If an organization qualifies as publicly supported for a 5-year computation period, does it have any reliance on that status in the following year? Yes, an organization that meets a public support test for a tax year is treated as publicly supported for that year and the succeeding year, regardless of its actual support for the succeeding year. For example, an organization that met the public support test for the aggregate five-year period 2004-2008 is publicly supported for the years 2008 and 2009, even if the organization fails the public support test for the years 2005-2009. Beginning with the year 2010, its public charity status for 2010 would depend on whether it qualified as publicly supported for the period 2006-2010. Thus, public charities should monitor their public support carefully.
