Until recently I was involved with a couple of tiny non-profit organizations, and for that reason I subscribed to the Exempt Organization Update which is an IRS newsletter which I hoped would help keep me up to date on various IRS requirements for non-profits. And it did, to some extent, for as we all know, it's what we don't know that will get us in trouble.
The most recent newsletter says the following:
1. Use Form 8822-B to notify IRS of a change of address or responsible party
Effective January 1, taxpayers must use Form 8822-B to notify the IRS of a change of address or the identity of a responsible party.
Form 8822-B must be filed within 60 days of the change. An updated Form 8822-B is available on IRS.gov. There is a box on the form that exempt organizations must check.
(Bold added by me.)
Who is the "responsible party?" Let's go to Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party — Business and see who a "responsible party" is and what all they want to know about him/her. After first addressing publicly traded companies it say this:
For all other entities, “responsible party” is the person who has a level of control over, or entitlement to, the funds or assets in the entity that, as a practical matter, enables the individual, directly or indirectly, to control, manage, or direct the entity and the disposition of its funds and assets. The ability to fund the entity or the entitlement to the property of the entity alone, however, without any corresponding authority to control, manage, or direct the entity (such as in the case of a minor child beneficiary), does not cause the individual to be a responsible party.
Not much guidance for a non-profit corporation with assets managed by a board of directors unless they mean the person in possession of the checkbook.
What info do they want?
Enter the full name (first name, middle initial, last name, if applicable) and SSN (social security number), ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number), or EIN (employer identification number) of the old and new responsible party, as defined [above].
One has to wonder if this is an effort to get information about Tea Party organizers for the purpose of cross checking individuals and entities to keep tabs on where the money is coming from and going to. Is that paranoid? Maybe so at one time. But now that we know President Obama used the IRS to intimidate political opponents, we have to assume the IRS won't become neutral over night.
Great article. Thanks for the info, it’s easy to understand. BTW, if anyone needs to fill out an IRS 8822 form, I found a blank form here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8822.pdf
Posted by: katherine | November 14, 2014 at 06:35 PM