From: M Petrelis Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 13:44:23 EST Subject: CA Attorney General: IRS Form 990 rules [dear friends, The following is excerpted from the December 1997 California Attorney General's Report on Charitable Solicitation by Commercial Fundraisers. You can obtain a copy of this free document by writing to: Attorney General's Public Inquiry Unit, PO Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550. Order the report today, even if you don't reside in California. Please also visit the >www.accountabilityproject.com < website to view condensed versions of Form 990 from almost thirty AIDS agencies across the country.--mp] Smart donors know that it is wise to ask these questions [how much goes for overhead, salaries, etc.] and to get satisfactory answers before writing a check to a charitable organization. Any legitimate charitable tax exempt organization should be able to supply a donor with proof of its tax exempt status with the IRS and with either a copy of its Form 990 (filed with the IRS) or a written financial report outlining its revenues, costs and breakdown of charitable programs. If you wish to review a copy of a charity's Form 990 (or Form 990 EZ or 990 PF), you may go directly to the charity's principal office during business hours and ask to review that charity's Form 990 (or 990 EZ or 990 PF) for the three most recent taxable years. Federal law requires the charity to comply with such a request. If the charity refuses to honor your request for review of its Form 990, you may complain to: Internal Revenue Service, Customer Service 300 N. Los Angles Street, MS7043 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Federal tax law has been amended to make it easier for you to obtain Form 990s by mail from a charity, subject to reasonable notice and copying charges. This new law will take effect in mid-1998, and will require a charity to provide immediately upon request in person a copy of the charity's three most recent Form 990 returns. Any person may also send the charity a written request for Form 990 copies, which must be honored with 30 days. The charity may charge reasonable copying fees and actual postage costs for mailing the Form 990.