19 JULY 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® by Tim Rasmussen, President and Chairman, Water for Life Water for Life (WFL) recently had a problem with the entity that strikes fear in the hearts of everyone: the IRS or Infernal Revenue Service (please ignore the spelling error). As most readers probably know, Water for Life is a nonprofit charity, incorporated in Washington State, and has been given 501(c)(3) status by the IRS. This means any donation to Water for Life can be a tax deduction for them. The IRS requires nonprofits file certain forms on a regular basis. The filing rules vary depending on the entity, the amount of money the entity handles, the purposes of the entity, and probably a host of other factors, of which I know very little, and wish I could forget what I do know. Recently, however, because of a mistake we made filing a form with the IRS, we encountered an issue which took nearly a year to resolve. Form 990 is required by nonprofits to tell the IRS about the activities of the organization for the past year. It requires information about the board of directors and officers, and the time spent by the officers related to the entity, how much they are paid, and a host of other questions. Thankfully for us, the answers are mostly “no,” because all board members and officers are unpaid volunteers. WFL does not have employees in the USA and pays no salaries or bonuses. The 990 must be completed and filed with the IRS each year. A couple of years ago, the IRS moved from paper filing to electronic filing (probably because of COVID). When they made the change, for a while, filing either paper or electronic was okay. When we filed, we thought we were allowed to paper file. We sent it by mail, and we mailed it on time. Weeks later, we received a notice that we had not yet filed the form. We sent it again, but this time sent with a tracking method so we could prove we sent it. We also filed it electronically at the same time. We thought the problem was solved, but several months later, we received a notice that the filing was late and a $10,500 penalty was imposed - with interest - to start at a certain date, unless appealed. We filed an appeal, but it was denied without explanation. We then got a letter saying interest would begin. I began to search for an Enrolled Agent to represent WFL to the IRS to help us deal with this problem, but I could not find anyone. It was tax time and every tax attorney or Enrolled Agent was just too busy. Finally, Gary contacted the tax accounting firm that handled his business matters years ago when he was in the drilling business and they agreed to help. We gave the firm our power of attorney to deal with this and they began efforts on our behalf. At first, the communications with the IRS were confusing: We did not receive the power of attorney. When it was resent, the next response would be: Notice you have not replied, so the interest is being imposed. In between these frustrating communications, our agent would call his contact with the IRS and would be told to just ignore the letters, or things like that. Finally, we received a Notice of Levy, indicating the IRS was going to just take the money they thought we owed them from our account. Again, our agent contacted the IRS and must have woke someone up, because we received a letter stating the levy would not occur for at least another 90 days. Whew! After that, silence, followed by more silence. Then, without further communication, we received a letter saying the penalty had been waived and the Notice of Levy withdrawn. It had taken nearly a year to get the problem ironed out. Lesson learned. 1. Dealing with the IRS is NOT do-it-yourself. 2. Send everything either electronically or with proof of mailing. 3. Hire someone who knows how to deal with them. 4. Always follow 1-3. One way to look at this is the federal government just gave Water for Life a $10,500 donation. Praise the Good Lord. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-939-1941. Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com WFL work continues in Guatemala. WTR
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