What changes were made to the public support test regulations?
Key changes to the public support test regulations include the following: (1) The advance ruling process was eliminated. An organization that establishes in its Form 1023 application that it can reasonably be expected to be publicly supported is a public charity for its first five years for all purposes, including the section 4940 tax, regardless of its actual support during that period. See the Elimination of the Advance Ruling Process for more details. (2) The period used for determining whether an organization “normally” is publicly supported was extended from four years to five, including the tax year in question. Thus, the public support tables in Parts II and III of the 2008 Schedule A require support for the years 2004-2008. (3) The cash method of accounting is no longer required in determining public support. Instead, the organization must use its regular method of accounting that it checked on Form 990, Part XI, line 1, or Form 990-EZ, line G, whether cash or accrual. For accr
