- IRS Publishes Guidance Regarding Community Health Needs Assessment.
On July 25, 2011, the IRS published guidance, Notice 2011-52, describing provisions anticipated to be included in future regulations with respect to the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) requirement, applicable to tax-exempt hospital organizations, set forth in Section 501(r)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted earlier this year. The CHNA requirements will be effective for taxable years beginning after March 23, 2012. The Notice describes anticipated regulations regarding (1) hospital organizations subject to the CHNA requirements, (2) hospital organizations with more than one hospital facility, (3) documenting a CHNA, (4) the manner and timing in which a CHNA is conducted, (5) the community served by a hospital facility, (6) persons representing the broad interests of the community, (7) the requirement to make a CHNA publicly available, (8) adoption of an implementation strategy, (9) excise taxes for failure to meet the CHNA requirements, (10) CHNA reporting requirements, and (11) effective dates. The notice also solicits comments from the public regarding the scope of the CHNA requirement. The notice may be found at www.irs.gov.
- IRS Releases New Form 8940 for Miscellaneous Determination Requests.
The IRS released new Form 8940 in order for tax-exempt organizations to request certain advance determinations. The form may be used to request (1) advance approval for certain private foundation set-asides, voter registration activities, and scholarship procedures, (2) advance determination of unusual grants, (3) exemption from Form 990 filing requirements, (4) initial determination of or change in type of supporting organization, (5) reclassification of foundation status, and (6) and certain terminations of private foundation status. Further information may be found at www.irs.gov/charities/.
- GuideStar Releases Free Report Defining Rules of Nonprofit Executive Compensation.
GuideStar has released a new report regarding nonprofit executive compensation. The report covers such topics as IRS rules on compensation of executives at tax-exempt organizations, the types of data on which executive compensation should be based, and ways nonprofit professionals and board members can mitigate risk through their compensation practices. The report may be downloaded at www2.guidestar.org.
- Final Regulations Implementing Redesigned Form 990 Released by Treasury.
The Department of the Treasury has issued final regulations, effective September 8, 2011, to implement the redesigned Form 990. The revisions include a new threshold amount for reporting compensation, a requirement to report compensation on a calendar year basis, modification of the scope of organizations subject to certain information reporting requirements, and alteration in the public support computation period. The final regulations eliminate the advance ruling process for new organizations. These regulations apply to all tax-exempt organizations required to file annual information returns.
