Many tax-exempt organizations must file information returns by May 16, 2022

Even though organizations like charities and foundations may be tax-exempt, the IRS still requires them to file certain information every year. For many of these exempt organizations, the deadline to file their 2021 information return is Monday, May 16, 2022.

Here are the forms they may need to file, depending on the size and type of organization:

• Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax
• Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax
• Form 990-PF, Return of Private Foundation or Section 4947(a)(1) Nonexempt Charitable Trust Treated as a Private Foundation
• Form 990-N, Electronic Notice, e-Postcard, for Tax-Exempt Organizations Not Required to File Form 990 or Form 990-EZ
• Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return
• Form 4720, Return of Certain Excise Taxes Under Chapters 41 and 42 of the Internal Revenue Code

Mandatory electronic filing
Tax-exempt organizations must file their forms electronically. E-filing reduces processing time, making compliance with reporting requirements easier.

Here are a few things organizations should know about filing:

• Organizations can e-file most returns through an IRS Authorized e-File Provider.
• However, organizations filing Form 990-N must e-file through the Form 990-N, e-Postcard, page on IRS.gov.
• The IRS will reject incomplete or incorrect returns. Organizations should check that they’re using the right return, have fully completed it and don’t have missing schedules.
• The IRS has a series of pre-recorded online workshops for exempt organizations. For organizations filling out one of the Form 990 series, the Form 990 Overview Course may be helpful.

At their 18 Feb 2022 meeting, the WSGS Board approved a change to the bylaws allowing all Board members, regardless of election status, to vote. The change must be approved by the WSGS membership to become official.

Currently, the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and past president are the only members allowed to vote on board matters, while appointed chairs of the standing committees (web master, blog master and Pioneer Certificate program) are expected to attend and participate in Board business, but not allowed to vote. After a discussion about the value of all those who participate on the Board, the Board voted unanimously to allow chairs of standing committees to vote.

All WSGS members received an email with a link to vote on the bylaws change on 20 Mar 2022. If you are a member of WSGS and need a reminder email, please email Info@wasgs.org and put “Bylaws Link” in the Subject Line. Balloting will close at 11:59 p.m., 20 Apr 2022.

The proposed change affects Articles V and VI:

ARTICLE V. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1. The Board of Directors shall consist of the elected officers, and the immediate past president and heads of the Standing Committees. The Board shall:

1. Conduct the business of the Society, referring major decisions and unusual expenses to the membership for approval or ratification.
2. Meet at least three (3) times a year, the dates and places to be determined by the Board members.
3. Potential Board of Directors Conflicts of Interest shall be addressed annually.

Section 2. Members of the Board are expected to attend all meetings, called by the President or three members of the board.

Section 3. All elected Board Members shall be current members of the Society.

Section 4. Notice of all board meetings shall be given to each member not fewer than five (5) days prior to the meeting.

ARTICLE VI. STANDING COMMITTEES AND APPOINTED POSITIONS

Section 1. The Standing Committees will be: Web master, Blog master, and Pioneer Certificate.

Section 2. The heads of Standing Committees or other Appointed Positions are expected to attend meetings of the Board of Directors and contribute to the deliberations, but are non-voting members of the Board.

Dear WSGS Members,

We are off to a New Year and a change in leadership. It has been my honor to have served as your president for the past 6 years, but it is well past time for me to move on. Hopefully now I will have time to work on my own genealogy!

Kathy Sizer has been elected as your new President for 2022/2023. Please wish her well and offer any support you can. Especially now as she deals with the unexpected passing of her husband. My hope is that we can all continue to work on supporting each other as societies. We all have something to offer each other and our communities. Communication and support go a long way!

I wish to thank all of you who worked so hard over the past few years to keep WSGS viable and a continued presence in this ever-changing world we live in today. All Societies depend on our volunteers. WSGS is blessed to have some very dedicated ones. They kept us going when the going was tough. I am forever in your gratitude, amazed at your many talents and humbled by your dedication. To all of our members, thank you for continuing your support and financial contributions. You help us keep our presence in the genealogical community.

Sincerely,

Virginia “Ginny” Majewski, Past President, WSGS

Will you be required to file a 1099 form with the IRS by January 31? Did your society pay more than $600 during 2021 to any one person for labor or for speaking at a seminar? Did you get a new roof on your library? Pay a plumber, electrician or other workers for repairs or work in or around your library? The amount you paid can include materials but must include some labor. So you paid a plumber to replace a toilet and the total bill was $650 for his labor and the toilet, you need to send him a 1099 NEC form. If you just got materials and then volunteers put them in no 1099 is required.

Did you pay any speaker more than $600 you need to send the speaker a 1099 NEC form.

What information do you need for the 1099 NEC form? You need the name and address and social security number of the person that provided the labor or spoke at your society. How do you get that information? The IRS provides a form W9 which you send the person and they fill in the Name, Address and Social Security number they want to be used on the 1099 form. What happens if they refuse to give you their social security number? Don’t pay them till you get it. You also need the amount you paid that person, but your treasurer should have that. Where can you get the 1099 NEC forms? Office Depot has them here where I live, and probably other office supply places might have them. You can order them online also. You will also need a 1096 form which is just like a cover form for the IRS, it has your society name and address and a total of the 1099s. The IRS requires a special red ink for the copy that goes to the IRS, but the other copies are black ink. You send the red copies to the IRS by January 31 and a black copy to the speaker or laborer also by January 31,

Well another year gone. I have listed the top ten most read posts from 2021. Number one does not surprise me as many Washington genealogical societies were using the Easy Net Site. Number two has amazed me every year since 2015, and it pops up every so often as a weekly top ten most read post. I am glad to see Scribe and Roots Tech are on the list. Small Town Newspapers and Donation Land Claims are good posts. Cindi is always a top draw so not surprised she made the top ten. The Wenatchee seminar on the Central Regional Branch Archives was the only genealogical society monthly meeting to make the top ten. I was also glad the post I did on the IRS Form 990-n made the top ten as that form is very important to make sure your society keeps the non profit status it worked so hard to get.

1. https://wasgs.org/blog/2020/12/15/please-read-if-your-society-uses-an-easy-net-site/
2. https://wasgs.org/blog/2015/06/04/university-of-washington-genealogy-class/
3. https://wasgs.org/blog/category/2021-seminars-conferences/
4. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/06/23/scribe/
5. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/02/16/the-road-to-roots-tech/
6. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/02/17/seattle-genealogical-society-tip-of-the-week-small-town-newspapers/
7. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/08/02/historic-washington-donation-land-claims-at-gfo/
8. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/09/21/heritage-quest-research-library-presents-cindi-ingle/
9. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/08/04/wenatchee-area-genealogical-society-central-regional-branch-archives/
10. https://wasgs.org/blog/2021/02/24/form-990-n/

WSGS members are encouraged to cast their ballot for President and Secretary by 11:59 p.m., 24 Dec 2021. An email with the SurveyMonkey link was sent on 16 Dec. to your email of record. If you did not receive the email, please email Info@wasgs.org.

Even though Kathy Sizer and Roxanne Lowe are running unopposed (President and Secretary respectively), we view your vote as a vote of support for WSGS. There is also an opportunity in the ballot to make suggestions or ideas to support the society. We are reading every comment.

If you want to know more about Kathy or Roxanne, read this blog post.