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Attorney General DeWine Encourages Charitable Donor Vigilance after IRS Revokes Tax-Exempt Status of Thousands of Non-Profits

6/10/2011

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is encouraging Ohio charitable donors to adequately educate themselves before making donations after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) automatically revoked the federal tax-exempt status of over 10,000 Ohio non-profits.

Federal law requires most non-profits to file a Form 990 with the IRS annually. As a result of a law passed several years ago, organizations that fail to file for three consecutive years automatically lose their federal tax-exempt status. On June 8, 2011, the IRS automatically revoked the federal tax exempt status of 10,645 Ohio non-profits as a result of their failure to file for the past three years. While many of the affected organizations may be defunct, there are many other active non-profits whose tax-exempt status was lost.

Attorney General DeWine advised that donations to any non-profit whose status has been revoked would no longer be tax deductible.

“Ohioans are very generous and support a wide variety of charitable organizations and causes,” said Attorney General DeWine. “It is important that Ohio charitable donors check if a non-profit has lost its tax-exempt status to know for sure if their gift will be tax deductible or not.”

A list of affected non-profits is available on the Attorney General’s Office website.

Charitable organizations that solicit funds or operate in Ohio are also required to register with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office provides oversight to make sure donations are not misappropriated and that charitable proceeds are used for charitable purposes. As part of this oversight, the Attorney General’s Office will be contacting non-profits who lost their tax-exempt status to determine if the organization is still operating and, if so, determine their plans for continuation.

“When an organization loses its federal tax-exempt status, it is a significant event that can have many ramifications for a non-profit. My office will make every effort to ensure that these organizations’ charitable assets are protected and maintained for charitable purposes. We also expect that these organizations will disclose their loss of tax-exempt status to their donors,” DeWine added.

Any affected organization that has questions regarding the impact of losing its tax-exempt status should call the Ohio Attorney General’s Charitable Law Section at 800-282-0515.

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Media Contacts:

Eve Mueller: 614-466-3840
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840

List of Ohio Non-Profits with Automatic Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status (Excel File)
IRS Website with Lists of Non-Profits with Automatic Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status (National List and by State)

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