For the preparer · before the return is filed

Parts IX, X and XII, added again before you file.

Type the draft's lines. Each computed line is added again beside your figure: the short-year proration, the distributable amount, the carryover and what of it lapses. In your browser; nothing you type is sent.

The check

The draft's own lines, added again.

Computed in this browser. No figure you type is sent, stored or logged, and the page forgets them when you close it.

The tax period

Part IX · Minimum investment return

LineWhat the line isYour draftRe-addedResult
1a
1b
1c
1d
2
3
4
5
6
The tax period's first and last days are needed to tell a short year from a full one.

Part X · Distributable amount

LineWhat the line isYour draftRe-addedResult
1
Part X line 1 is not the figure on Part IX line 6.
2a
2b
2c
3
4
5
6
7

Part XI · Qualifying distributions

LineWhat the line isYour draftRe-addedResult
4

Part XII · Undistributed income and the carryover

Part XII is computed from what the year opens with. Type last year’s closing lines, or read them from the return the foundation filed: those lines are public, and only the EIN is sent.

Type a line and its check appears beside it.

A line that differs is your draft’s figure beside the re-added one. The draft may rest on something this page cannot see: an election statement, a larger cash amount with its explanation, a set-aside. This is arithmetic on the lines you typed; it prepares nothing and reviews nothing.

Why these lines

The software adds. These are the lines it is told wrong.

Part IX line 6: 5 short years filed at the full 5%

Of 11,842 latest returns re-done, 5 covered a short tax year and entered the full-year minimum investment return. A short year is prorated by days.

Part IX line 6: 21 leap-year short years, two official answers

The regulation divides by 365 days. The form's instructions divide by 366 in a leap year. The page shows both and says which the draft follows.

Part XII line 5: 273 filed years applied carryover out of order

An old excess applied before the year's own distributions comes out as a new excess with five fresh years. The instructions caution against it, and it shows on lines 4d, 4e and 5.

Part XII lines 8 and 10: 277 filed years where the lapse or the by-year analysis does not re-add

The excess from five years back lapses with the return. Line 10 then lists what is left by year, and it adds to line 9.

Counts are from the 990-PF study and the carryover-chain study: totals only, no foundation named. A line that differs is the return’s figure beside the recomputed one, not a conclusion about the return.

What it reads

Three parts, in the form's own order.

Part IX: Minimum investment return

Lines 1d, 3, 4 and 5 re-added; line 6 at 5%, prorated by days for a short year under both official day counts; a 52–53-week year read as a full year.

Part X: Distributable amount

Line 1 tied to Part IX; taxes, recoveries and the deduction carried through to line 7; a negative result entered as zero is said, not flagged.

Part XII: Undistributed income and the carryover

Opened from last year's filed closing lines, read from the IRS by EIN. The year's distributions applied in the statute's order, the earliest excess first, the lapse shown.

For your independence reviewer

Who runs it, what leaves the browser, who is paid.

Who runs it

The preparer. The page adds the lines the preparer types; it prepares no return, reviews none and signs nothing.

What leaves the browser

No figure, line or date typed here. The one optional request sends an EIN and reads last year's filed return, which the IRS publishes.

What is kept

Nothing. No account, no upload, no saved draft; closing the tab ends it.

Who is paid

Nobody. The page is free to any preparer, and no payment passes in either direction for its use.

What it is not

Not tax preparation, not a second review, not an opinion and not advice. The rules it applies are the statute's, the regulation's and the form instructions', named on each line.

These are facts about the page, each held by a test that runs before every release. What they mean for a firm’s own independence analysis is that firm’s reviewer’s call, not ours.

Asked by preparers
Where do the figures I type go?

Nowhere. The arithmetic runs in your browser. No figure is sent to us, stored or logged, and the page forgets them when you close it. The one optional request reads last year's filed return from the IRS by EIN, which is public.

Is this a review of the return?

No. It re-adds the lines you type and sets each beside your own figure. It prepares nothing, reviews nothing and gives no advice. What a difference means is the preparer's judgement.

Which day count does it use for a short year?

Both official ones. The Treasury regulation divides by 365 days; the form's instructions divide by 366 in a leap year. The page shows the line under each and says which one your draft follows.

What does it do with the carryover?

It applies the year's distributions in the order the statute sets, applies the earliest excess first, and shows what lapses with this return and what is in its final year next year.

Start

The same arithmetic, on every client return already filed.

Each client foundation's filed 990-PF re-done and sealed, free, and its years read in order.

Or book 20 minutes with the founder →