(A) A charitable organization that has filed a registration statement with the Secretary of State pursuant to § 33-56-30, or that is soliciting contributions in this State, whether individually or collectively with other organizations, shall file in the office of the Secretary of State an annual report of its financial activities, on forms prescribed by the Secretary of State or on Internal Revenue Service Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, certified to be true by the organization’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer. The report must cover the preceding fiscal year and must be filed within four and one-half months of the close of the organization’s fiscal year unless a written extension has been granted by the Secretary of State. To receive an extension, the organization must file with the Secretary of State a written request for an extension or a copy of the extension request submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.

(B) The annual financial report must include:

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 33-56-60

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Charitable organization: means a person, as defined in item (7):

    (i) determined by the Internal Revenue Service to be a tax exempt organization pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;

    (ii) that is or holds itself out to be established for any benevolent, social welfare, scientific, educational, environmental, philanthropic, humane, patriotic, public health, civic, or other eleemosynary purpose, or for the benefit of law enforcement personnel, firefighters, or other persons who protect the public safety; or

    (iii) that employs a charitable appeal as the basis of solicitation or an appeal that suggests that there is a charitable purpose to a solicitation, or that solicits or obtains contributions solicited from the public for a charitable purpose. See South Carolina Code 33-56-20
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • solicitation: means to request and the request for money, credit, property, financial assistance, or other thing of value, or a portion of it, to be used for a charitable purpose or to benefit a charitable organization. See South Carolina Code 33-56-20

(1) specific and itemized support and revenue statements disclosing direct public support from solicitation, indirect public support, government grants, program service revenue, and other revenue. The report must disclose the amount of direct public support received from direct mail solicitation, telephone solicitation, commercial co-venturers, door-to-door solicitations, telethons, and all other itemized sources;

(2) specific and itemized expense statements disclosing program services, public information expenditures, fundraising costs, payments to affiliates, management costs, and salaries paid; and

(3) balance sheet disclosures containing total assets and liabilities.

(C) If a charitable organization is required or elects to file a completed Internal Revenue Service Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, the organization may file the form with the Secretary of State instead of the report required by subsection (A); however, the form may exclude the information which the Internal Revenue Service would not release pursuant to a Freedom of Information request.

(D) A charitable organization determined by the Secretary of State to be exempt from registration pursuant to § 33-56-50 is not required to file an annual financial report.

(E) An organization which fails to file a timely annual financial report required by this section may be enjoined from further solicitation of funds in this State in an action brought by the Secretary of State and is ineligible to renew its registration as a charitable organization until the required financial statements are filed with the Secretary of State. An organization which fails to file a timely annual financial report required by this section may be assessed by the Secretary of State administrative fines of ten dollars for each day of noncompliance for each delinquent report not to exceed two thousand dollars for each separate violation.

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