More than 3,900 Connecticut organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status can get relief by following newly announced IRS procedures. Small nonprofit organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009 can preserve their status by filing returns by Oct. 15, 2010, under a one-time relief program announced by the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS posted on a special page of IRS.gov the names and last-known addresses of these at-risk organizations, along with guidance about how to come back into compliance. The organizations on the list have return due dates between May 17 and Oct. 15, 2010, but the IRS has no record that they filed the required Form 990 returns for any of the past three years.
The IRS will keep the list of at-risk organizations on IRS.gov until Oct. 15, 2010. Organizations that have not filed the required information returns by that date will have their tax-exempt status revoked, and the IRS will publish a list of these revoked organizations in early 2011. Donors who contribute to at-risk organizations are protected until the final revocation list is published.
If an organization loses its exemption, it will have to reapply with the IRS to regain its tax-exempt status. Any income received by the organization between the revocation date and renewed exemption may be taxable.
For more information about the Form 990 filing process and the list of at-risk organizations by state, go to the IRS.gov website at www.irs.gov .
