Priority Guidance Plan 2023-2024

Executive summary: FY 24 Priority Guidance Plan items affect exempt organizations

The Treasury Department and the IRS released the 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan (PGP), which contains a list of projects that are priorities for allocating Treasury Department and IRS resources for the plan year. For exempt organizations, the PGP includes one new item and a number of carryover items from previous years. In addition, charitable giving and employee benefit items could affect exempt organizations.

2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan

The PGP contains 237 guidance projects for the 12-month period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. For exempt organizations, the newly released PGP contains one new item while continuing to highlight the IRS and Treasury Department’s intent to provide guidance on tax issues related to donor advised funds (DAFs). Of the 10 items under the exempt organizations heading, four specifically address DAFs and their stakeholders, including donors and management. The newly included plan item relates to recent changes to section 529.

The projects listed under exempt organizations are as follows:

• Guidance revising Rev. Proc. 80-27 regarding group exemption letters. (Notice 2020-36 was published on May 18, 2020.)
• Final regulations on section 509(a)(3) supporting organizations. (Proposed regulations were published on Feb. 19, 2016.)
• Regulations under section 512 regarding the allocation of expenses in computing unrelated business taxable income and addressing how changes made to section 172 net operating losses by section 2303(b) of the CARES Act apply for purposes of section 512(a)(6).
• Guidance addressing the SECURE 2.0 Act changes relating to section 529.
• Guidance under section 4941 regarding a private foundation's investment in a partnership in which disqualified persons are also partners.
• Regulations under section 4966 regarding donor advised funds, including excise taxes on sponsoring organizations and fund management.
• Regulations under section 4967 regarding prohibited benefits, including excise taxes on donors, donor advisors, related persons, and fund management.
• Regulations under section 4958 regarding donor advised funds and supporting organizations.
• Guidance regarding the public-support computation with respect to distributions from donor advised funds.
• Regulations designating an appropriate high-level Treasury official under section 7611. (Proposed regulations were published on Aug. 5, 2009.)

Other projects affecting exempt organizations include those related to charitable giving and employee benefit plans.

Charitable giving (General tax issues)

• Guidance under section 170 regarding charitable contributions.
• Guidance under section 170 regarding conservation easements, including facade easements.

Employee benefit plans

• Regulations and other guidance under sections 419, 419A, and 501(c)(9) relating to welfare benefit funds, including voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations (VEBAs).
• Regulations under section 457(f) and related guidance on ineligible plans. (Proposed regulations were published on June 22, 2016.).