Transparency, Compliance, and Filing Burden—Principles for the Revised Form 990

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela C. Smith ◽  
Donna J. Shaver
Keyword(s):  
Income Tax ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

ABSTRACT: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has significantly revised Form 990, “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.” The informational return has not been substantively modified in 30 years. The IRS states the redesign of the return was based on three guiding principles: (1) enhancing transparency, (2) promoting tax compliance, and (3) minimizing the burden on the filing organization. This paper outlines the historical context of legislative changes concerning transparency and accountability within the tax exempt sector. It also outlines the major revisions to Form 990 and argues that they meet the underlying goals established by the IRS to enhance the overall accountability within the sector.

The Internal Revenue Code and Religious Institutions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward A. Zelinsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Payroll Taxes ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Unrelated Business

This chapter examines the Internal Revenue Code’s treatment of religious entities. The federal tax statute embodies three diverse approaches to taxing and exempting sectarian organizations and activities. Some provisions of the Code—the charitable deduction, the general income tax exemption for eleemosynary institutions, the federal unemployment tax—exempt religious entities and other charitable, educational, and philanthropic institutions. Other provisions of the Code narrowly target churches for tax exemption. For example, the Code relieves churches of filing requirements with which nonchurch religious entities and other eleemosynary organizations must comply. Similarly, churches’ retirement plans receive lenient treatment under the Code. Churches receive procedural protections from IRS audits.Yet other provisions of the Code tax churches as for secular entities. Churches generally pay FICA taxes—Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes—on the compensation paid to nonclerical employees. These payroll taxes can be considerable. Churches also pay federal income taxes on their unrelated business incomes.

Useless/redundant/unread information returns and protective filings

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
Roger Lorence
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technical Paper ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Tax Practitioners

Purpose – To describe the best practices for complying with the increasingly large body of information returns required by the Internal Revenue Service of participants in the investment management industry and the severe penalties that apply to noncompliant taxpayers. Design/methodology/approach – This technical paper describes the explosive growth of information returns and protective return filings required of investment management industry participants, based upon the author’s advising tax return preparers and taxpayers charged with filing these forms. Findings – Each tax return filing season has demonstrated the ever-increasing and enormous waste of effort and money but no relief is in sight. The expectation of relief from the tax authorities at any level or from Congress and other legislative bodies, is remote. Originality/value – This paper provides timely guidance from a practitioner in the field of tax compliance including a summary of current forms to be reviewed by tax practitioners with investment management industry clients, either on the manager or the investor side.

scholarly journals A REFORMULAÇÃO DA CONCEPÇÃO JURÍDICA DO SIGILO BANCÁRIO NO CENÁRIO INTERNACIONAL

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Reis Jatobá Coêlho
Keyword(s):  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Internal Revenue

Será que o direito ao sigilo bancário está fadado a desaparecer? No contexto de pós-crise econômica e mais especificamente no encontro da Cúpula de Londres em 2009, o G20 respondeu positivamente a esta questão. Dado este posicionamento, algumas iniciativas legislativas começaram a aparecer globalmente e de forma simultânea com o escopo de aumentar a transparência mundial, tornando mais distantes as concepções jurídicas de que tais direitos estariam ligados à privacidade e à intimidade absolutas. Pode-se apontar como uma dessas iniciativas o conjunto de normas norte-americanas de efeitos extraterritoriais denominado FATCA – Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, que aparece no cenário atual para incrementar a arrecadação de tributos norte-americanos. A norma exigirá das instituições financeiras estrangeiras o reporte automático diretamente ao IRS (Internal Revenue Service) de algumas informações pessoais e financeiras de correntistas considerados norte-americanos, o que pode esbarrar na preservação do sigilo bancário como um direito fundamental no âmbito doméstico brasileiro. No entanto, considerando as pesadas sanções pelo descumprimento à norma, a aderência ao FATCA pelas Instituições Financeiras Brasileiras mostra-se imperiosa, em paralelo à discussão jurídica acerca do sigilo. Este fato implica na revisão da clássica lógica de incorporação de normas jurídicas em detrimento de um movimento intenso de interferências recíprocas entre as racionalidades jurídicas nacionais e internacionais, criando-se certa padronização nos ordenamentos jurídicos, fruto da internacionalização do Direito. Para exemplificar isso, o artigo irá descrever como a União Européia tem tratado a questão da cooperação internacional para encaminhamento de informações com fins tributários.

Capricious Application of the Law: IRS Disregard of Revenue Rulings

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Porcano ◽  
Jennifer L. Porcano
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
The Law ◽  
Full Force

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publishes Treasury Regulations and revenue rulings, in part, to ease compliance problems for taxpayers by providing the IRS's interpretation of (and position on) tax law. The general public should be able to rely on these pronouncements when engaging in tax-planning and/or tax-compliance activities. As such, the IRS should consistently follow them. If the IRS takes a position contrary to these pronouncements and/or disregards them in pursuing an issue, then increased confusion results. In several instances, the IRS has chosen to ignore its revenue rulings or to consider them wrong even though the rulings continue to be in full force. This article identifies situations where the IRS has chosen to disregard its revenue rulings. The historical aspect of each situation where the IRS disregarded its revenue rulings is presented, along with the courts' responses to this action. Implications and conclusions of the IRS's actions are discussed.

