IRS determination 200817053: Unanswered record requests and missing returns end exemption

Plain-English summary

The IRS revoked an organization's § 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to provide records for an examination of its Form 990 and failed to file that return for a redacted year. The first request was returned as undeliverable. After locating a newer address, the IRS sent further requests, including certified mail that went unclaimed, but received no response. The IRS concluded that it could not verify the organization's continued eligibility for exemption or compliance with the record and return requirements in §§ 6001 and 6033. The final letter makes revocation retroactive to January 1 of a redacted year and says contributions are no longer deductible.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: Did the organization retain charitable exemption without furnishing records or filing its Form 990?
• Outcome: Revocation, retroactive to January 1 of a redacted year.
• Key authorities: IRC §§ 501(c)(3), 6001, 6033; Treas. Reg. §§ 1.6001-1, 1.6033-1(h)(2).

Full text (IRS public release)

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
TE/GE: EO Examination
1100 Commerce
Dallas, Texas 75242

TAX EXEMPT AND
GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
DIVISION

UIL: 501.03-01
January 17, 2008
Number: 200817053
Release Date: 4/25/2008

LEGEND

ORG = Organization name XX = Date Address = Address

ORG Person to Contact:

ADDRESS Identification Number:
Contact Telephone Number:
In Reply Refer to: TE/GE Review Staff
EIN:

LAST DATE FOR FILING A PETITION
WITH THE TAX COURT:

Certified Mail- Return Receipt Requested
Dear

This is a Final Adverse Determination as to your exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Our adverse determination was made for the following reasons:

Exemption from income tax is a matter of legislative grace and taxpayers have the burden of establishing their entitlement to exemptions. Section 6033 requires organizations exempt from tax to keep such records and render such statements as are required by such rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. Treasury Regulations section 1.6033-2 (h)(2) requires organizations exempt from tax to submit such additional information as may be required by the Internal Revenue Service for the purpose of inquiring into the organization’s exempt status.

Despite numerous requests to you to provide information to conduct an examination of your form 990 for the year ended December 31, 20XX, no requested information has been provided to us.

Based upon the above, we are revoking your organization's exemption from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code retroactively to January 1, 20XX.

Contributions to your organization are no longer deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code. You are required to file Federal income tax returns on Form 1120. These returns should be filed with the appropriate Service Center for the year ending December 31, 20XX, and for

all years thereafter.

-2-

Processing of income tax returns and assessment of any taxes due will not be delayed should a petition for declaratory judgment be filed under section 7428 of the Internal Revenue Code.

If you decide to contest this determination in court, you must initiate a suit for declaratory judgment in the United States Tax Court, the United States Claim Court or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia before the 91st day after the date this determination was mailed to you. Contact the clerk of the appropriate court for the rules for initiating suits for declaratory judgment.

You also have the right to contact the office of the Taxpayer Advocate. However, you should first contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown above since this person can access your tax information and can help you get answers. You can call and ask for Taxpayer Advocate assistance. Or you can contact the Taxpayer Advocate from the site where the tax deficiency was determined by calling or writing to: Internal Revenue Service, Taxpayer Advocates Office.

Taxpayer Advocate assistance cannot be used as a substitute for established IRS procedures, formal appeals processes, etc. The Taxpayer Advocate is not able to reverse legal or technically correct tax determinations, nor extend the time fixed by law that you have to file a petition in the United States Tax Court. The Taxpayer Advocate can, however, see that a tax matter that may not have been resolved through normal channels gets prompt and proper handling.

We will notify the appropriate State Officials of this action, as required by section 6104(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown in the heading of this letter.

Sincerely yours,

Marsha A. Ramirez
Director, EO Examinations

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
300 N. Los Angeles St. MS 7300
Los Angeles, CA. 90012

TAX EXEMPT AND
GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
DIVISION

Taxpayer Identification Number:

ORG

ADDRESS Form:
990

Tax Year(s) Ended:
Person to Contact/ID Number:

Contact Numbers:
Telephone:
Fax:

Certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested

Dear

We have enclosed a copy of our report of examination explaining why we believe revocation of your exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) is necessary.

If you accept our findings, take no further action. We will issue a final revocation letter.

If you do not agree with our proposed revocation, you must submit to us a written request for Appeals Office consideration within 30 days from the date of this letter to protest our decision. Your protest should include a statement of the facts, the applicable law, and arguments in support of your position.

An Appeals officer will review your case. The Appeals office is independent of the Director, EO Examinations. The Appeals Office resolves most disputes informally and promptly. The enclosed Publication 3498, The Examination Process, and Publication 892, Exempt Organizations Appeal Procedures for Unagreed Issues, explain how to appeal an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decision. Publication 3498 also includes information on your rights as a taxpayer and the IRS collection process.

You may also request that we refer this matter for technical advice as explained in Publication 892. If we issue a determination letter to you based on technical advice, no further administrative appeal is available to you within the IRS regarding the issue that was the subject of the technical advice.

Letter 3618 (04-2002)
Catalog Number 34809F

If we do not hear from you within 30 days from the date of this letter, we will process your case based on the recommendations shown in the report of examination. If you do not protest this proposed determination within 30 days from the date of this letter, the IRS will consider it to be a failure to exhaust your available administrative remedies. Section 7428(b)(2) of the Code provides, in part: "A declaratory judgment or decree under this section shall not be issued in any proceeding unless the Tax Court, the Claims Court, or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia determines that the organization involved has exhausted its administrative remedies within the Internal Revenue Service." We will then issue a final revocation letter. We will also notify the appropriate state officials of the revocation in accordance with section 6104(c) of the Code.

