TO: 4-H Staff

RE: EIN and Tax Filing Processes

We thank you all for your patience as we continue to work with both National 4-H and the IRS to complete this lengthy process.

The IRS continues to work with the national GEN 2704. Groups that were listed as “NEW” to GEN 2704 (even those that could have been existing for many years but either did not have a EIN linked to the GEN2704 or received a new EIN) may not yet be tax exempt. We had anticipated receiving this information this spring, now we hope to have this summer

The IRS has been challenged by the volume of national EIN errors in the data. They will be returning a significant amount of the data with instructions for how to correct the data and get the groups in question under GEN 2704 this summer. (We are hopeful that the majority of CA data is correct and will be able to go forward as sent).

Tax Exempt Letters --- As soon as the above IRS approval is received by National 4-H Headquarters, they will generate letters to subsidiaries of GEN 2704 (each 4-H council, club or unit)—noting that as the parent organization for GEN 2704, their organization is a subsidiary of GEN 2704 and are, therefore, exempt from federal income tax. These letters will replace the former Kirby letter. In the meantime should you need a tax exempt letter for funding purposes please contact Mignonne or Whitney in the State 4-H Office and they will try to get it expedited.

Charters --- The issuing of 4-H Charters has also been delayed through this process as we have not been able to submit any new units to the GEN 2704 until the IRS has approved the first batch. However, we know a number of you are requesting the charters for various award purposes. Therefore, we are setting up a temporary process to handle these. If you do not receive any charter you have requested by August 15, 2008, need to request a new one, or have not received a charter for all units submitted in December please contact Whitney with the Charter Request Form information.

Tax Filing --- Because of the delays in the processing IRS has ruled that for 4-H clubs and units earning less than $25,000 there will be no penalties for those who do not file an ePostcard in 2008. [Those earning more than $25,000 will continue to be subject to the 990 requirements for filing]. When we receive the information from national we will conduct a training on using the E-Postcard for filing. For those earning more than $25,000 you should follow your normal processes for completing and filing your tax forms.

4-H Financial Reporting for 2007-08 ---Please note that ALL financial information must be reported in the State 4-H Financial Reporting System no later than November 1st (most counties set a September deadline to accommodate this due date.) The revised Treasurer’s manual will compliment these process.

Questions & Issues---National 4-H has asked to remind counties and clubs no not contact national directly with questions concerning charters, IRS, tax filing, or EINs. Please direct any of your questions to us.

Again, we greatly appreciate your patience through this process!

Regards,

Sharon K. Junge
Acting Director
Statewide 4-H Youth Development Program
University of California
One Hopkins Road
Davis, CA 95616-8575
Phone:(530)754-8518
Fax: (530)754-8541
Email: skjunge@ucdavis.edu