Form 990 Redesign

Posted by The Feds on June 26, 2008

Form 990 is one of the most important tax filing reports for a charitable organization. On this form, charities and other non-profits must report the entirety of their fiscal operations. The forms are available to the public for review by investors and prospective contributors. The IRS will be redesigning the form this year, and we’re expecting many questions from the affected organizations.

The Internal Revenue has posted public comments on draft instructions to the 2008 Form 990, the annual return most tax-exempt organizations must use to report information about their operations. The instructions are for the redesigned Form 990 that organizations will file for their 2008 tax year (returns filed in 2009), which was released in final form in December 2007 (IRS News Release IR-2007-2004).

The IRS sought comments from the public on the 2008 Form 990 instructions, in an effort to make sure the final instructions address the needs of the tax-exempt community. The comment period closed on June 1, 2008.

The draft 2008 Form 990 instructions are organized according to a consistent format. There is a general overview of the form or schedule explaining its purpose, an explanation of who must file that particular schedule, and then line-by-line instructions to aid in answering each question on the form or schedule.

The draft instructions also contain a number of new tools designed to make it easier for the organization to answer the questions and to promote more uniform reporting. These tools include a comprehensive glossary of terms; a sequencing list to help organizations determine the order in which to fill out parts of the form; a compensation table to help organizations determine how and where to report items of compensation; and many illustrative examples. These aids were developed in response to comments received last year in connection with the draft Form 990.

June 26, 2008 | Filed Under Filing 

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