2006 Massachusetts Code - Chapter 12 — Section 8F. Annual reports of public charities; financial statements; fees; penalties; enforcement.

Section 8F. The trustee or trustees or the governing board of every public charity shall annually, at a time to be determined by the director, file with the division a written report for its last preceding fiscal year. Such report shall be filed on forms prescribed by the director and shall contain such financial and other information as the director may require. A public charity which is required by law to file accounts in a probate court of the commonwealth may file a copy of such account for any year with the division in lieu of the annual report, but each such public charity shall supply to the director, upon request, such additional information as the director may require.

A public charity, other than one which files its annual probate account with the division in lieu of the annual report, which received more than one hundred thousand dollars in gross support and revenue during the fiscal year covered by its report must submit a complete audited financial statement together with its annual report. For purposes of this section, gross support and revenue shall not include any gains or losses from the sale of a capital asset. The audited financial statement shall be prepared in accordance with such generally accepted accounting principles and reporting practices as may from time to time be prescribed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or its successor organization, and shall be examined by an independent certified public accountant in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards for the purpose of expressing an opinion thereon. A public charity which received not more than $500,000 in gross support and revenue during the fiscal year covered by its report may in lieu of an audited financial statement submit a financial statement accompanied by an independent certified public accountant’s review report as that report is defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The director may, by regulation, exempt certain types or classes of organizations from the audit or review report requirement or from completing any portions of the annual report if the director determines that such exemption would be in the public interest.

The annual reports and any other documents prescribed by the director shall be signed by an authorized officer of the public charity and shall be verified under oath. For each report, a filing fee shall be paid to the division at the time of the filing in the following amount, based on the gross support and revenue received during the fiscal year covered by the report, as follows: (a) thirty-five dollars, if not more than one hundred thousand dollars; (b) seventy dollars, if more than one hundred thousand dollars but not more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; (c) one hundred and twenty-five dollars, if more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars but not more than five hundred thousand dollars; (d) two hundred and fifty dollars, if more than five hundred thousand dollars. In the event that any public charity shall fail to file a report required hereunder, the division may bring an action to restrain the charity from transacting any business in the commonwealth or may take such other action as may be appropriate to compel compliance with the provisions of this section.

This section shall not apply to any property held for any religious purpose by any public charity, incorporated or unincorporated.

Any public charity, or the responsible officer or agent of a public charity, who willfully fails to file a written report for any year shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars. Any public charity, or any officer or agent of a public charity, who willfully makes, executes or files a report false in any material representation shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both.