Many clubs do not realize that they are required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990EZ at the end of each fiscal year if they have collected $25,000 or more for that year. That’s total fund collected, not after costs. These forms must be filed each year by the 15^th of the 5^th month after the year closes. I.E. By Nov. 15^th if you are on the Lions International Fiscal year and May 15^th if you are on a calendar year basis. The penalties for not filing are $20 a day for the club and $10 a day for the person who was responsible for filing the form. These penalties may be waived by the IRS, but only for an exceptionally good cause. In my experience as an auditor and fraud examiner, I have only seen the penalties waived when there was fraud committed by the treasurer or an executive director, and the Board of the organization had no reason to know that the forms had not been filed. I cannot speak for the IRS, of course. The 990 forms may be downloaded from the Lions International Website or from IRS’s website. www.irs.gov

Lions, remember that your club should be audited each year.

Did you know that 13.4% of frauds (thefts by employees) are from Not-for-Profit Organizations and take an average of 18 months to identify? [Information from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2002 Report to the Nation Occupational Fraud and Abuse.]