Update from Archstone Law Group

Compliance Alert

Many of our clients have received a mailing from an entity called “Compliance Services” which includes an “Annual Minutes Requirement Statement” form to be completed and returned with a $125 payment. Please be advised that this is NOT a mailing from the Secretary of State. It is merely a solicitation for your business and you are not required to respond. For more information, please access the Secretary of State’s Alert at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/cormccalert.htm.

Please note, however, that it is important for Massachusetts corporations to observe corporate formalities, including an annual meeting of Directors and Stock­holders to provide for the election of officers and directors for the coming year. We currently assist many of our corporate clients with compliance with this requirement by conducting an annual review of the client’s file and Secretary of State filings, and preparing Annual Minutes for signature and filing with the corporate records. Please contact us if you would like more information about having us provide this service for your corporation.

 

Legal Maintenance Checklist for Massachusetts Charitable Organizations

We would like to remind our Massachusetts non-profit clients that November 1st is the due date for filing the annual report with the Secretary of State’s office. In addition, here is a checklist designed to assist Massachusetts non-profit charitable organizations stay in legal compliance.

  1. File IRS Form 990 Information Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (or Form 990-EZ or 990-N) with the IRS no later than the 15th day of the fifth month following the end of the organization’s fiscal year.
  2. File IRS Form 990-T with the IRS no later than the 15th day of the fifth month following the end of the organization’s fiscal year if the organization has $1,000.00 or more in unrelated business income and pay tax.
  3. File Form PC Annual Report with the Charities Bureau, Massachusetts Attorney General, on the same date as the 990 is filed and include filing fee. If the organization will solicit contributions before the due date of its Form PC, file Short Form PC.
  4. Submit audited or unaudited (depending on gross revenue) financial statement to Charities Bureau along with Annual Report.
  5. File AR180 Annual Report with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division.
  6. Register with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for exemption from state corporate franchise tax by mailing or faxing a copy of IRS federal determination letter.
  7. File with the Department of Revenue for exemption from state sales and use taxes on items used by the organization in fulfilling its charitable mission.
  8. File Form 1B-3 once with the Department of Revenue for real estate tax exemption for each property and Form 3ABC each year for each property. The municipal board of assessors in the locale where the property is located determines when the filings must be made.
  9. File IRS Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.

 

Archstone Attorneys Speak at Conferences

Carol Phillips is a member of the faculty of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education’s program on Health & Hospital Law Basics. She will address topics pertinent to physicians and physician practices on November 7, 2011. In addition, Paul Faxon recently spoke at the annual international conference of the Family Firm Institute on the application of Alternative Dispute Resolution methods to resolve legal disputes within a family business.