Thursday, September 24, 2009

Transparency of Nonprofits Improved with new IRS Form 990


By Carroll Boardway

The dramatic turmoil of our current financial situation has been injected with an ever stronger platform of full transparency. Not to ignore nonprofit organizations, the Internal Revenue Service has recently updated Form 990 to reflect the greatest number of changes in reporting requirements since the 1970s.

Though nonprofits do not pay income taxes on their revenue, they are obligated to report their income annually. In addition to these reports, called 990s, these groups are now faced with the demands required by a deeper look into how the organization operates. Such scrutiny extends from policies of the entity to board configuration and compensation for the executive team, among others. The goal is for the IRS to ensure that all nonprofits have built in safe-guards to promote accountability and protect from corruption, thus giving donors peace of mind when making the decision on which organizations to fund.

Read the rest of the Fort Worth Business Press article here.

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