A new IRS transparency initiative by Secretary Bessent will bring liberal [often communist] dark money out of the shadows. It would affect TIDES and Arabella, for example. For decades, exploited fiscal sponsorships have operated effectively in the shadows.
Fixing 990 is a great move by Treasury Secretary Bessent.
Currently, they don’t have to disclose donors. For example, GLSEN has two donors who give millions of dollars in anonymous donations. These are trans activists. Exposing these donors could prove they are not grassroots. With a little luck, NGOs will begin to disappear.
This is a huge win.
I hope the folks at Treasury are reading our @capitalresearch recommendations from our entire series on this exact topic.
It’s time to finally fix the 990!https://t.co/sSjaC1EcDy
— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) April 23, 2026
The Story from Accounting Today
The Treasury Department said Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service will revise the Form 990 used by tax-exempt organizations. Charities that aren’t really charities use them. The purpose is to uncover fraud and hidden sources of funding.
The Treasury said in a news release that clearer reporting would help the IRS and the public better understand the sources and uses of funding from government contracts and grants to support proper revenue classification and reduce the risk of fraud, abuse, and misuse of taxpayer dollars.
“Public money and tax-exempt status demand public accountability,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement. “We are ending the days of hiding fraud, abuse, and extremist activity behind complicated nonprofit arrangements. When bad actors misuse charitable structures, directors and officers should understand that transparency can lead to scrutiny, accountability, and liability under the law.”
The Treasury seems to be especially interested in fiscal sponsorship arrangements in which a tax-exempt organization supports charitable projects and initiatives. It said recent congressional oversight has “raised concerns that some fiscal sponsorship arrangements may be used to obscure who is operating a project, who controls project funds, and how those funds are being used.” It contends that increased reporting will help address those concerns and make it more difficult for “rogue organizations to hide behind opaque arrangements.”
The public will have an opportunity to react.