Tax Exemptions Revoked

Pursuant to the provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, tax-exempt organizations are required to file annual returns or notices with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and failure to file such returns or notices for three consecutive tax years will automatically result in loss of tax-exempt status. In accordance with this relatively new requirement, the IRS announced on June 9, 2011, that it released a list of approximately 275,000 organizations that have lost their tax-exempt status because of a failure to file. Organizations appearing on this list did not file returns or notices for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 tax years.

The list of revoked organizations can be found through the IRS website (www.irs.gov). The list is organized by state, and searches can be performed for individual organizations by name, employer identification number, or city.  

The IRS website contains a FAQ page and fact sheet that address a number of important questions, including how organizations can re-apply for exemption, how to address mistakes, and the effective date of revocations.

The list is important both for those organizations whose exemption has been lost, and for individual, corporate, and foundation donors to those organizations. Gifts to non-exempt entities generally will not qualify for charitable deduction treatment or as private foundation "qualifying distributions."