Does Your Society File Tax Returns?

Reva Tisdale, CPM
Reva.Tisdale@tax.idaho.gov

Is your society a 501(c) organization? If you are, this means you have requested and received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). There are many different types of 501(c) organizations. For example, religious organizations are under section 501(c)(3) and business leagues are under 501(c)(6). The Academy and most state societies were formed as 501(c)(6) organizations.

Prior to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, tax-exempt organizations with annual receipts of $25,000 or less were not required to file an income tax return (Form 990). The Pension Protection Act of 2006 calls for all tax-exempt organizations to file annual returns by May 15 regardless the dollar amount of their annual receipts. If they failed to file for three years, their tax-exempt status would automatically be terminated. Since 2009 returns would have been the third year, the IRS sent many media alerts during the first two weeks in May.

If you did not know you had to file, however, all is not lost. IRS commissioner, Doug Shulman, has announced that the IRS will soon release guidance on how entities that missed the deadline can maintain their tax exemption. More information is available at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=222668,00.html.

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