The Church of Scientology: Legitimacy through Perception Management

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-630
Author(s):  
Max Halupka
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Perception Management ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn 1967 the Church of Scientology's tax-exempt status was revoked on the basis that it failed to meet the criteria outlined in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service. Between its loss, and eventual reacquisition in 1993, the Church of Scientology employed a number of political based tactics in an attempt to legitimize itself to the public sector. This article explores these tactics in relation to the religion's use of perception management. The article argues that the processes of both legal recognition and legitimization draw upon each other in a new faith's transition to mainstream theology. In this, the Church employed perception management in attempt to influence both processes. In exploring this, the paper contributes to our understanding of role that public legitimacy plays in a new faith's development.

scholarly journals Criminal Enforcement and the IRS

1967 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-355
Author(s):  
Robert L. Spatz
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Tax Burden ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
Tax Enforcement ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Criminal Sanctions

This nation is run, essentially, by income tax collections, and the Internal Revenue Service painstakingly enforces criminal sanctions on would-be evaders. Tax evasion strikes more directly at the sovereignty, and less directly at individual citizens, than other white-collar crimes. The raison d' etre for vigorous crimi nal tax enforcement is to deter tax evasion and to assure the taxpaying public that each individual taxpayer is held account able for his fair share of the tax burden.

scholarly journals Is Federal Tax-Exemption Policy for Nonprofit Hospitals Moving to a Clearer Quid pro Quo Basis?

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beaufort B. Longest
Keyword(s):  
Tax Policy ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Corporate Income Tax ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Tax Policies ◽  
Nonprofit Hospitals ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Exemption Policy ◽  
Income Tax Policy ◽  
Modern Era

The question of whether federal tax-exemption policy for nonprofit hospitals is moving to a clearer and more robust quid pro quo basis is examined. The question is important because heretofore the basis for federal exemption has been vague and fluid. Utilizing a quid pro quo rationale for federal tax-exemption of nonprofit hospitals as a framework, the chronological record of policy in this area is organized into three major periods: (1) A Simple Quid pro Quo: Early Federal Tax Policies for Nonprofit Hospitals; (2) A Changing Quid pro Quo: The Modern Era of Federal Tax Policy for Nonprofit Hospitals; and (3) An Emergent, Clearer Quid pro Quo: Recent Congressional Activism on Exemption Policy, including relevant provisions of the ACA. The article concludes with discussion of continuing vagueness and ambiguity in federal corporate income tax policy for nonprofit hospitals. The importance of enhanced clarity and specificity in the information upon which policy in this area is based is discussed, as are actions needed by Congress and the Internal Revenue Service to accomplish improved exemption policy.

Simplified Procedures for Computing the Federal Income Tax

1969 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Robert L. Morton
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limit ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Federal Income Tax ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Simplified Procedures

The procedure outlined by the Internal Revenue, service (IRS) for computing the amount of tax due, after the taxable income has been determined (line lld, Form 1040), requires five computational steps: (1) subtract the lower limit or the top bracket from the taxable income, (2) multiply the difference by the applicable rate, (3) add the product to a stated amount, (4) multiply the amount obtained in Step 3 by .075, and (5) add the product to the amount obtained in Step 3.

scholarly journals Improving public agency performance using balanced scorecard in Lagos internal revenue service (LIRS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-83
Author(s):  
Jacob Olufemi Fatile ◽  
Ogunlela Yemisi ◽  
Akindele Iyiola Tomilayo ◽  
Oluwole K. Sanni
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Public Agency ◽  
Internal Revenue ◽  
Lagos State

Improving public agency performance vis-à-vis productivity is the greatest challenge facing the public sector. The main objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of performance measurement using balanced scorecard (BSC) in Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). Primary and secondary data were utilized for the study. The primary data collected was analyzed using both descriptive statistics while the stated hypotheses were tested using regression analysis. The study adopts the theory of change (ToC) postulated by Weiss as a theoretical basis. The findings of the study reveal that using the balanced scorecard to measure performance periodically with stakeholders' reflection in LIRS has increased significantly the annual revenue generation in Lagos State. The study recommends among others that more attention should be paid to the provision of adequate incentives as well as training and development on contemporary issues in tax management for tax officers to promote their efficiency and effectiveness in developing economies including Nigeria. Furthermore, since citizens' expectation on societal general development and demand varies across divisions and localities Lagos state. Lagos state government should, therefore, accommodate the aspirations of the various groups to engender sustainable tax compliance by citizens.

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