Ladies and gentlemen: sharpen your pencils; flex your typing digits. IRS today released the new draft Form 990 instructions, and you'll be able to comment on them only through June 1. By my count, that's 55 days - a significantly shorter period than the 90 days we were alloted to comment on the 990 itself.
I've not had a chance to give the instructions much more than a glance yet (I can blame that on a balky Internet connection late this afternoon), so I'll let you know in a few days what I think. The new instructions should be interesting, and hopefully informative: the overview promises numerous tools scattered throughout, to help taxpayers fill out the new form. These include:
- Comprehensive glossary of terms
- A sequencing list to help organizations determine the order in which to fill out parts of the form
- A compensation table to help organizations determine how and where to report items of compensation
- Many illustrative examples
IRS wants to hear from you in electronic format, if you can manage it - and please, text-only messages, not pictures. All comments will be posted on the IRS website, and text makes that way easier.
If you simply must do the snail mail thing, here's where to send your written missive:
IRS
Draft 2008 Form 990 Instructions, SE:T:EO
1111 Constitution Ave., NW.
Washington, DC 20224
You can view the IRS announcement here . . . view the overview here . . . and get into the nitty-gritty here.
Debbie