http://nytimes.com/2004/08/11/national/11charity.html
August 11, 2004
I.R.S. Will Broaden Inquiry Into Salaries at Nonprofit Groups
By STEPHANIE STROM
he Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that it had broadened its inquiry into the compensation practices and policies of charities and foundations.
The agency has already begun examinations or sent letters of inquiry to 200 organizations, and it plans to query roughly 1,800 more as part of its effort to crack down on excessive compensation and benefits.
Steven T. Miller, commissioner of the tax exempt and government entities division at the I.R.S., said more than 500 organizations would be subject to an examination, which involves them having revenue agents in their offices rather than simply submitting responses to written questions.
Mr. Miller said the I.R.S. would add 70 auditors to its staff overseeing tax-exempt groups, raising the total number of agents to roughly 300.
The nonprofit world has been bracing for this I.R.S. inquiry for some time, but it expected the scope to be smaller.
In testimony at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on charitable oversight, the commissioner of the I.R.S., Mark W. Everson, said in June that his agency would be looking into compensation practices at "hundreds" of organizations.
Michael W. Peregrine, a lawyer in Chicago with several large nonprofit clients, said, "So many organizations were assuming this wouldn't apply to them, and now it's clear that the scrutiny is going to be much broader."
