Financial News Line Items

The IRS reports that approximately 275,000 organizations lost their tax-exempt status because they did not file legally required annual reports for three consecutive years. Any organizations that want to apply for reinstatement of their tax-exempt status can do so by taking special steps authorized by the IRS.

A survey by Expedia.com found that the average employed American worker received 18 vacation days in 2010 but only used 14 of those days. The four forfeited days of vacation per person add up to 448 million earned but unused vacation days. In monetary terms, that's $67.5 billion worth of time.

Small businesses can find grant opportunities on federal, state, and local government websites. On the federal government website, www.grants.gov, grant opportunities are posted as "funding opportunity announcements," "requests for proposals, " or "notices of funding available." Businesses can also sign up for electronic newsletters that alert them to available grants.

According to a report by The Conference Board, the recession has forced more U.S. workers to delay retirement. The industry that has experienced the largest decline in retirement rates is health care. From 2009 to 2010, only 1.55% of full-time health care workers ages 55-64 retired annually, compared with almost 4% from 2004 to 2007.

_{The general information in this publication is not intended to be nor should it be treated as tax, legal, or accounting advice. Additional issues could exist that would affect the tax treatment of a specific transaction and, therefore, taxpayers should seek advice from an independent tax advisor based on their particular circumstances before acting on any information presented. This information is not intended to be nor can it be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties.}