[Pooled Savings Account, May 31, 1997 $4,890.94]
Closing Balance, May 31, 1997 $11,226.38
Submitted by: Pamela Yorks, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Treasurer, SLA PAM Division
As the current PAM Division Treasurer, I attended the SLA Treasurers' Workshop at the SLA Annual Conference on Sunday, June 8, 1-2:45pm. Much time was spent discussing the more stringent reporting requirements instituted by SLA as a result of a recent Internal Revenue Service audit, and the IRS threat to revoke the group tax exemption if more stringent rules were not followed.
As a result, SLA introduced a "Unit Reporting Requirements Policy" to protect its tax-exempt status, and a "Unit Officer Acknowledgement Form", which relevant unit officers must sign, agreeing to comply with the new policies and reporting requirements established by the Board of Directors.
SLA has also instituted policies to make sure financial reporting is done properly and in a timely manner: (1) all allotment checks will be held until the prior year's mid-year and annual financial statements have been completed accurately; and (2) as of January 1999, all financial information must be recorded and reported using Quicken software. [I have this software now and have begun putting in the data for 1997.]
Among the new rules and regulations from the IRS is that all cash contributions greater than $250 require a written receipt, and I have been using the "Charitable Contributions Receipt" form provided by SLA for this purpose. However, the IRS was particularly concerned about "advertising" and other "unrelated business income" (which is taxable), so we have to be more careful about what is considered a "contribution", about the way we acknowledge contributions, and about how we estimate "the value of goods or services received by the donor" in connection with any "contribution".
For example, if a donor wishes to sponsor an issue of the PAM Bulletin, the acknowledgment must be done in an "insignificant" way (i.e. it can not be an "active" advertisement) or else the Division would have to pay taxes on the donation. It is okay to put a "thank-you" in the printed or Web version of the Bulletin, but we cannot provide an active link to the donor's Web site. Also, the space used for a sponsor's logo must be estimated as a % of the total space in the Bulletin and put on the Charitable Contribution Receipt as the "estimate of the value of goods or services". The donor is supposed to subtract that amount from what it declares as charitable contributions to the IRS.
Respectfully submitted,
Pamela Yorks, PAM Division Treasurer
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Created by: Laurel Kristick, August 1, 1997
Modified by: Laurel Kristick, August 6, 1997