SECTION 3. MANDATORY

ELECTRONIC FILING OF FORM 4720

On July 1, 2019, the TFA was enacted into law. Section 3101 of the TFA is effective for taxable years beginning on or after July 2, 2019. Section 3101(a) of the TFA amends section 6033(n) of the Code to provide that any exempt organization required to file a return under section 6033 of the Code must file such return in electronic form. Section 3101(c) of the TFA amends section 6104(b) of the Code to provide that any annual return required to be filed electronically under section 6033(n) must be made available by the Secretary to the public as soon as practicable in a machine-readable format. Section 3101(d)(1) of the TFA provides that, in general, these amendments apply to taxable years beginning after the date of enactment of the TFA. However, section 3101(d)(2) of the TFA gives the Secretary authority to delay the application of these amendments if the Secretary determines the application of the amendments would cause undue burden without a delay but the delayed applicability date must not be later than taxable years beginning on or after July 1, 2021.

As described in section 2 of this notice, Form 4720, when filed by a private foundation, is part of the information return required under section 6033, as well as a tax return required under section 6011. Accordingly, Form 4720 filed by a private foundation as part of the Form 990-PF is required to be electronically filed as a return required under section 6033(n). The IRS is modifying Form 4720 so that private foundations can electronically file the form in accordance with the TFA’s electronic filing mandate. The modifications to Form 4720 are also necessary to meet the TFA’s requirement under section 6104(b) that the Secretary must make available to the public in machine readable format any annual return to be filed electronically under section 6033(n). See section 4 of this notice for the timing implications of these modifications.

Currently, under § 53.6011-1(c) a disqualified person may designate the private foundation’s Form 4720 as the disqualified person’s return for purposes of complying with the filing requirement under § 53.6011-1(b), provided all persons share

the same taxable year. The current regulation assumes the ability of multiple taxpayers to sign the same paper copy of Form 4720. However, that flexibility no longer exists for private foundations and their disqualified persons because section 6033(n) requires private foundations to file Forms 4720 electronically and the IRS system allows for only one taxpayer per return. Thus, the TFA has rendered § 53.6011-1(c), allowing for joint Form 4720 submissions, no longer applicable to private foundations once the Form 4720 is required to be electronically filed by private foundations. Accordingly, the Treasury Department and the IRS intend to propose the removal of § 53.6011-1(c) in a future notice of proposed rulemaking.