Earlier today, at an annual meeting of tax professionals, Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) TE/GE Commissioner Sunita Lough remarked that the IRS recently completed and provided Congress a report on the activities of tax-exempt and other hospitals. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 4959, the Treasury Department or its designee must review the community benefit activities of every Code Section 501(c)(3) hospital at least once every three years and must annually submit a report to certain congressional committees regarding the levels of charity care provided by tax-exempt, taxable and government hospitals; their bad debt expenses and unreimbursed costs for services associated with means-tested and other government programs; and, for tax-exempt hospitals, costs incurred for community benefit activities. The IRS report has not yet been made public. Tax-exempt hospitals should pay attention to the report’s findings, once released, as they could provide fuel for critics or even pave the way for additional requirements for continued exemption. Hall Render will provide further information about this report as it becomes available.
If you have any questions or would like additional information on this topic, please contact Jeff Carmichael at (317) 977-1443 or at jcarmichael@wp.hallrender.com.
