Form 1023 Paper Submission Transition Period Expires April 30

As of January 31, 2020, organizations are required to submit Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, electronically online at Pay.gov. The IRS provided a 90-day transition period during which time applicants can continue to submit paper Form 1023 applications. The transition period expires April 30, 2020. The IRS will not accept paper Form 1023 applications postmarked after that date.

The user fee for Form 1023 remains at $600 for 2020. Applicants must pay the user fee through Pay.gov when submitting the form. Payment can be made directly from a bank account or by credit/debit card.

Updated information on Signing Electronically Submitted Form 1023 

An applicant may satisfy the electronic signature requirement for an electronically submitted Form 1023 by including, in the PDF file it uploads as part of its application, a

Last month, the IRS announced that certain taxpayers generally have until July 15, 2020, to file and pay federal income taxes originally due on April 15. The IRS has extended this relief to additional returns, tax payments and other actions. As a result, the extensions generally now apply to all taxpayers that have a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. The extensions apply to many forms and tax payments made by tax-exempt organizations, including:

• Form 990-series annual information returns or notices (Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-BL, 990-N (e-postcard))
• Forms 8871 and 8872
• Form 5227
• Form 990-T
• Form 1120-POL
• Form 4720
• Form 8976

See Notice 2020-23 and Rev. Proc. 2018-58 for more information, including a complete list of affected forms, tax payments and other time-sensitive actions.

IRS operations during COVID-19: mission-critical functions continue

In response to the

Notice 2020-20; Federal income tax filing and payment relief on account of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. This notice provides relief in addition to the relief provided in Notice 2020-18, issued on March 20, 2020. In this notice, the Treasury Department and IRS are providing relief to all taxpayers who have Federal gift (and generation-skipping transfer) tax returns and payments due on April 15, 2020. The April 15, 2020 deadline is postponed to July 15, 2020. Associated interest, additions to tax, and penalties for late filing or late payment will be suspended until July 15, 2020.

Notice 2020-20 will be in IRB 2020-16, dated April 13, 2020.

Tax Exempt and Government Entities Fiscal Year 2019 Accomplishments Letter

Highlights of our accomplishments during FY 2019, all of which support the goals of the IRS Strategic Plan for 2018-2022, include:

• Expanded the use of Pay.gov to make payments easier
• Expanded Employee Plans’ (EP’s) self-correction and voluntary correction programs to improve voluntary compliance
• Expanded the EP determination letter program to encourage compliance
• Expanded educational efforts, soft letters and compliance checks to increase voluntary compliance
• Released additional educational videos and articles and participated in many outreach events to empower taxpayers and encourage compliance

You can also review the TE/GE Fiscal Year 2020 Program Letter, which explains our priorities for the current fiscal year.

Employers are looking for ways to assist employees and their dependents experiencing financial hardship due to the Coronavirus. One potential tax-advantaged method is the use of an existing or newly formed employer-sponsored foundation which qualifies for exemption under Section 501(c)(3).

Under established IRS guidance set forth in Publication 3833, an employer-sponsored foundation may operate a fund which provides financial assistance to employees who experience financial hardship due to a qualifying event, including certain federally declared disasters or emergencies which now include circumstances resulting from the Coronavirus. If the conditions below are satisfied, persons (including the employer and other employees) making donations to the foundation are entitled to a charitable deduction under Section 170 of the Code and financial relief payments made to employees are not included in taxable compensation:

The IRS is revising Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and its instructions, to help charities apply for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Effective January 31, 2020, applications for recognition of exemption on Form 1023 must be submitted electronically online at www.pay.gov. The IRS will provide a grace period during which it will continue to accept paper versions of Form 1023 (Rev. 12-2017).

The user fee for Form 1023 will remain $600 for 2020. Applicants must pay the user fee through www.pay.gov when submitting the form. Payment can be made directly from a bank account or by credit/debit card.

IRS News Release on the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act provisions

The following provisions may apply to tax-exempt organizations’ current and previous tax years:

• Retroactive Repeal of Unrelated Business Taxable Income – Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits aka