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All branches: please return this form to the Association

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DEADLINE: March 10! 

Earlier this month the attached memorandum was distributed “through channels”. For almost all branches this will mean completing a simple form that has the EIN (tax id number) that the treasurer should have on file since it was required when opening a bank account. When this form is on file, the branch will be covered by the Association’s nonprofit status. Branches that have filed for nonprofit status independently are asked to send in documentation of that.

If you’ve misplaced the e-mail you can get the forms here

and I’ve included the cover memo as the rest of this post.

AAUW MEMORANDUM

Date: February 17, 200

To: AAUW Finance Officers – Regions, States, Branches, and Interbranch Councils

From: Ruth Z. Sweetser, AAUW President,
Linda Bors, Vice President Finance,
Michele Wetherald, Executive Director, and
Rosemary Schmidt, Chief Financial Officer

Subject: Annual Filing of IRS Group Tax Exemption

Cc: Regional Directors, State and Branch Presidents – Please distribute to your Finance Officers to ensure all subunits get this memo.

By March 31 each year the IRS requires Association update information on our subunits (regions, states, branches, and interbranch councils) carried under our Group Tax Exemption. If your subunit carries its own tax exemption status with the IRS, it should not be listed under the group exemption.

In accordance with IRS Publication 557, requests for a subunit to be on the Group Tax Exemption must be in writing, signed by an authorized officer. This only needs to be done once. In order to get Associations’s records in good order, we are requesting all subunits respond this year. In the future we will update the Group Tax Exemption records from current files. Please respond in one of the following ways:

1) If your subunit has your own tax exemption status from the IRS, please mail or fax a copy of your IRS Determination Letter(s) to the Finance Department, no later than March 10, 2006. Please be sure the letter belongs to your branch, not Association or EF.

2) If your subunit does not have your own tax exempt status, please complete the AAUW Group Tax Exemption Authorization form and return a signed copy no later than March 10, 2006. It is highly recommended all subunits be appropriately recognized by the IRS as a non-profit organization. It is much easier to be on our group exemption than to attain your own tax exemption status from the IRS. (Note: The “Annual Notice of Election to Participate in AAUW’s Group Exemption (GEN1180)” was used last year. Please disregard all past reference to this form.)

All subunits carried on the group exemption automatically assume Association’s 501(c) (4) tax exempt status. A 501(c) (4) is a non-profit organization involved in the promotion of community welfares, such as charitable, educational or recreational civic leagues or associations, including professional organizations. Contributions to 501(c) (4) organizations are generally not tax deductible to the donor.

Subunits with annual gross receipts of $25,000 or more need to file their own IRS 990 – Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax with the IRS. The group exemption is merely for tax exempt status, not filing of the IRS 990. If your subunit falls into this category and is carried on the group exemption, please let us know so that your subunit is appropriately coded with the IRS. This information can be emailed to allfinance@aauw.org.

Please send IRS Determination Letters or completed AAUW Group Tax Exemption Authorization forms to:

By Fax (202) 861-8068
By Mail American Association of University Women
1111 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Attn: Finance Dept.

Questions or inquiries concerning this matter should be forwarded to:

By Email allfinance@aauw.org
By Phone (202) 785-7771

Your prompt attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.