2010 Forms 990 and 990-EZ - Significant Changes
The IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, was redesigned effective
for 2008 tax years (returns filed in 2009 and later). The 2010 Forms 990 and 990-EZ, schedules,
and instructions have been revised to modify and clarify certain reporting requirements. The chart
below summarizes some of the more significant changes to the Form 990, schedules, and
instructions for 2010.
To see the complete 2010 Form 990, schedules, and instructions, as well as video, audio, and
written materials on how to complete the Form and its schedules, go to www.irs.gov/eo.
Form
Changes relating to more than
one part of the core Form 990
form/instructions
Change(s) Made/Issue(s) Addressed
Core Form 990 and Instructions
 Headings: The headings of Parts III, V, IV, VII, XI and XII
each include new checkboxes that an organization must
check if its Schedule O contains a response to a question in
that part.
 GAAP: The form and instructions provide updated references
to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For
instance, FIN 48 is now referred to as FIN 48 (ASC 740), and
SFAS 116 is now referred to as SFAS 116 (ASC 958).
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Form 990, Part IV, Checklist of
Required Schedules
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Form 990, Part V, Statements
Regarding Other IRS Filings
and Tax Compliance
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Line 4 is revised to clarify that all 501(c)(3) filers with a
501(h) election in effect for the tax year must file Schedule
C, Part II-A.
Line 5 is revised to clarify that section 501(c)(4), (c)(5) and
(c)(6) organizations that receive membership dues,
assessments or similar amounts must complete Schedule C,
Part III.
Line 11 instructions explain how to calculate member income
test under Code section 501(c)(12), and include a new TIP
explaining when 501(c)(12) organizations must file Form
1120.
New lines 13a-c require organizations that have received a
loan or grant under the Department of Health and Human
Services CO-OP program, and been recognized by the IRS as
tax-exempt under section 501(c)(29) as qualified nonprofit
health insurance issuers, to report on their state reserve
requirements and reserves held, with additional reporting
required in Schedule O.
New lines 14a-b require organizations that received any
payments for indoor tanning services to indicate whether they
Form
Change(s) Made/Issue(s) Addressed
Core Form 990 and Instructions
have filed a Form 720 to report such payments
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Form 990, Part VI,
Governance, Management, and
Disclosure
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Form 990, Part VII,
Compensation of Officers,
Directors, Trustees, Key
Employees, Highest
Compensated Employees, and
Independent Contractors
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Instructions clarify that an organization should answer Yes to
any question that asks whether it has a particular policy only
if its governing board adopted the policy by the end of its tax
year.
Line 2 instructions clarify that only business and family
relationships between the organization’s current (not former)
directors, trustees or key employees should be reported.
Line 10 instructions include two new examples to clarify the
meaning of local chapters, branches and affiliates.
Line 11 instructions clarify that an organization should
answer No if it redacted or removed any information (e.g.,
names and addresses of contributors listed on Schedule B)
from the copy of its final Form 990 that it provided to its
governing body members before filing the form.
Schedule J-2 is eliminated as a continuation schedule for Part
VII, Section A. Instead, if filers need more space for listing
additional persons and their compensation, they should use
duplicate copies of Part VII, Section A as continuation
sheets.
The instructions clarify that the box in Section A, line 1a
should be checked if neither the organization nor any related
organizations compensated any current officer, director or
trustee of the organization.
The instructions clarify that if a related organization was
related to the filing organization for only a portion of the tax
year, then the filing organization may choose to report
compensation paid by the related organization only during
the time it was related.
The instructions clarify that reportable compensation for
officers, directors, individual trustees and employees includes
both compensation reported in Form W-2, box 5 and in Form
1099-MISC, box 7, if they are compensated in more than one
capacity.
The compensation table in the instructions clarifies how
certain contributions to and amounts deferred under qualified
and nonqualified plans should be reported in Part VII and
Schedule J.
Section A, line 1a, column (B) notes that filers must describe
in Schedule O the average hours per week that any person
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Change(s) Made/Issue(s) Addressed
Core Form 990 and Instructions
listed in line 1a worked for any related organizations.
 The Total line for the Section A table has been subdivided
into three lines: line lb (sub-total for all persons listed in lines
(1) through (28) of the Section A table), 1c (total from
continuation sheets, if any) and 1d (total of lines 1b and 1c).
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Form 990, Part VIII, Statement
of Revenue
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Form 990, Part IX, Statement
of Functional Expenses
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The instructions for column (B) clarify that costs incurred to
secure grants, or contracts, to provide program services to the
grantor or other contracting party should be reported in
column (B), whereas costs incurred to secure grants to
provide services to the general public should be reported in
column (D).
The instructions clarify that filers should report in lines 5-10
payments to reimburse payroll agents, common paymasters
and other third parties for compensation paid to the filing
organization’s officers, directors, trustees and employees, and
should report payments to a third party for that party’s
services in line 11g.
