All cooperatives must use new
federal income tax form 1120-C
he Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) released a
draft version of new Form
1120-C on Oct. 12. This
form is the new common
federal income tax reporting form for all
cooperatives, including farmer cooperatives
(which previously filed Form 990-
C) and all other subchapter T cooperatives
(which previously filed Form 1120).
Interested parties were given 30 days to
comment on the draft.
The new form must be used by cooperatives
for tax years ending on or after
Dec. 31, 2006. So, cooperatives on a calendar
year tax year will be using Form
1120-C to report their 2006 income.
Cooperatives with total assets of $10
million or more will need to attach
Schedule M-3 to their Form 1120-C.
Schedule M-3 asks questions about the
taxpayer’s financial statements and reconciles
any differences between book
income and reported income for tax
purposes.
By the time this magazine is mailed,
IRS will likely have released both the
final version of Form 1120-C and the
Instructions. Cooperatives that have not
already done so are encouraged to meet
with their tax preparer to discuss Form
1120-C and any related electronic filing
requirements so the transition to the
new form does not disrupt other operations
or lead to avoidable disputes with
the IRS.
‘Heroic’ leaders named to Cooperative Hall of Fame
David Chatfield, Jack Gherty,
Charles Gill and Jean Jantzen have
been selected for induction into the
Cooperative Hall of Fame. The four
cooperative business leaders will be recognized
at the annual Hall of Fame
Dinner and Induction Ceremony at
Washington’s National Press Club on
May 2. The Hall of Fame, the cooperative
community’s highest honor, recognizes
those who have made “heroic”
contributions to cooperative enterprise.
- Chatfield is the retired president &
CEO of California and Nevada
Credit Union Leagues. Chatfield
advanced the cause of credit unions
here and around the globe in various
positions over four decades. He is
credited with devising the first national
political action system for credit
unions and with helping to found and
lead the Filene Research Institute, the
credit union community’s think tank.
- Gherty retired last year after 35 years
with Land O’Lakes, 16 of them as its
president and CEO. During his
tenure, Minnesota-based Land
O’Lakes was transformed from a
regional into a national farmer-owned
business, giving producers a powerful
presence in the marketplace and a
voice in the policy arena. Under
Gherty, the co-op’s membership
expanded from 15 to 39 states and
annual sales tripled. In 1987, Gherty
spearheaded a precedent-setting joint
venture between Land O’Lakes and
Cenex that established a new model
for cooperative business activity.
- Gill is the retired governor and CEO
of the National Rural Utilities
Cooperative Finance Corporation
(CFC). He helped shape CFC during
its formative years and served as its
governor from 1979 to 1995. While
working at USDA in the late 1960s,
he helped create CFC as an alternative
source of capital for electric coops.
He joined the CFC staff in 1972
and was tapped to be its second governor
seven years later. Under his
leadership, CFC grew seven-fold as a
lending cooperative and created a
number of institutions that improved
the quality of life in rural America.
- Jantzen is a life-long champion of coop
communications and education.
She began her career in 1963 as a secretary
for a predecessor co-op of CHS
Inc., now a $12 billion Minnesotabased
food and energy cooperative. A
role model for women in cooperatives,
she rose through the ranks and
was a key player in the 1998 merger
between Cenex and Harvest States
that created today’s CHS. She retired
in 1999 as CHS’ vice president for
public relations. Jantzen was a longtime
trustee of the Cooperative
Foundation and was instrumental in
the growth of the CHS Foundation,
which today provides more than $1.3
million a year for cooperative education
and other purposes.
Nominations for the Hall of Fame,
established in 1974, are screened by two
committees of national co-op leaders.
The NCBA board makes the final
selections. The Hall can be visited on
the Internet at: www.heroes.coop.
