Correcting Common Form 990 Errors: Identifying Audit Triggers and Remedying Prior Year Filings
Penalty Abatements, Fixing Prohibited Transactions, Reconciling Related Organization Transaction Errors
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Accounting
- event Date
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
110 minutes
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BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
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BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
This course will provide advisers to nonprofit and exempt organizations with a practical guide to identifying, avoiding, and correcting the most common and complex errors in completing Form 990 and Form 990-PF. The panel will focus on the mechanics of tax reporting, offer concrete examples of corrective entries for prior year errors, discuss recent IRS guidance on Form 990 filing deficiencies, and detail obtaining relief from IRS sanctions.
Ms. Czerniawski is a member of the firm’s Nonprofit, Government & Healthcare Group. With over 15 years of nonprofit industry experience, she provides tax services to a wide array of nonprofits, including charitable organizations, schools, social welfare organizations, professional associations and private foundations.
Mr. Lyons is a Tax Director, Exempt Organizations in the Nonprofit, Government & Healthcare Group at Marks Paneth LLP. He brings to this role the skills he has developed during more than 30 years of providing tax and consulting services to his clients in the nonprofit, higher education, and public sector industries. Mr. Lyons' experience includes handling substantial exempt organization tax issues. He has testified in front of the House and Ways Committee in Washington, DC establishing the current treatment of affinity royalty arrangements. Mr. Lyons has also been involved in special projects related to unrelated business income for exempt organizations, including but not limited to state filing issues, including settlements, foreign filing requirements for off-shore activities and use of exempt bond proceeds. He has advised clients on the use of for profit subsidiaries as well as disregarded entities.
Form 990 Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax is a complex exercise in tax reporting, and the IRS consistently reports several common reporting errors. Mistakes include potentially serious omissions leading to significant tax and operational consequences. Because an exempt organization's Form 990 filings are public records, even inadvertent errors may harm a nonprofit's reputation and jeopardize its exempt status.
Aside from basic mistakes such as failure to sign or complete an information section, common and potentially serious errors in Form 990 returns involve misstatements of revenues and expenses, transactions with interested persons, prohibited transactions, and UBTI calculations. Even basic Form 990 errors such as an incomplete or unsigned return, can trigger an IRS tax audit. In instances involving private foundations, common Form 990-PF errors can lead to significant sanctions for the officers of the foundation.
Other errors that serve as audit triggers include failure to report required information regarding related organizations, joint activities, or foreign activities. Tax advisers serving exempt organizations must identify errors in current and prior years' returns to avoid costly tax consequences and damage to a nonprofit entity's reputation.
Listen as our experienced panel provides a thorough and practical guide to avoiding, identifying, and correcting both common and complex errors in Form 990 preparation and filing.
- Administrative or "housekeeping" errors that present audit risks for exempt organizations
- Recognizing substantive Form 990 errors
- Repairing errors in prior year filings
- Common errors specific to private foundations
The panel will discuss these and other important topics:
- What errors on Form 990 filings are IRS audit triggers?
- What must tax advisers to exempt organizations be mindful of concerning related organizations in reviewing prior years Form 990 returns?
- Requesting penalty abatements for incomplete or incorrect filings
- Remedying excess benefit transactions and prohibited transactions with interested persons
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Identify common errors on Form 990 filings that serve as IRS audit triggers
- Recognize issues concerning related organizations in reviewing prior year Form 990 returns
- Determine how to request penalty abatements for incomplete or incorrect filings
- Discern excess benefit transactions and prohibited transactions with interested persons; remedial actions and amended filings
Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
