Treasury just released the 2011—2012 Priority Guidance Plan. The Plan lists 317 projects that are priorities for Treasury resources through June 2012. Included in these projects are 13 projects directly related to Exempt Organizations. Many of the other projects such as the 66 employee benefits, executive compensation and employment taxes projects may affect Exempt Organizations.
Among the projects directly relating to Exempt Organizations are:
- Updating grantor and contributor reliance criteria;
- Regulations on additional requirements for charitable hospitals;
- Final regulations on the new supporting organization requirements;
- Update on guidance for distributions by private foundation to foreign charities;
- Guidance on excess business holdings and program-related investments rules;
- Regulations on new donor advised funds rules; and
- Final regulations on church tax inquiries and examinations.
Treasury also released final regulations under various Code Sections to implement the redesigned Form 990 . According to Treasury "All tax-exempt organizations required to file [990s] are affected by these regulations."
The final regulations:
- allow for new threshold amounts for reporting compensation;
- require reporting on a calendar year basis;
- modify the scope of organizations subject to reporting upon a substantial contraction;
- eliminate the advance ruling process;
- change the public support computation to five year; and
- clarify that support must be reported using the organization's overall method of accounting.
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