The increased emphasis on scrutiny of nonprofit governance by the IRS is evident from the fact that the newly revised Form 990 has several questions about governance prominent on the first page.

For example, Part 1 now requires an organization to enter the number of voting members who serve on the governing board and the number of independent voting members.

Among other questions on governance found within the revised 990:

• Whether there are existing familial or business relationships among officers, directors, trustees or key employees.
• Whether the organization delegates any management duties to a management company or other person.
• Whether the organization has local chapters, branches or affiliates, and if so, whether there are written policies and procedures governing their activities.
• Whether any significant changes were made to the organizational documents since the prior Form 990 was filed.
• Whether the organization became aware during the year of a material diversion of the organization’s assets.
• Whether the board was provided with a copy of Form 990 and how the board reviewed the form.

Please note: This post is intended as a general discussion of Federal tax compliance issues and not as advice or a professional opinion. They do not create any relationship between the reader and eJewish Philanthropy. We suggest you seek independent professional advice to act on any item discussed in this post.