Just Checking: Valerie F. Leonard Discusses How Nonprofits Can Maintain Tax-Exempt Status

Valerie F. Leonard
Published: October 8, 2015

Valerie F. Leonard, an expert in community and organizational development, conducts a workshop on nonprofit transparency during her 30-Day Compliance workshop series

In response to the growing number of nonprofit organizations losing tax-exempt status, Valerie F. Leonard, will discuss nonprofit compliance on the state and federal levels on the Nonprofit “U” blog radio talk show. The show will stream live on Monday, October 12, 2015, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., from BlogTalkRadio.com/nonprofit_u. This episode will include an overview of required nonprofit reports, including the federal Form 990, registration with the Secretary of State and annual reports to the Attorney General. There will be opportunities for listeners to call in with questions and participate in live chats. Nonprofit professionals are especially encouraged to call in and share their stories and to ask questions. The live call in number is (347) 884-8121. The archived podcast will be available on BlogTalkRadio, Valeriefleonard.com/NonprofitU, iTunes and Stitcher.

Tax-exempt organizations are 2 times more likely than tax payers to be late with filing annual returns with the IRS. There are approximately 1.4 million registered organizations in the United States (IRS, October 2, 2014). Of this number, 579,114 registered organizations, or 40%, lost their tax exempt status as a result of not filing Form 990 for three years in a row. Just two years ago, there were approximately 1.2 million nonprofit organizations with about 32% losing their tax exempt status for failing to file Form 990 three years in a row. In contrast, about 85% of individuals and corporations file their income taxes (Form 1040) on time.

“The situation is worse in Illinois, where over 43% of the state’s 60,000 registered organizations have lost their tax-exempt status in recent years”, Leonard said. “My goal is to raise awareness of the issue and let organizations know what forms they need to file in order to maintain tax-exempt status.”