You have the right to contact the office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Taxpayer Advocate assistance is not a substitute for established IRS procedures, such as the formal appeals process. The Taxpayer Advocate cannot reverse a legally correct tax determination, or extend the time fixed by law that you have to file a petition in a United States court. The Taxpayer Advocate can, however, see that a tax matter that may not have been resolved through normal channels gets prompt and proper handling. You may call toll-free 1-877-777-4778 and ask for Taxpayer Advocate Assistance. If you prefer, you may contact your local Taxpayer Advocate at:

If you have any questions, please call the contact person at the telephone number shown in the heading of this letter. If you write, please provide a telephone number and the most convenient time to call if we need to contact you.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Marsha A. Ramirez
Director, EO Examinations

Enclosures:
Publication 892
Publication 3498
Report of Examination

Letter 3618 (04-2002)
Catalog Number 34809F

Form 886-A Schedule number or exhibit
(Rev. January 1994) EXPLANATIONS OF ITEMS Form 990
Name of taxpayer Tax Identification Number Year/Period ended ORG December 31, 20XX LEGEND ORG = Organization name XX = Date Address = address Issue

Whether exempt organization qualifies for exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Facts

The initial correspondence sent to the address on file was returned as undeliverable. Requests for a current address sent to the postmaster yielded a current address in City. Agent sent the request to the current address via regular mail with no response. Mail was not returned. Agent resent the request via certified mail and it was returned as unclaimed. The Exempt Organization failed to respond to the Internal Revenue Service correspondence or file the Forms 990 for the tax period ending December 31, 20XX.

Law

Section 6001 of the Code provides that every person liable for any tax imposed by the Code, or for the collection thereof, shall keep adequate records as the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate may from time to time prescribe.

Section 6033(a)(1) of the Code provides, except as provided in section 6033(a)(2), every organization exempt from tax under section 501(a) shall file an annual return, stating specifically the items of gross income, receipts and disbursements, and such other information for the purposes of carrying out the internal revenue laws as the Secretary may by forms or regulations prescribe, and keep such records, render under oath such statements, make such other returns, and comply with such rules and regulations as the Secretary may from time to time prescribe.

Section 1.6001-1(a) of the regulations in conjunction with section 1.6001-1(c) provides that every organization exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the Code and subject to the tax imposed by section 511 on its unrelated business income must keep such permanent books or accounts or records, including inventories, as are sufficient to establish the amount of gross income, deduction, credits, or other matters required to be shown by such person in any return of such tax. Such organization shall also keep such books and records as are required to substantiate the information required by section 6033.

Section 1.6001-1(e) of the regulations states that the books or records required by this section shall be kept at all times available for inspection by authorized internal revenue officers or employees, and shall be retained as long as the contents thereof may be material in the administration of any internal revenue law.

Form 886-A (1-1994) Catalog Number 20810W _— Page publish.no.irs.gov | Department of the Treasury-Internal Revenue Service

Form 886-A Schedule number or exhibit
(Rev. January 1994) EXPLANATIONS OF ITEMS Form 990

Name of taxpayer Tax Identification Number Year/Period ended ORG December 31, 20XX

Section 1.6033-1(h)(2) of the regulations provides that every organization which has established its right to exemption from tax, whether or not it is required to file an annual return of information, shall submit such additional information as may be required by the district director for the purpose of enabling him to inquire further into its exempt status and to administer the provisions of subchapter F (section 501 and the following), chapter 1 of the Code and section 6033.

Rev. Rul. 59-95, 1959-1 C.B. 627, concerns an exempt organization that was requested to produce a financial statement and statement of its operations for a certain year. However, its records were so incomplete that the organization was unable to furnish such statements. The Service held that the failure or inability to file the required information return or otherwise to comply with the provisions of section 6033 of the Code and the regulations which implement it, may result in the termination of the exempt status of an organization previously held exempt, on the grounds that the organization has not established that it is observing the conditions required for the continuation of exempt status.

In accordance with the above cited provisions of the Code and regulations under sections 6001 and 6033, organizations recognized as exempt from federal income tax must meet certain reporting requirements. These requirements relate to the filing of a complete and accurate annual information (and other required federal tax forms) and the retention of records sufficient to determine whether such entity is operated for the purposes for which it was granted tax- exempt status and to determine its liability for any unrelated business income tax.

Government’s Position

Based on the facts of the examination, the organization does not qualify for exemption since it has failed to meet the reporting requirements as set forth in Internal Revenue Code sections 6001 and 6003. Furthermore, the organization has failed to respond to all requests made by the government to furnish the appropriate information.

Conclusion

It is the IRS's position that the organization failed to meet the reporting requirements under sections 6001 and 6033 to be recognized as exempt from federal income tax under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Accordingly, the organization's exempt status is revoked effective

January 1, 20XX.

Form 1120 returns should be filed for the tax periods ending December 31, 20XX.

Form 886-A (1-1994) Catalog Number 20810W Page publish.no.irs.gov Department of the Treasury-Internal Revenue Service