7 ms·

Isn't the fact that it takes an hour to say nothing happened a proof that the tax reporting system is way too convoluted ? Note that I'm not speaking in this p

by nolok 13y ago

Isn't the fact that it takes an hour to say nothing happened a proof that the tax reporting system is way too convoluted ? Note that I'm not speaking in this particular case or trying to say it's not his fault (it is), but in general.

kenko 13y ago
No? (If it really is just writing down a bunch of zeroes, though, it probably doesn't take a whole hour.)
- dnautics 13y ago
  You do have to do a bit more than write down zeroes, you have to put your EIN on the top of every page, make sure your addresses are all correct, make sure you didn't miss any of the other little things, then take it to the post office, etc, etc, etc. It's seventeen pages of zeros and checks. If you want to see what a zeroed 990 looks like: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By7AdX1eMEY2LUp6SG1TZlpkTzA&usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By7AdX1eMEY2LUp6SG1T... The careful eye will note on p. 13 where I screwed up on the e-version, and so the scanned (and sent) version has hand-written checkmarks. It's a good idea to dot your eyes and cross your ts on these forms. There's also a 199 there, which is the state equivalent of the federal form.
shawnz 13y ago
Not really. Consider that you're spending an hour per year to say that nothing happened for that whole year.
freiheit 13y ago
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990ez.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990ez.pdf is probably what they needed to file. In the case of non-profits, the IRS is providing oversight that the non-profit is actually acting as a non-profit and doing good (very broadly defined) in the world. It's a check against people running a non-profit that doesn't do anything but make a few people rich.
- dnautics 13y ago
  X.org should probably be filing the full 990, especially if they expect to (someday) be pulling a lot of contributions. The 990EZ is more like for small local outfits that don't really expect to ever get big and expect to be mostly run on volunteer labor for the foreseeable future. They could get away with filing a 990EZ, but getting into the practice of doing the full 990 is not a bad idea.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    Small local nonprofits can probably even file the 990-N, an "e-postcard" Surprisingly the IRS really does not make life difficult for non-profits.
dnautics 13y ago
Maybe. 501(c)(3) is a special class of tax exempt organization where not only is the organization exempt for taxation, but donors can claim a tax deduction. So in a certain way it's a privilege, not a right. I'm as libertarian as they come, but corporate taxes and all their byzantine systems are not like a personal income tax, where you can go to jail or have your wife and child shot for not paying up - it kind of is an opt-in system. So there is somewhat of a categorical difference.

by nolok 13y ago

kenko 13y ago

No? (If it really is just writing down a bunch of zeroes, though, it probably doesn't take a whole hour.)

dnautics 13y ago
You do have to do a bit more than write down zeroes, you have to put your EIN on the top of every page, make sure your addresses are all correct, make sure you didn't miss any of the other little things, then take it to the post office, etc, etc, etc. It's seventeen pages of zeros and checks. If you want to see what a zeroed 990 looks like: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By7AdX1eMEY2LUp6SG1TZlpkTzA&usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By7AdX1eMEY2LUp6SG1T... The careful eye will note on p. 13 where I screwed up on the e-version, and so the scanned (and sent) version has hand-written checkmarks. It's a good idea to dot your eyes and cross your ts on these forms. There's also a 199 there, which is the state equivalent of the federal form.

shawnz 13y ago

Not really. Consider that you're spending an hour per year to say that nothing happened for that whole year.

freiheit 13y ago

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990ez.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990ez.pdf is probably what they needed to file. In the case of non-profits, the IRS is providing oversight that the non-profit is actually acting as a non-profit and doing good (very broadly defined) in the world. It's a check against people running a non-profit that doesn't do anything but make a few people rich.

dnautics 13y ago
X.org should probably be filing the full 990, especially if they expect to (someday) be pulling a lot of contributions. The 990EZ is more like for small local outfits that don't really expect to ever get big and expect to be mostly run on volunteer labor for the foreseeable future. They could get away with filing a 990EZ, but getting into the practice of doing the full 990 is not a bad idea.
- ams6110 13y ago
  Small local nonprofits can probably even file the 990-N, an "e-postcard" Surprisingly the IRS really does not make life difficult for non-profits.

dnautics 13y ago

Maybe. 501(c)(3) is a special class of tax exempt organization where not only is the organization exempt for taxation, but donors can claim a tax deduction. So in a certain way it's a privilege, not a right. I'm as libertarian as they come, but corporate taxes and all their byzantine systems are not like a personal income tax, where you can go to jail or have your wife and child shot for not paying up - it kind of is an opt-in system. So there is somewhat of a categorical difference.