Thank you for your post JHB... it turns out that when I finally got throught to the non-profit department at the IRS, my problem was the same as yours!! :cool: Even though it was noted several times, they still had us listed as calendar year end instead of fiscal year end. I faxed the request for abatement this afternoon. Hopefully it won't take us 6 months to completely resolve, but I deffinately feel much better about it all. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
One of the years we filed our 990, I failed to check the box showing we were on a fiscal (not calendar) cycle. Since our year ends when school gets out, our filing deadline is in October. But when I filed (due to my clerical error) it looked like we were filing 6 months late - hence a $20 PER DAY penalty.
It was intimidating and the payment/penalty folks are not as nice to deal with as the tax exempt staff. But still - they were helpful.
It took several months and a few letters back and forth, but they did eventually clear it up for us.
Although the process may take awhile, the IRS does seem to be receptive to the fact that these are small, volunteer organizations who don't have a formal business infrasture. Ask for a waiver of the penality. Just keep plugging away at it.
Thank you! I did call them. I still need to call back and talk to someone in the non-profit department (my phone battery went dead in the middle of everything!), but the woman I did talk to was very helpful and understanding. She suggested I send a request for abatement listing all of the info I gave her about when I was treasurer, who is now, why things got filed late, who will be involved next year, and explaining that this is a Parent volunteer group where experience or knowledge is second to availability. I feel much better having talked to her. Now if my kids would just take a nap...
Oh yeah, remember that the IRS is in their busy season right now and is usually terribly slow about processing things anyway, so they probably had this letter floating in the system for a long time(triggered by your not filing your schedule A). They probably have another letter coming through the system saying they received it and you haven't gotten that yet.
We filed an extension last year-that is the parent who did our taxes filed one. They didn't receive it by the due date and tried to charge us $700+. He called them and I think had to fax them some info and it was all taken care of.
Seriously, call them and just ask them to explain what the bill is for and how to get it corrected. I'll bet it's related to the time frame in which they received your paperwork.
Ok, to try to calm myself, I looked at all of the paperwork from our 990 filing. We filed our 990 OK, and then in December recived a letter about needing to file a Schedule A. Due to lack of organization for whatever reason, I didn't recieve the letter and get it send back out untill February. COuld that be why they want $$$? Adding up all of the time that the Schedule A wasn't filed, I still don't come up with $3620. I haven't called the IRS yet, because I would like as much info as possible before I talk to them. Our PTO doesnt have that much money at this time of year, does anyone know if I could file an extention? And, most importantly, while our organization has been accepted as a 501 (c) 3, we are not incorporated. Am I in any way personally liable or responsible for the money that is owed? Aside from the obvious personal guilt I feel for not having done it completely right the first time. I am in a complete panic here!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
