New Search Tool That Gives Tax Information About Organizations

The IRS has created a new tool to find information about tax-exempt organizations. The search tool is called Exempt Organizations Select Check and provides information about whether an organization can receive tax-deductible contributions.

Some critics of the search engine criticize how once an organization is place on the auto-revocation list, the organization will permanently be on the list, even after it has reapplied for exemption and is reinstated. The IRS will update Select Check monthly to reflect when organizations on the auto-revocation list are reinstated. If you run into an organization whose status has been revoked on your search, you may just want to double-check if that is the organizations most current tax-exempt non-exempt status. There is a toll-free number you can call to confirm the status.

See Sally P. Schreiber, New Online Search Tool Makes It Easier To Find Information About Exempt Organizations, Journal of Accountancy, Mar. 15, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.