Form 990-EZ Tutorial #9: List of Officers, Directors, Key Employees
http://www.myform990EZ.com
Part IV of the 990 EZ is probably one of the most problematic on the return. Understandably, people don't like listing their name and compensation on a public document.
If you are an officer, director, trustee, or key employee, you must disclose your information in Part IV.
In years past, the IRS asked for addresses to be listed, although it did not require that a personal residence be listed. The current Form 990-EZ does not ask that an address be listed.
The information required to be disclosed in Part IV includes
Name
Title
Average hours per week devoted to the position
Compensation amounts
Schedule O can be used if there are any compensation arrangements you'd like to explain. I highly encourage the use of Schedule O to explain the compensation arrangements if they are not straight-forward.
I find that is often the case in a small organization that the executive director, who might also be one of the founders of the organization, chooses NOT to be listed in Part IV mainly because they do not want to show their compensation. This is not acceptable to the IRS.
Failure to disclose the required information can result in the return being "incomplete" and therefore "not filed" and subject to late-filing penalties.
Officers are elected or appointed to manage the operations of the organization. They are generally the President. Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. They have voting power on the board of directors.
Directors or Trustees are members of the board of directors and must have voting power to be shown as a director or trustee.
Key employees are employees who have managerial authority over the organization but who may not have voting power on the board of directors. The executive director and chief financial officer would be considered key employees.
If an independent contractor has been hired to serve as an executive director or other management official and their compensation is reported on a 1099-misc, they should be shown as a key employee.
The person who signs the Form 990-EZ is considered an officer and must be listed as such in Part IV, even if that person is not considered an officer in the articles of incorporation or other organizing documents.
Enter name and title (Pres, Sec, VP, Treas, or Director)
Enter number of hours ( not "as needed" or 20+ must state either a number or a decimal fraction.
If a director performs services in addition to those of director and is compensated for those services, the compensation and hours should be included and an explanation give n on schedule O.
Compensation includes amounts reported on both W-2 and on 1099-misc. Do not leave any spaces blank! If no compensation is paid, enter zeroes! Otherwise it may be interpreted that you chose not to disclose compensation.
Compensation is reported on the calendar year that ends within the organization's fiscal year. So if an organization has a June 30, 2015 year end, compensation would be shown for the calendar year ending December 2014. This means that Part IV compensation amounts will not necessarily match compensation reported on page 1, line 12.
Don't report duplicate amounts in columns c through 3. In other words, if you've already reported an amount in one column, don't report it in another.
Most small organizations will only be reporting amounts in column (c), so detailed explanations of columns d and e are beyond the scope of this video. Refer to the form instructions.