The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes

The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes: When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that it was going to start auditing 403(b) plans for the 2009 tax year, the notification received scant attention. After all, it’s pretty common for the IRS to start up a new audit cycle several years after the close of a particular tax year.

This time, however, things might be a bit different. That’s because the IRS gave nonprofits until December 31, 2009 to comply with the new regulations on plan documentation that it issued in 2007. At the time, some nonprofit managers took a close look at their plans, others just assumed they were in compliance, even if they purchased a packaged plan and didn’t hear anything from the plan provider.

The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes

The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes: When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that it was going to start auditing 403(b) plans for the 2009 tax year, the notification received scant attention. After all, it’s pretty common for the IRS to start up a new audit cycle several years after the close of a particular tax year.

This time, however, things might be a bit different. That’s because the IRS gave nonprofits until December 31, 2009 to comply with the new regulations on plan documentation that it issued in 2007. At the time, some nonprofit managers took a close look at their plans, others just assumed they were in compliance, even if they purchased a packaged plan and didn’t hear anything from the plan provider.

The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes

The IRS Starting Its 403(b) Plan Audits - TheNonProfitTimes: When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that it was going to start auditing 403(b) plans for the 2009 tax year, the notification received scant attention. After all, it’s pretty common for the IRS to start up a new audit cycle several years after the close of a particular tax year.

This time, however, things might be a bit different. That’s because the IRS gave nonprofits until December 31, 2009 to comply with the new regulations on plan documentation that it issued in 2007. At the time, some nonprofit managers took a close look at their plans, others just assumed they were in compliance, even if they purchased a packaged plan and didn’t hear anything from the plan provider.

NCCF helps officials to innovate philanthropic donations - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer

NCCF helps officials to innovate philanthropic donations - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer: he meetings are part of an annual effort, Foundations on the Hill (FOTH), attended by more than 200 community, private, and corporate foundation grantmaking representatives from across the country. These individuals traveled to the nation's capital to communicate philanthropy's value to federal lawmakers-and to show how the sector is using its financial resources to provide innovative solutions to some of the nation's most pressing social problems and helping communities recover from the recent economic downturn.

Wealthy are giving to near-dormant charities to avoid tax, PM spokesman says

Wealthy are giving to near-dormant charities to avoid tax, PM spokesman says: Statement comes in the face of mounting criticism of the proposed cap on tax relief for large donations

Wealthy individuals are avoiding tax by giving to charities that do little charitable work, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said yesterday.

He was speaking in defence of a Budget decision that, from April 2013, tax relief will be given only on donations that, including Gift Aid, are under �50,000 or 25 per cent of a person’s income, whichever is higher.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said that some individuals were exploiting the reliefs to reduce their tax burden.

New Publication on Tax on Unrelated Business Income of Exempt Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center

New Publication on Tax on Unrelated Business Income of Exempt Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center: The IRS has released Publication 598, Tax on Unrelated Business Income of Exempt Organizations, in which it describes which organizations are subject to the tax, return filing requirements, what an unrelated trade or business is, and how to calculate unrelated business taxable income.

Idaho Eyes Limits on Vanity Plates to Benefit Nonprofits - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Idaho Eyes Limits on Vanity Plates to Benefit Nonprofits - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: n the ongoing debate over vanity license plates that benefit designated nonprofits, Idaho could step out among the various states by putting at least a tiny restriction on these specialty plates. The NPQ Newswire has regularly covered the proliferation of states issuing these plates (for example, see reports from South Carolina, Indiana, Arizona and Texas) for religious organizations and sometimes ideologically motivated nonprofits. The plates raise issues (for us and others) about using the state government’s imprimatur for private interests, including religious organizations and, in at least one case (Arizona), a political movement (the Tea Party).

