The IRS issued the revised Form 990 and Form 990-EZ during the past year. It is effective for 2008 tax years which are filing in 2009. To say that the IRS made a few changes would be an understatement. The IRS completely changed the look of the form and now requires information not previously required. The new Form 990 is 11 pages and has additional schedules that you may be required to complete.

Check it out at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=185561,00.html.

The Form 990EZ is a condensed version of the new Form 990 which is available to taxpayers that fall under a certain threshold. It is 4 pages and has additional schedules that you may be required to complete.

You can check it out at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/f990rez.pdf.

The IRS is allowing organizations time to adjust to the new forms by changing the filing requirements for three years. You will want to see what you are required to file in 2009 and the years following. We are finding some our Form 990 clients have an opportunity to file the Form 990-EZ which reduces the reporting significantly.

You can find the IRS phase in of filing requirements at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=184445,00.html.

What are we recommending?

We are suggesting clients get up to speed on the new information that is now being requested from the IRS. To help our client with this, we are hosting an informational session on January 13th from 8 – 10 am. We encourage you to contact us if you would like to attend. You do not have to be a client. We also suggest that you take a few minutes to watch the IRS’s web-based mini-course on preparing to file the new Form 990.