Issuance Of Form 8940 - Request For Miscellaneous Determination

By Jennifer M. Pagnillo

The IRS recently issued Form 8940, Request for Miscellaneous Determination, in response to the concern expressed by practitioners that there was no published or uniform way in which a tax-exempt organization could make certain requests of the IRS or take various actions.

Now, tax-exempt organizations have a mechanism to obtain advance IRS approval of particular activities, request determinations (other than the organization's initial determination of tax-exempt status) and request exemption from the Form 990 annual filing requirements. Out of the nine uses for Form 8940, six relate specifically to private foundations. Accordingly, this form will be of particular interest to private foundation managers as well as to public charities that experience difficulty in meeting the public support test.