospital & Bond schedules |
| The Overall Form & Schedules |