WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is combating fraud by once again joining organizations around the world to highlight the third annual International Charity Fraud Awareness Week, Oct. 19-23.

International Charity Fraud Awareness Week (ICFAW) brings together everyone involved in the charity and not-for-profit sectors to raise awareness of and share good practices for tackling fraud and cybercrime. This award-winning campaign is led by a coalition of over 40 charities, regulators, law enforcement organizations, representative and umbrella bodies, and other not-for-profit stakeholders.

The IRS is partnering with ICFAW as part of its ongoing commitment to fight fraud against charities, businesses and individuals.

All charities are susceptible to fraud and can be targeted. Those providing services and supporting local communities may be especially vulnerable to fraudsters attempting to exploit the current pandemic or weather-related disasters. More than ever, charities need to be fraud aware and take steps to protect their money,

On July 15, 2020, the IRS issued interim guidance (IG) providing instructions to examiners on how to inform churches of the option to authorize the Service to consider church claims for refund or requests for abatement without following the otherwise applicable procedures of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7611. The IRS generally must follow several procedural steps under Section 7611 before it can commence an inquiry or examination of a church.

Section 7611 and the related regulations permit a church to waive the application of these procedures by submitting a written waiver. Absent a waiver, the IRS follows these procedures even if the church initiated the contact. For example, if the IRS is requesting information to verify and process a church’s claim for refund or request for abatement.

As described in the IG, the IRS developed a voluntary written waiver process to allow more expeditious processing of these claims

Annual filings and tax returns/payments due July 15, 2020

The extended deadline for a variety of information and tax returns and many tax payments is July 15, 2020. If you are unable to meet the July 15 deadline, you may want to review the extension procedures for exempt organization returns and information on the penalties for not filing.

EO user fee changes effective July 1, 2020

Revenue Procedure 2020-5 included user fee changes for certain miscellaneous determination requests submitted on Form 8940 that are effective July 1st.  See Appendix A of Rev. Proc. 2020-5 for a schedule of user fees.

Electronic filing mandate for Forms 990 and 990-PF

Effective for tax years beginning after July 1, 2019, the Taxpayer First Act requires organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(a) to file their annual Form 990 and Form 990-PF returns electronically,

Chambers & Partners has recognized Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in the 2020 edition of Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The publication named 10 Private Client and Family Asset Protection lawyers across the globe as leading lawyers in their field.

 The Chambers High Net Worth Guide ranks the top lawyers and law firms for international private wealth. The guide also recommends leading accountancy firms, private banks, wealth managers, trust companies and other professional advisers to HNW and UHNW clients around the world.

FIRM RANKINGS:

Georgia

Private Wealth Law – Band 2

London (Firms)

Private Wealth Law – Band 3

Missouri

Private Wealth Law – Band 1

Russia

Private Wealth Law – Band 3

RANKED LAWYERS:

Family/Matrimonial: High Net Worth

UK

Elizabeth Hicks – Band 1

Private Wealth Law

GEORGIA

Kimberly Civins – Band 2

Tiffany McKenzie – Up and Coming

LONDON (FIRMS)

Damian Bloom – Band 3

Reshmi

IRS solicits public comments on proposed changes to group exemption letter program; will temporarily stop accepting requests for group exemption letters on June 17, 2020 

Notice 2020-36 contains a proposed revenue procedure that sets forth updated procedures under which recognition of exemption from federal income tax for organizations described in Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code may be obtained on a group basis for subordinate organizations affiliated with and under the general supervision or control of a central organization. The IRS requests comments on all aspects of the proposed revenue procedure, including applicable grandfather and transition rules. Comments should be submitted on or before August 16, 2020.

Pending publication of the final revenue procedure in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, Rev. Proc. 80-27 continues to apply. However, the IRS will not accept any requests for group exemption letters beginning June 17, 2020, until publication of the final revenue procedure

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued final regulations [lnks.gd]clarifying the reporting requirements generally applicable to tax-exempt organizations.

The final regulations reflect statutory amendments and certain grants of reporting relief announced by the Treasury Department and the IRS in prior guidance to help many tax-exempt organizations generally find the reporting requirements in one place.

Among other provisions, the final regulations incorporate the existing exception from having to file an annual return for certain organizations that normally have gross receipts of $50,000 or less.  That exception was previously announced in Revenue Procedure 2011-15. The regulations also provide that the requirement to report contributor names and addresses on annual returns generally applies only to returns filed by Section 501(c)(3) organizations and Section 527 political organizations.  All tax-exempt organizations must continue to maintain the names and addresses of their substantial contributors in their books

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.