What This Letter Means
Letter 3611 is an initial contact letter from the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities division. It tells your organization that the IRS is examining one of its returns, such as a Form 990, and asks to set an appointment to examine its books, records, and activities.
It usually arrives with Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, and Form 4564, Information Document Request, which lists the records the examiner wants to see. The letter gives a date to respond.
What to Do
- Call or write the examiner named in the letter by the response date and schedule the appointment.
- Read the Form 4564 closely. Pull the governing documents, board minutes, financial statements, bank records, and records of receipts, expenditures, and activities it asks for.
- If you want a representative, file Form 2848 before the first meeting.
- If you need more time, ask the examiner before the date passes and confirm any extension in writing.
- Keep copies of everything you provide.
Don't Ignore It
Exempt organizations must keep records and make them available for IRS inspection. That requirement comes from Internal Revenue Code sections 6001 and 6033. When an organization fails to respond to repeated, reasonable requests to examine its records, the IRS can revoke its exemption on that ground alone. In at least one published IRS determination, a revocation followed a Letter 3611 and Form 4564 that went unanswered for more than two months.
Revocation means contributions stop being deductible to donors and the organization may owe income tax. Make sure the address and phone number on the organization's latest return are current. That is where the IRS will try to reach you.
If your organization received Letter 3611 and you want help managing the examination, call us at (813) 229-7100.