IRS Releases Guidance on Public Disclosure of Form 990-T

On May 9, the IRS issued Notice 2007-45, which provides interim guidance on the new Form 990-T public disclosure requirement enacted as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). Pursuant to the PPA, Forms 990-T filed by Section 501(c)(3) organizations are subject to the same public inspection and disclosure requirements that apply to Forms 990 and 990-PF. The new disclosure requirement applies to any Form 990-T filed by a Section 501(c)(3) organization after August 17, 2006.

The notice clarifies that a Section 501(c)(3) organization that is not required to publicly disclose its Form 990—such as a church—must nevertheless publicly disclose its Form 990-T. The notice states, however, that an organization that files a Form 990-T only to request a telephone excise tax refund is not required to publicly disclose its Form 990-T. The notice also provides that a state college or university that has received a determination letter from the IRS confirming that it is exempt under Section 501(c)(3) must make its Form 990-T available. However, the disclosure provision does not apply to a state college or university that is exempt under Section 115 (but subject to unrelated business income tax because of Section 511(a)(2)(B)) if it has not obtained a Section 501(c)(3) determination letter.

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