B

• Author: Bruce R. Hopkins
• Profession: Leading authority on the law of tax-exempt organizations
• Pages: 41-55

B

B

B corporation

Despite the name, the “B corporation”is not a legal form of entity but is a busi ness corporation

that is certied by the B Lab (a tax-exempt charitable organization)asacompanythatis

working to solve social and environmental problems.[EO §4.11(d)].

background le document

Thephrase“backgroundledocument,”withrespecttoawritten determination, includes

the request for that written determination, any written materia l submitted in support of the

request, and any communication, written or otherwise, between the IRS and personsoutside

the IRS in connection with the written determination (other than a communication between

the Department of Justice and the IRS relating to a pending civil or criminal case or investi-

gation received before issuance of the written determination (IRC §6110(b)(2)). These doc-

uments generally are disposed of by the IRS within three years from the date they are made

available for public inspecti on (IRC§6110(j)(2)). [EO §28.9(a)(i); HC §34.2].

balance

The word “balance” means the remainder of something, usually arrived at following reconcili-

ation of accounts (debits and credits,asse ts and liabilities).Tax-exempt charitable organiza-

tions are required by the fe deral tax law to calculateannuallythebalanceoftheirassetsand

liabilities, and to report this item on their annual information return (IRC §6033(b)(4)). [EO

§28.3(g)] (also Balance sheet).

balance sheet

A“balancesheet”istheportionofanorganization’snancial statement and/or annual infor-

mation return that states the o rganizat ion’s balance of it s assets and liabilities.Thisbalance

will either be net assets or net liabilities, or,if t he organizationuses fund accounting, the fund

balance. [AR §7.2(c); AU §5.19(h)] (also Form 990).

Balanced Budget A ct of 1997

By enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Congress expanded the Medicare program

by adding Medicare Part C, which permits Medicare beneciaries to receive ser vices covered

Bruce R. Hopkins’ Nonprot Law Dictionary, First Edition. Bruce R. Hopkins.

©2015 Bruce R. Hopkins. Published 2015 by John Wiley& S ons,Inc.