Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

Despite Katrina, Estate Tax Repeal Vote Goes Ahead

Sep 6, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From BNA: Senate leadership Sept. 2 tentatively planned to proceed with a long-planned agenda for its return from an August recess, despite pleas from top Democrats to put aside a scheduled vote on estate tax reform and instead tackle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Amy Call, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), told BNA Sept. 2 that, while the Senate intends to proceed as planned, Frist will interrupt any pending legislation whenever necessary to deal with Katrina. "Our first priority is Hurricane Katrina," she said.

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IRS Website Updated on Tax-Exempt E-Filing

Sep 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Internal Revenue Service Aug. 31 updated its electronic filing Web page for corporations and exempt organizations that must e-file in 2006. The long-awaited Web site updates will help the organizations comply with proposed and temporary regulations (REG-130671-04, T.D. 9175) on electronic filing and, according to practitioners, make the site more user-friendly. IRS in January issued the temporary and proposed regulations on requirements for e-filing of income tax returns by large corporations and annual information returns by certain tax-exempt organizations (8

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Assistance for Katrina - Donations to Nonprofits Pouring In

Sep 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From The Center for American Progress:

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Megachuch Nonprofit Leader Makes Mega-Bucks, Says Grassley

Aug 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

According to tax records, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries, Inc. provided him with more than $3 million in salary and benefits, including a $1.4 million 20-acre home and use of a $350,000 Bentley. Long also received more than $1 million in salary, including $494,000 in 2000. Long maintains the money came from royalties, speaking fees and several large donations - not from members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, where he became pastor in 1987. The charity stopped operating in 2000. During his 18-year tenure, New Birth has swelled from 300

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Nonprofits Cloak Donors to the Ahhhnold

Aug 24, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From the L.A. Times: Tax-exempt groups provide millions from sources not made public. Ethics watchdogs say the practice avoids state disclosure laws. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is benefiting from millions of dollars raised by a network of tax-exempt groups without revealing that the money comes from major corporations with business before his office.

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Action Expected on Charitable Giving Legislation in September

The Senate Finance Committee intends to introduce a package of nonprofit accountability reforms and charitable giving tax incentives soon, according to sources on the Hill.

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IRS Needs To Modernize Computers, Says TIGTA

Aug 19, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Internal Revenue Service's Business Systems Modernization program, a multiyear effort aimed at wholly reconstructing the agency's computer systems, showed improvements during fiscal year 2004 but still suffers from weaknesses in several of its management practices, a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report released Aug. 18 concluded.

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IRS Considering Overhaul of the 990

Aug 10, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Internal Revenue Service is mulling a "complete overhaul" of Form 990, the filing on which tax-exempt organizations list their income, expenses, assets, and liabilities, an Internal Revenue Service official has told the Senate Finance Committee. The committee is looking into ways to prevent fraud and mismanagement in the charitable organization sector.

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Action on Charitable Giving Legislation Coming

Aug 9, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Senate Finance Committee plans to act on a package of charitable giving tax incentives soon.

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Nonprofits Benefit from Estate Tax, Seattle Op-Ed Says

Aug 4, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Grateful Americans don't mind giving something back As a non-millionaire who paid an estate tax, I am tired of the false claims made in Thursday's guest column by Dick Patten. For starters, a recent non-partisan study found that virtually no farm or small business would pay estate taxes with a few simple changes to current law. In our state, raising the exempt amount to $3.5 million per person means that only 80 estates would likely pay any estate tax in 2006, and just 3 percent of them are family-owned farms or businesses. Millions of average Americans have good reasons to oppose repeal.

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