Titus Introduces Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act
Washington, DC,
July 30, 2014
July 30, 2014
Today Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District introduced the Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act to make it easier for state charity regulators and individual donors to identify fraudulent charities. July 30, 2014 Today Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District introduced the Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act to make it easier for state charity regulators and individual donors to identify fraudulent charities. This legislation strengthens the regulation of charities by providing state charity regulators with tools to track charities and charity executives who have been convicted of fraud in other states, and it protects those who wish to donate by requiring the IRS to digitally release information on charities’ financial activities. This commonsense measure will help Americans determine which charities are using funds wisely to serve their intended cause and which charities are simply seeking to enrich unscrupulous CEOs. “Millions of Americans donate to charity every year, assuming their donations are being put to good use. Sadly, recent reports have revealed dozens of so-called charities that are actually little more than corrupt schemes to enrich their founders and the for-profit companies they hire to solicit donations. It is shameful that these organizations have been allowed to squander the public’s good will,” said Titus. “The Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act will strengthen protections against fraudulent charities and help generous Americans make better informed decisions, assuring them that their hard-earned dollars are spent serving those who truly need our help.” Specifically, the Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act would: 1. Require the Department of Justice to establish an easily searchable database, accessible to state Attorneys General, of charities and charity management officials who are convicted of fraud, theft, or financial crimes. It would require DOJ to request that states submit this information to the federal government to be included in the database. 2. Require charities to submit their 990 tax forms in an electronic format. Currently, charities are given the option to submit electronically. 3. Require the IRS to release a digitized copy of the 990 whenever under current law they would have released a paper copy of the 990. Currently, the IRS only releases non-searchable copies of these forms, which makes it difficult to access and organize the information. |