This article was first published in December 2016 on the Planned Giving Design Center website. Download the article Watching charities is a necessary government function because, while rare, there's an occasional bad charity, and any number of charities whose activities may deserve occasional scrutiny. The first step in this process is requiring the charities to register with the state's group that monitors charities. Regulatory Scrutiny Grows Our purpose is to put this topic in some general perspective, making every effort to be brief with a topic that is inherently complex. There are about forty jurisdictions that may require registration. We look generally at such questions as when registration is required and the costs. There is soon to be a centralized, electronic place where the charity can register once and this gets sent to myriad jurisdictions. The vehicle is to be launched in upcoming months with some thirteen initial governmental participants. See "Simpler … [Read more...] about Tips on Registering your Charity
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How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
CFOs must be careful in making this choice, because there may be issues of penalties and personal legal liability. For startup companies or others that are putting a 401(k) plan in place, the details may seem endless. Generally, audits of such plans with 100 or more participants are required as part of the Form 5500 filing for employee benefit plans. For 2015, the instructions for the form ran 82 pages. By comparison, the instructions for Form 1120 for corporate tax returns were only 26 pages. The regulatory environment, which effectively encompasses the IRS, the Department of Labor, and possibly state regulators, is a unique world with a stream of new regulations that may seem endless as well. The DoL looks at fiduciary standards, reporting and disclosure requirements, and its own meticulous rules. The Internal Revenue Service and its specialists are looking at the plan’s qualified status and potential tax issues. The regulators look at not only what’s in the plan, but … [Read more...] about How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
