Recently, the IRS indicated they were considering a new a rule which would require charities to take down the social security number of any donor that made a contribution of $250 or more. However, the immediate reaction from the nonprofit community was intensely negative due to concerns about the ability of smaller charities to be able to protect confidential information and fears that otherwise larger donors would intentionally give just under the $250 threshold. Now a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives which would strip away the ability of the IRS to implement such a regulation with immediate support being given from a range of charities and nonprofit organizations. In addition, similar legislation has been promised in the Senate by Sen. Pat Roberts although the details of his proposal have not yet been released. In any event, it is heartening to see quick action from Congress to stop the IRS from forcing a highly unpopular and potentially devastating regulation on the nonprofit community.
See Andy Segedin, Legislation Introduced To Block IRS’s Donor SSN Rule, The Nonprofit Times, December 18, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
