While Congress left town for its August recess, many nonprofit lobbyists, accountants and tax lawyers in Washington have been busy sifting through the redesigned draft of Form 990, the annual information return that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires exempt organizations to file. Public comments on the form are due to the IRS by Sept. 14; the agency has been posting comments received so far on its website. As reported in the July issue of Aviso, this is the first redesign of the form since 1979.

When Congress returns, AAM anticipates that nonprofit oversight will remain on the agendas of both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. The IRS project is on a fast track, which has minimized the time allotted for review and negotiations for revisions, and the agency has indicated that it intends to use the form in 2009 for filings from the 2008 tax year. Among the concerns expressed by Independent Sector (IS), a national coalition of nonprofits, is that the IRS has not fully considered the implications of the overhaul on how nonprofits organize their financial records or on the training required by those who prepare the returns.

AAM plans to file comments with the IRS on behalf of the museum community. IS also is alerting the larger nonprofit community and presenting its concerns to the IRS. On its website, IS is soliciting input from the nonprofit community on its draft comments to the IRS, which already reflect some preliminary suggestions from AAM. AAM will respond to the IS draft comments to be sure the interests of museums are fully represented in the submission, but you also are encouraged to review the comments and share them with those who assist in preparing your organization's Form 990.—Eileen Goldspiel

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