IRS Publication 4221-PC (rev 7-2009)

Public Inspection of Annual Returns and Exemption Applications

A public charity must make the following documents available for public inspection and copying upon request and without charge (except for a reasonable charge for copying) . The IRS also makes these documents available for public inspection and copying .

A public charity may place reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of in person inspection and copying, and may charge a reasonable fee for providing copies . It can charge no more for the copies than the per page rate the IRS charges for

providing copies . See www.irs.gov/foia/index.html for current IRS copying fees . Although the IRS charges no fee for the first 100 pages, the organization can charge a fee for all copies . The organization can also charge the actual postage costs it pays to provide copies .A  tax-exempt organization does not have to comply with individual requests for copies if it makes the documents widely available . This can be done by posting the documents on a readily accessible Web site .

 

For details on disclosure rules and procedures for public charities, see Life Cycle of a Public Charity and the instructions to Forms 990 and 1023 at www.irs.gov/eo .

 

Exemption Application – A public charity must  make available for public inspection its exemption application, Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, along with each of the following documents:

• all documents submitted with Form 1023;
• all documents the IRS requires the organization to submit in support of its application;
• and the exemption ruling letter issued by the IRS.