Line 24 (other expenses) states that miscellaneous expenses
not reported in lines 24a through 24e should be reported on
line 24f, and that if the line 24f amount exceeds 10 percent of
the line 25, column (A) amount, the organization must
itemize the type and amount of line 24f expenses on
Schedule O.
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Line 6 is revised to require reporting of receivables from
contributing employers and sponsoring organizations of
section 501(c)(9) voluntary employees’ beneficiary
organizations (VEBAs).
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A new Part XI, Reconciliation of Net Assets, is added to
reconcile beginning-of-year and end-of-year net assets. The
former Part XI, Financial Statements and Reporting, is now
Form 990, Part X, Balance
Sheet
Form 990 Parts XI,
Reconciliation of Net Assets,
and XII, Financial Statements
Instructions clarify that neither donations of services
(including the value of donated advertising space or
broadcast air time) nor donation of the use of materials,
equipment or facilities may be reported in Part VIII, even if
such donations are considered revenue under GAAP.
Instructions clarify how to report donations of certain items
sold at auction, in a revised example for line 8c.
Form
and Reporting
Change(s) Made/Issue(s) Addressed
Core Form 990 and Instructions
Part XII.
 A new Part XI, Reconciliation of Net Assets, is added to
reconcile beginning-of-year and end-of-year net assets. The
former Part XI, Financial Statements and Reporting, is now
Part XII.
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Form 990 Glossary
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Form 990, Appendix K,
Contributions
A revised definition of control clarifies that a person’s
beneficial interest in a trust shall be determined in proportion
to that person’s actuarial interest in the trust, for purposes of
determining whether a trust is related to the filing
organization.
A revised definition of related organization:
o Includes contributing employers and sponsoring
organizations of section 501(c)(9) VEBAs;
o Clarifies that if the filing organization is a trust, and
has a bank or financial institution trustee that is also
the trustee of another trust, the other trust is not a
brother/sister related organization.
A new appendix discusses certain federal tax rules that apply
to tax-exempt organizations and donors with respect to
charitable contributions and other contributions.
Form 990-EZ and Instructions

Changes relating to more than
one part of the core Form 990EZ form/instructions/
schedules
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Revised to add new sub-lines for reporting income from
fundraising events and gaming separately. The threshold for
filing Part II of Schedule G is now $15,000 of gross income
and contributions from fundraising events, and the threshold
for filing Part III of Schedule G is now $15,000 of gross
income from gaming
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Revised to clarify that if an organization maintained any
donor advised fund or operated a hospital, then it must
complete Form 990 instead of Form 990-EZ.
New lines 44c and 44d require organizations that received
any payments for indoor tanning services to indicate whether
they have filed a Form 720 to report such payments.
Line 6
Line 44
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New line 45a is added to clarify that controlled entities that
received certain payments from, or engaged in any
transactions with, a controlled entity within the meaning of
section
512(b)(13) must complete Form 990 and Schedule R instead
of Form 990-EZ.
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Line 46 regarding political campaign activities has been
moved from Part VI to Part V, so that all Form 990-EZ
filers—not just 501(c)(3) organizations—must answer this
question. If an organization answers Yes, it must complete
and file the applicable parts of Schedule C, Part I.
Line 45
Line 46
Filing thresholds increased: The gross receipts and total assets
thresholds for Form 990-EZ filers have been lowered for the
2010 tax year to $200,000 and $500,000, respectively. In
other words, an organization can file a Form 990-EZ (rather
than a Form 990) if its annual gross receipts for tax year 2010
are less than $200,000 and if its total assets at the end of tax
year 2010 are less than $500,000.
Schedule O, rather than separate attachments, should be used
to provide narrative responses, as applicable, to lines 8, 10,
16, 20, 24, 26, 31, 33, 34, and 35. Schedule O may also be
used to supplement or explain the organization’s responses to
other questions in the core Form 990-EZ.
What were formerly referred to as special events are now
referred to as fundraising events throughout the form and
instructions.
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Changes relating to more than
one schedule
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Instructions explain how to report a loss on an uncollectible
pledge that was reported as public support on a prior year’s
Schedule A.
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Instructions direct not to attach substitutes for Schedule B,
and clarify that Parts I, II and III of Schedule B may be
duplicated as needed to provide adequate space for listing all
contributors.
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Instructions for Part II-A clarify that this Part needs to be
completed by all Form 990 filers for which the 501(h)
lobbying expenditure election was valid and in effect during
the 2010 tax year, whether or not the organization engaged
in lobbying activities during that tax year.
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Instructions for Part X clarify that a filer that included a FIN
48 footnote in its financial statements should complete Part
X and provide the full text of its FIN 48 footnote in Part
XIV, even if it did not report any liability for uncertain tax
positions under FIN 48 in that footnote.
