Museum Foundation Statement

Concerning Reinstatement of Tax-Exempt Status Retroactive to the Date of Revocation

26 Jan 2023

 

The Museum Foundation is a tax-exempt, nonprofit, non-federal entity that supports the mission accomplishment of the Command Museum aboard MCRD – San Diego which is the only Headquarters Marine Corps Certified Command Museum in the Western United States.  

 

The MCRD Museum Foundation’s receipt of a 25 October 2022 Internal Revenue Service Notice of an automatic revocation of tax-exempt status was the subject of a previous Museum Foundation Public Statement.  The basis for the automatic revocation was the Museum Foundation not filing a Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax) for three consecutive years with the Internal Revenue Service.  The Museum Foundation’s immediate corrective actions included fulfilling all outstanding tax and notice filings with the State of California and the Internal Revenue Service.  Furthermore, the Museum Foundation’s 23 December 2022 application to the Internal Revenue Service for reinstatement of tax-exempt status retroactive to the date of revocation was promptly approved by the Internal Revenue Service on 05 January 2023.    

 

The Museum Foundation’s compelling application to the Internal Revenue Service satisfied the Internal Revenue Service requirement to explain why the failure to file Form 990 three consecutive years occurred, despite the Museum Foundation’s exercise of ordinary business care and prudence.  The Internal Revenue Service’s determination results in all donations to the Museum Foundation being eligible for a tax deduction.  No donors to the Museum Foundation are detrimentally impacted by the temporary loss of tax-exempt status which is now fully restored and continuous since the establishment of the Museum Foundation in the late 1980s.  

 

While transparency is at the heart of everything the Museum Foundation does and fundamentally important to Museum Foundation communications, individual privacy concerns preclude a public announcement explaining all the details of why the Form 990 filing requirement initially went unfiled.  Museum Foundation internal corrective actions will preclude an error like this from happening again. 

 

We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding while the Museum Foundation corrected this matter.