IRS Makes Form 990 Information Available in Digital Format

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IRS Makes Form 990 Information Available in Digital Format

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In IR-2016-87, published on June 16, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has announced “that the publicly available data on electronically filed Forms 990 will now be available for the first time in a machine-readable format through Amazon Web Services (“AWS”).”

Just as a public disclosure copy of any organization’s Form 990 does not include donor or personally identifiable information, neither will any of the data being made publicly available.

Historically, this data has only been available in PDF format. In directing the IRS to develop a system whereby it is able to accept electronically filed returns, Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, nowhere in the mandate did Congress direct the IRS to develop a system that would make the data easily accessible, for either internal or the public’s use. The publication of this data will increase transparency in the tax-exempt sector by making all of the Form 990 data much more widely available for those who desire to review and analyze. Additionally, through utilizing the machine-readable format, the cost of making this information available should decrease. In the past, organizations, such as GuideStar and Charity Navigator, have noted the high cost of human transcription of such data.

Background

The change in the dissemination of this information by the IRS was predicated by the lawsuit filed by the government transparency group Public.Resource.Org. This group filed suit against the IRS under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting the IRS to make forms in modernized e-file format. On January 30 a Federal judge ruled in Public.Resource.Org v. U.S. that the IRS will need to disclose Form 990s as open data, in a format that can be easily read by computers. Accordingly, with this ruling, in order to be compliant, the IRS was forced to make this information regarding tax-exempt organizations much more accessible.

Senate Bill 2750

The Charities Helping Americans Regularly Throughout the Year (CHARITY) Act (“Bill”) is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Per the Congressional Record, the Bill is to amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify certain charitable tax provisions. The Bill calls for mandatory electronic filing of all Forms 990 and codifies the release of electronically filed data for public use. Additionally, contained within the Bill is a provision to provide relief for up to two years for small organizations to transition to the electronic filing requirements. The Bill defines these small organizations as those with revenues less than $200,000 and assets less than $500,000.

Amazon Web Services

A large number of the Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF and any related schedules from 2011 to present are currently available in a digitally readable XML file that can be accessed and downloaded through AWS. The data can also be accessed through other Amazon software, which is called Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). The only exceptions to the accessibility of information will be donor and personally identifiable information and data contained in Form 990-N, which will be available for download through the IRS website. Information regarding this is available at https://aws.amazon.com/public-data-sets/irs-990/.

Conclusion

With these changes in the availability of Forms 990 data, those individuals and groups who desire to research and analyze such data will be able to do so with greater ease. As part of this process, the IRS has committed to updating this information monthly, while continuing to have available image files made from both paper and electronically filed Forms 990 available by DVD.

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Please contact a member of Withum’s Healthcare Services Group at [email protected] for further questions or assistance.

The information contained herein is not necessarily all inclusive, does not constitute legal or any other advice, and should not be relied upon without first consulting with appropriate qualified professionals for your individual facts and circumstances.

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