The Cal State Long Beach student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has had its tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).
The IRS released a tax-exempt revocation list earlier this month that included approximately 275,000 organizations nationwide that automatically lost their tax-exempt status because they did not file legally required annual reports for three consecutive years, according to a press release.
It is unclear why SPJ lost its status in September 2010.
However, the IRS website said that if an organization appears on the revocation list, it is because IRS records indicate that each organization had a filing requirement and did not file the required returns or notices for 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires most tax-exempt organizations to file an annual return or notice with the federal organization. The IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status if an organization does not file returns for three consecutive years.
“If an organization filed their 990-form late or did not make a deadline, they fall onto the [revocation] list,” said Anabel Marquez, a spokeswoman for the IRS.
Organizations appearing on the list are no longer eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions and any income they receive may be taxable, Marquez said.
Raul Reis, Chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, said he was unaware of the IRS requirement and will be notifying incoming SPJ chapter officials to handle the matter.
The SPJ website instructs all SPJ chapters with an Employee Identification Number to file annual tax returns to the IRS.
Other CSULB student chapters also had their tax-exempt statuses revoked by the IRS.
This included Alpha Lambda Delta, a first-year honor society, and the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda.
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