Schedule A, Public Charity
Status and Public Support
Schedule B, Schedule of
Contributors
Schedule C, Political Campaign
and Lobbying Activities
Schedule D, Supplemental
Financial Statements
Schedule Changes
Schedules F-1, I-1, J-1, N-1 and R-1 are all eliminated; filers
may duplicate the applicable tables if they need space to
report additional information.
New narrative parts have been added to Schedules E, G, K,
L and R. These parts, rather than Schedule O, should now
be used to supplement responses to questions on those
schedules. Schedule O should be used only to supplement
responses to questions on the Core Form 990.
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Schedule F, Statement of
Activities Outside the United
States
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Schedule G, Supplemental
Information Regarding
Fundraising or Gaming
Activities
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Schedule Changes
Part I, Line 3, column (c) is revised to clarify that the
number of independent contractors in a foreign region
should be reported, along with the number of employees and
agents in that region.
Part I, line 3, column (f) is revised to require reporting of the
total book value of investments in a foreign region.
Instructions for Part I, lines 3a-3c, columns (b) and (c)
clarify how to report total number of foreign offices, agents,
employees and independent contractors.
Part I, column (f) instructions clarify that types of indirect
expenditures for foreign activity that do not have to be
reported if they are not separately tracked include expenses
for listing study abroad programs on a school website or in a
paper catalog.
Part II instructions clarify that foreign program related
investments are reportable in Part II.
Part II instructions state that a filer should report not only
grants and other assistance to foreign organizations or
entities, but also to U.S. organizations or entities for foreign
activity.
Parts II and III instructions clarify that organizations using
the accrual method of accounting that make foreign grants to
be paid in future years should report the grants’ present
value in Part II and report any accruals of additional value in
future years.
Parts II and III instructions clarify that the filing
organization should report foreign grants regardless of the
source of the grant funds (whether restricted or unrestricted)
or whether the filing organization selected the grantee.
A new Part IV requires reporting of whether the
organization engaged in foreign activities that require filing
of other IRS forms.
Part I, line 2b table is revised to require reporting of
professional fundraisers’ addresses.
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Schedule H, Hospitals
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Part I, line 4 is revised to require reporting of severance or
change-of-control payments from both the filing
organization and related organizations.
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Parts I-IV are revised to allow reporting of four tax-exempt
bond issues per page rather than five; instructions provide
that Schedule K should be duplicated to report additional
issues.
Part I includes a new column (i), Pooled financing.
Part II includes new lines 1 (Amount of bonds retired), 2
(amount of bonds legally defeased), 5 (capitalized interest
from proceeds), 8 (credit enhancement from proceeds)and
12 (other spent proceeds).
Part IV includes new lines 3d (Was the hedge
superintegrated?) and 3e (Was the hedge terminated?).
Schedule J, Compensation
Information
Schedule K, Supplemental
Information on Tax-Exempt
Bonds
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Part IV Instructions clarify that business transactions include
insurance contracts, and that interested persons include
entities controlled by family members of current or former
officers, directors, trustees or key employees.
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Former lines 4a and 4b from the 2009 Schedule N, Part I,
which asked whether the organization had requested or
received a letter from the IRS that the organization’s exempt
status was terminated, are deleted.
Schedule L, Transactions With
Interested Persons
Schedule N, Liquidation,
Termination, Dissolution, or
Significant Disposition of Assets
Schedule Changes
Part V includes a new Section B for reporting, on a hospital
facility-by-hospital facility basis, information concerning the
hospital facility’s community health needs assessment,
financial assistance policy, billing and collections,
emergency medical care policy, and charges for medical
care.
The organization must complete a separate Section B for
each of its hospital facilities listed in Part V, Section A.
Completion of Part V, Section B, lines 1-7 is optional for tax
year 2010.
Completion of Part V, Section B, lines 8-21 optional if the
organization’s 2010 tax year began on or before March 23,
2010.
Organizations filing Schedule H with their 2010 Forms 990
should not file their 2010 Forms 990 prior to July 1, 2011.
See Announcement 2011-20 on IRS.gov.
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Schedule O, Supplemental
Information to Form 990
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Schedule R, Related
Organizations
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Schedule Changes
Instructions clarify that Schedule O should only be used to
supplement responses to questions on the Core Form 990,
not other schedules.
New column (g) in Part II asks whether each related taxexempt organization is a section 512(b)(13) controlled entity
of the filing organization.
New column (k) in Part III asks for the filing organization’s
percentage ownership interest in each related partnership.
New column (d) in Part V asks how the organization
determined the amount of each type of related party
transaction reported in Part V.
Instructions provide examples to illustrate how the filing
organization can control or be controlled by multiple
persons, and how multiple nonprofit organizations can be
directly and indirectly related to one another.