Mercury Players Inc

“Doing business or also known as Mercury Players Theatre is reported for the 1st time here. Location address is 930 N Fair Oaks Ave, Madison, WI 53704, but mail is not accepted there. In FY 2019-2020, the long time PO Box was lost due to PO Substation closure. Lacking a convenient alternative PO Substation, and badly needing to reduce expenses (due to COVID-19 pandemic), the mailing address was changed to the Treasurer's residence (1218 E Dayton St Unit 1, Madison, WI 53703). To prove eligibility for an SBA Targeted Advance (low income area Grant), SBA instructed the location address must be on the tax filing, so the location address was intended to be entered in the 2019 Form 990-EZ, and a call to IRS Charities was made to provide the mailing address. However, a look back at the 2019 Form 990-EZ reveals it had typos in the location address. The 2020 tax filing (using Form 990-N), contained the correct mailing address, which has not changed since the 2020 tax filing.”

“The Organization does not have a phone line. Line E contains the Treasurer's phone number. However, the public would most commonly contact the Organization via the primary theatre venue, where the Organization's show tickets are sold. The theatre venue forwards inquiries to the Organization as appropriate.”

“Near upcoming shows are also posted on the theatre venue's website at https://bartelltheatre.org/, where advanced tickets are also purchased.”

“Other Revenue is entered as zero. However, $2,709.83 of In Kind Donations were received as non-reimbursed expenses for expendable goods and services such as jugs of drinking water, props, copy paper, advertising and photo printing. These In Kind Donations are also not reported in Form 990-EZ Part III, though the Form Instructions may indicate optional reporting there for these types of In Kind Donations. In addition, the Organization received a $1,608.35 Personal Loan/Donation as payment of penalty and interest for the 2019 late tax filing, as detailed in the Schedule O explanation for 990-EZ, Part II, Line 26.”

“Professional Fees and Other Payments to Independent Contractors totaled $500. This consisted of $150 for a Graphics Designer to create the Organization's Season Poster and one show poster, and $325 that provided honoraria ranging from $50 to $150 each for lead staff who were otherwise volunteers. Staff that received honoraria were the Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Stage Hand, Costume Designer, and COVID-19 Vaccination Documentation Checker. No Officers received honoraria, and no payments were made to any person (or company) for fundraising, accounting, legal advice or other similar services.”

“Other Expenses consist of the following: checks purchase; costumes; governmental registration licenses and fees (State of Wisconsin seller's permit and State of Wisconsin Annual Report); theatre lighting supplies (gobos and gels); makeup; props; royalties; sales tax; Small Business Administration Loan payments; theatre sets; and truck rentals and re-fueling of rented trucks. The 2019 990-EZ, Line 16, included liability insurance expense, but this expense is now more appropriately included in Line 14 of the 2021 990-EZ.”

“The Organization owns physical assets that would cost money to replace, but that have very little market value. The 2019 990-EZ, Schedule O, included a description of physical assets which at that time were estimated to have a total combined value of less than $700, and since that time there has been no substantive change in the value of physical assets. Therefore Columns A and B, of Line 24, are reported as zero.”

“Cash basis accounting is used, resulting in liabilities not being tracked in income/expense statements. And at the beginning and end of any FY, there are normally minimal outstanding bills or contracts. However, there are currently 2 loans: 1) An SBA Loan, and 2) A Personal Loan/Donation for the 2019 late filing with IRS. Details of the 2 loans are as follows: 1) A $10,000 SBA Loan received in June 2020 (FY 2019-2020) has a 30 year term with payments of $43 per month. The 1st payment was in June 2021 (previous FY) and applied entirely to interest, so at the beginning of the FY the balance was still $10,000. Of the 12 monthly payments made in FY 2021-2022, only in June 2022 was a portion of the payment applied to principal, making the end of FY balance $9,085.74. For EIN# borrowers, SBA doesn't yet have an online system where the borrow can see principal vs. interest paid, and balance. Data here was obtained by calling SBA. 2) A $1,608.35 Personal Loan/Donation from an Officer was received in March 2022 as payment of the penalty and interest for the 2019 late tax filing. This is a loan only to the extent IRS may grant relief (send a refund to the Organization). No interest is being charged, and any portion for which IRS does not grant relief will revert to a donation. Request for relief was sent to IRS in March 2022, with supporting documentation, and full payment by personal check of the Officer (Treasurer). In response to the relief request, IRS has sent 3 letters, each saying more review time is needed. The most recent IRS letter was dated October 25, 2022, and received October 29, 2022. On approximately October 27, 2022, the Treasurer called IRS Charities in attempt (unsuccessful) to talk with the IRS staff reviewing the relief request; IRS Charities could only say, no relief decision has been made yet and another IRS letter was sent October 25.”

“A Personal Loan/Donation was made by an Officer to the Organization as payment of the penalty and interest for the 2019 late tax filing. It is not listed on Line 38a because any portion that IRS does not provide relief for (by sending a refund to the Organization), will become a donation. More details about the Personal Loan/Donation are described in the Schedule O explanation for Form 990-EZ, Part II, Line 26.”