Tax-exempt organizations in the United States are, in general, required to file regular reports on their operations with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These filings represent a significant burden for the filing organizations, are a critical source of information for many observers, and are relied upon by regulators and donors as indicators of the organizations’ commitment to achieving the wide variety of purposes for which the exemptions are granted. This paper recommends that the resources of the IRS be refocused so that greater attention can be paid to complex organizations, while the burden of preparing annual filings by simpler organization is also reduced. More generally, this paper also recommends that new attention be paid to the information collected and to its publication. It argues that the needs of the public and other regulatory agencies are not well-served by the current information and that the limitations on currently available information contribute to misunderstanding of and cynicism about the role of charitable nonprofits in American life.

中文翻译：

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规范“经典”的社区慈善组织

通常，美国的免税组织必须向美国国税局（IRS）定期报告其运营情况。这些备案给备案组织带来了沉重负担，是许多观察员的重要信息来源，监管者和捐助者都依赖这些文件作为这些组织致力于实现豁免的广泛目的的指标。本文建议将IRS的资源重新定位，以便可以将更多的注意力放在复杂的组织上，同时也可以减轻由较简单的组织准备年度报表的负担。更一般而言，本文还建议重新关注所收集的信息及其发布。