Giving Summit 'in danger' unless cap on tax relief for major donors withdrawn, sector figures warn

Giving Summit 'in danger' unless cap on tax relief for major donors withdrawn, sector figures warn: Sir Stephen Bubb of Acevo says the measure, announced in the Budget, undermines next month's summit on philanthropy

The government’s Giving Summit in May is "in danger" unless the government withdraws a proposed cap on tax relief for major donors, charity representatives have warned.

'Give it back George' gift aid campaign gains momentum - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits

'Give it back George' gift aid campaign gains momentum - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: A CAF and NCVO-led campaign calling on the Chancellor to exempt charitable donations from a cap on personal tax reliefs has gained over 340 official supporters, including 171 organisations.

Sector bodies demand meeting with Chancellor over tax relief cap - Civil Society - Finance - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits

Sector bodies demand meeting with Chancellor over tax relief cap - Civil Society - Finance - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: The leaders of six of the sector’s representative bodies fired off a joint letter to the Chancellor yesterday requesting a meeting to discuss the impact on charities of the cap on tax reliefs announced in Wednesday’s Budget.

The letter, signed by the heads of NCVO, Acevo, Charity Tax Group, the Institute of Fundraising, Charity Finance Group and Charities Aid Foundation, warns of the “unintended conseq

Budget 2012: Charities relegated by Chancellor, says charity finance leader | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional

Budget 2012: Charities relegated by Chancellor, says charity finance leader | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional: This year, unlike the last which saw the announcement of a number of charity-specific provisions, the Chancellor's speech delivered only a fleeting reference to the sector. So has our political capital diminished as 'big society' slips further down the agenda? One could be forgiven for thinking so.

Closure of NZ Charities Commission is 'against the flow' of regulation worldwide - Civil Society - Governance - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits

Closure of NZ Charities Commission is 'against the flow' of regulation worldwide - Civil Society - Governance - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: Former director of charity services at the UK Charity Commission David Locke says the imminent closure of the New Zealand Charities Commission is "against the flow" of charity regulation throughout the world.

Locke is currently living in Australia and working as part of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) implementation taskforce, responsible for seeing in the new regulator in the country.

Charity law 'vital' for sector to grow|2012 NPC and CPPCC|chinadaily.com.cn

Charity law 'vital' for sector to grow|2012 NPC and CPPCC|chinadaily.com.cn: China should speed up legislation on the charity sector to ensure that more grassroots organizations can gain legal status and charity fraud is outlawed, top lawmakers and political advisers have proposed.

“Noncontroversial” New Orleans Compensation Proposal Seems Controversial - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

“Noncontroversial” New Orleans Compensation Proposal Seems Controversial - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: The phenomenon of public officials using 501(c)(3) public charities to raise and distribute off-budget funding to supplement funds available for government functions is increasingly common. In New Orleans, La., Mayor Mitch Landrieu hired Charles Brown, the former library director of Charlotte, N.C., at a seemingly reasonable salary of $139,000. However, last November, when the deal with Brown was consummated, city government officials refused to comment on whether there had been any sweeteners added to the package to get Brown. One of the sweeteners that was not discussed was the possibility that non-governmental charities had added to Brown’s compensation. According to the Times-Picayune, state law does not allow public officials to receive compensation for their public duties from outside, non-govermental organizations such as the Library Foundation

U.S. should not reduce the rich's tax incentive to give to charity | NJ.com

U.S. should not reduce the rich's tax incentive to give to charity | NJ.com: I understand the president’s ongoing objective here: He is attempting to level the playing field such that individuals and families of all income levels can give to charity and receive equitable tax benefits. Although equity is a laudable goal in other areas, shouldn’t the objective of philanthropy instead be to maximize revenue paid to the social sector, thereby better capitalizing charitable organizations that seek to help our society’s most vulnerable?

Instead of reducing the tax incentives (or any incentives) of charitable giving, every effort should be made to incentivize wealthy Americans — those who can afford to give generously — to continue donating to tax-exempt organizations of their choice, especially those charities providing services to the needy.