Public Inspection — Instruction 8940

Information available for public inspection. If your requested miscellaneous determination is among those disclosable to the public, the information that will be open for public inspection includes the following.

Your complete Form 8940 and any supporting documents.
All correspondence between you and the IRS concerning Form 8940, including Form 2848.
Your determination letter.
Annual information returns (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N) including schedules, except for the names and addresses of contributors and other identifying information about contributors.

Information not available for public inspection. The following items won’t be open for public inspection.

Any information relating to a trade secret, patent, style of work, or apparatus that, if released, would adversely affect you (we must approve withholding this information).
Any other information that would adversely affect national defense (we must approve withholding this information).
User fee payment information.
Contributors’ names and addresses and other identifying information about contributors included with Form 990 or 990-EZ.

When submitting your request for a miscellaneous determination, you must clearly identify any information that isn’t open to public inspection by marking it as “NOT SUBJECT TO PUBLIC INSPECTION” and include an explanation of why you’re asking for the information to be withheld. We will decide whether to withhold the identified information from public inspection.

Making documents available for public inspection. Both you and the IRS must make the information that is subject to disclosure available for public inspection. The public may request a copy of the information available for public inspection from us by submitting Form 4506-B. The public may also request inspection of the information or a copy of the information directly from you.

You may post the documents required to be available for public inspection on your own website. Information returns and your exemption application materials must be

Instructions for Form 8940 (Rev. 12-2025) 3

posted exactly as filed with the IRS. You may only delete the information that isn’t open for public inspection.

If you post the documents on your website, you can give any person requesting copies the website where the documents may be found, but you don’t need to provide copies of the information. However, even if these documents are posted on your website, you must still allow public inspection without charge at your main office during regular business hours.

Documents aren’t considered available for public inspection on a website if the otherwise disclosable information is edited or subject to editing by a third party when posted. To date, the IRS hasn’t approved any third-party websites for posting.

See Pub. 557 for additional information on public inspection requirements.

Foreign Organizations Foreign organizations are those that were created in countries other than the United States or its territories. Foreign organizations may request miscellaneous determinations in the same way that domestic organizations request miscellaneous determinations. See Language and currency requirements, earlier.

Tip: Contributions by U.S. residents to foreign organizations generally aren’t deductible. Tax treaties between the United States and certain foreign countries provide specific limited exceptions.

Annual returns for foreign organizations. A foreign organization that establishes or claims tax-exempt status must generally file an information return annually (Form 990 or 990-EZ). However, a foreign organization (other than a private foundation or supporting organization) may file Form 990-N (e-Postcard) instead of Form 990 or 990-EZ when its gross receipts from U.S. source income are normally $50,000 or less and it hasn’t conducted significant activity in the United States. See the instructions for Forms 990 and 990-EZ for further information. A foreign organization that is subject to unrelated business income tax must file Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return.

Organizations created in U.S. territories. Organizations created in territories of the United States are generally treated as domestic organizations. If you were created in a U.S. territory, you must complete all required parts of Form 8940 to request a miscellaneous determination.

Annual filing requirements for an organization created in a U.S. territory are similar to those outlined above for foreign organizations (see Regulations section 1.6033-2(g)(1)(viii)).