Publication 557 |
2001 Tax Year |
Required Disclosures
Certain exempt organizations must disclose to the IRS or the public
certain information about their activities. Generally, an organization
discloses this information by entering it on the appropriate lines of
its annual return. In addition, there are disclosure requirements for:
- Solicitation of nondeductible contributions,
- Sales of information or services that are available free
from the government, and
- Dues paid to the organization that are not deductible
because they are used for lobbying or political activities.
Solicitation of Nondeductible Contributions
Solicitations for contributions or other payments by certain exempt
organizations (including lobbying groups and political action
committees) must include a statement that payments to those
organizations are not deductible as charitable contributions for
federal income tax purposes. The statement must be included in the
fundraising solicitation and be conspicuous and easily recognizable.
Organizations subject to requirements.
An organization must follow these disclosure requirements if it is
exempt under section 501(c), other than section 501(c)(1), or under
section 501(d), unless the organization is eligible to receive tax
deductible charitable contributions under section 170(c). These
requirements must be followed by, among others:
- Social welfare organizations (section 501(c)(4)),
- Labor unions (section 501(c)(5)),
- Trade associations (section 501(c)(6)),
- Social clubs (section 501(c)(7)),
- Fraternal organizations (section 501(c)(8) and 501 (c)(10))
(however, fraternal organizations described in section 170(c)(4) must
follow these requirements only for solicitations for funds that are to
be used for noncharitable purposes not described in section
170(c)(4)),
- Any political organization described in section 527(e),
including political campaign committees and political action
committees, and
- Any organization not eligible to receive tax-deductible
contributions if the organization or a predecessor organization was,
at any time during the 5-year period ending on the date of the
fundraising solicitation, an organization of the type to which this
disclosure requirement applies.
Fundraising solicitation.
This disclosure requirement applies to a fundraising solicitation
if all of the following are true.
- The organization soliciting the funds normally has gross
receipts over $100,000 per year.
- The solicitation is part of a coordinated fundraising
campaign that is soliciting more than 10 persons during the
year.
- The solicitation is made in written or printed form, by
television or radio, or by telephone.
Penalties.
Failure by an organization to make the required statement will
result in a penalty of $1,000 for each day the failure occurred, up to
a maximum penalty of $10,000 for a calendar year. No penalty will be
imposed if it is shown that the failure was due to reasonable cause.
If the failure was due to intentional disregard of the requirements,
the penalty may be higher and is not subject to a maximum amount.
Sales of Information or Services Available Free From
Government
Certain organizations that offer to sell to individuals (or solicit
money for) information or routine services that could be readily
obtained free (or for a nominal fee) from the federal government must
include a statement that the information or service can be so
obtained. The statement must be made in a conspicuous and easily
recognized format when the organization makes an offer or solicitation
to sell the information or service. Organizations affected are those
exempt under section 501(c) or 501(d) and political organizations
defined in section 527(e).
Penalty.
A penalty is provided for failure to comply with this requirement
if the failure is due to intentional disregard of the requirement. The
penalty is the greater of $1,000 for each day the failure occurred, or
50% of the total cost of all offers and solicitations that were made
by the organization the same day that it fails to meet the
requirement.
Dues Used for Lobbying
or Political Activities
Certain exempt organizations must notify anyone paying dues to the
organization whether any part of the dues is not deductible because it
is related to lobbying or political activities.
An organization must provide the notice if it is exempt from tax
under section 501(a) and is one of the following.
- A social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4)
that is not a veterans' organization.
- An agricultural or horticultural organization described in
section 501(c)(5).
- A business league, chamber of commerce, real estate board,
or other organization described in section 501(c)(6).
However, an organization described in (1), (2), or (3) does not
have to provide the notice if it establishes that substantially all
the dues paid to it are not deductible anyway or if certain other
conditions are met. For more information, see Revenue Procedure
98-19 in Cumulative Bulletin 1998-1 or later update.
If the organization does not provide the required notice, it may
have to pay a tax that is reported on Form 990-T. But the tax
does not apply to any amount on which the section 527 tax has been
paid on Form 1120-POL. See Political Organization Income
Tax Return, earlier.
For more information about nondeductible dues, see Deduction
not allowed for dues used for political or legislative activities
on page 46.
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