Hawaii AG's Office and IRS to share nonprofit tax information

The Hawaii Attorney General's Office has teamed with the Internal Revenue Service to improve oversight of charitable organizations, the Pacific Business News reported on Feb. 1. An agreement to enter into an information sharing agreement between the state and the IRS was approved on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The agreement is pursuant to provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which authorizes the IRS to share confidential tax return information with state charity oversight agencies, such as the Hawaii AGl, as long as confidentially safeguards are maintained.

Attorney General Mark Bennett said the agreement will strengthen the state's oversight of Hawaii's 5,500 charitable institutions, which have $16 billion in assets and 41,000 employees.