Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT ...

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The Appropriate Role Of The Internal Revenue Service With Respect To Tax-Exempt Organization Good Governance IssuesIn the decade that followed, Congress made a series of additional changes to thereporting and disclosure requirements for exempt organizations. The 1996 TaxpayerBill of Rights 2 had enacted a series of excise taxes to serve as “intermediate sanctions”for exempt organizations engaging in certain prohibited transactions. The TaxpayerRelief Act of 1997 further provided that exempt organizations owing such excise taxesdisclose that fact on their Forms 990. The Tax and Trade Relief Extension Act of 1998extended the enhanced disclosure requirements enacted in 1996 to private foundations,extensions which the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency SupplementalAppropriations Act of 1999 later slightly revised to make the rules less “expensive andadministratively burdensome.” 237 The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Actof 2005 applied disclosure provisions regarding tax shelter transactions to tax-exemptorganizations.In 2006, as part of the Pension Protection Act, Congress set forth certain notificationrules for organizations not generally required to file a Form 990. Under this law, smallexempt organizations had to fill out an electronic notification giving the Service theorganization’s legal name, mailing address, Internet web site, and taxpayer identificationnumber. 238 In addition, the law required organizations to provide any name under whichit does business, the name and address of a principal office, and evidence of theorganization’s continuing basis for its exemption from the Form 990 filing requirements.This same legislation also provided for additional disclosures regarding tax exemptorganizations to state officials and as part of state civil administrative and judicialproceedings pertaining to the enforcement of state laws. The legislative history for thisprovision does not describe its intended purpose in detail.In summary, sections 6033 and 6104 have evolved to require tax-exempt organizationsto disclose increasing amounts of information to the IRS and to make those disclosurespublicly available. The development of these provisions has been driven largely byCongress’s reaction to well-publicized scandals in the tax-exempt sector and the beliefin a positive correlation between increasing transparency and a well functioning, wellgoverned and compliant tax-exempt sector.An additional important factor in the enhanced disclosure in the exempt organizationsarea involves lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act. 239 The seminal caseinvolved a lawsuit brought by Tax Analysts in 1972 to gain access to private letterrulings (“PLRs”) and technical advice memoranda (“TAMs”). The court allowed accessto the PLRs but not the TAMs. 240 Congress shortly thereafter mandated access to theTAMs. 241 A series of other lawsuits resulted in the public availability of field service237Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-277, sec. 1004 (1999).238Pension Protection Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-280, sec. 1223 (2006).239In most cases, disclosure is subject to deletion of certain identifying details involving the taxpayer. IRC section 6110(c)(1).Disclosure under IRC section 6104, relating to the public inspection of tax returns of exempt organizations and applications forexempt status, is excepted from the redaction requirement. IRC sections 6110(l)(1).240Tax Analysts v. IRS, 505 F.2d 350 (D.C. Cir. 1974).241Tax Reform Act of 1976, Pub. L. No. 94-455, 90 Stat. 1660, amending IRC section 6110(b)(1)(A) to expressly include “technicaladvice memorandum” within the definition of “written determination.”ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 96
The Appropriate Role Of The Internal Revenue Service With Respect To Tax-Exempt Organization Good Governance Issuesadvice memoranda prepared by lawyers in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in responseto requests for legal advice, 242 e-mails containing legal advice from lawyers in the Officeof the Chief Counsel to IRS field personnel, 243 and written determinations denying orrevoking tax exemptions. 244242Tax Analysts v. IRS, 117 F.2d 607 (D.C. Cir. 1997). In 1998, Congress codified the holding by amending IRC section 6110 toexpressly include “Chief Counsel advice” within the definition of “written determination” and added subsection 6110(i)(1)(A), whichdefined “Chief Counsel advice.” Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105-206, 112 Stat685, § 3509(a)(1998) and § 3509(b)(i)(1)(A), respectively.243Tax Analysts v. IRS, 495 F.3d 676 (D.C. Cir. 2007).244Tax Analysts v. IRS, 350 F.3d 100 (D.C. Cir. 2003).ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) June 11, 2008 97
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Tax Treatment Of Cellular Telephone
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IRC, 2007-CODE-VOL, SEC. 280F. LIMI
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Withholding RequirementsACCOUNTING
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