Who is exempt from filing form 990

For example, if your tax period ends on December 31, , the e-Postcard is due May 15, If you prefer to file an information return, Form or EZ, you must complete the entire return. An incomplete or partially completed Form or EZ will not satisfy the annual filing requirement. The Pension Protection Act of requires the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization that fails to meet its annual filing requirement for three consecutive years.

Therefore, organizations that do not file the e-Postcard Form N , or an information return Form or EZ for three consecutive years, will have their tax-exempt status revoked as of the filing due date of the third year. You must apply or reapply and pay the appropriate user fee to have your tax-exempt status reinstated if it was revoked because you failed to file for three consecutive years.

Reinstatement of tax-exempt status may be retroactive if you can show that you had reasonable cause for not filing. Congress enacted this filing requirement in to keep the IRS up to date on new business addresses and changes to other key information for small nonprofits. This is important both for IRS administrative purposes and for donors who want to make sure they are contributing to recognized nonprofits. There are exceptions to this filing requirement for:. Form N is due every year by the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of the nonprofit's tax year.

This is May 15 for most nonprofits, which use a calendar year. You cannot file Form N until after your nonprofit's tax year ends.

If your N is late, the IRS will send a reminder notice to the nonprofit's last address in its records. Filing Form N is so simple that, technically speaking, the IRS doesn't even consider it to be a tax return. It should take you no more than ten or 15 minutes to complete.

You don't even need to pay for a postage stamp to mail it to the IRS, because it must be sent electronically -- paper copies of the form will not be accepted. This is why the IRS calls the form an "e-Postcard.

A one-time registration is required to access the IRS system. You do not need any special software, just access to the Internet and an email address for your nonprofit. You then complete an online form that asks for your nonprofit's legal name, address, website address if any , EIN, name and address of a principal officer usually the president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer , and tax year either the calendar year or a non-calendar fiscal year.

You will also be asked whether your nonprofit has terminated or gone out of business. Allow up to four weeks for the TEOS system to display your filing.

If you don't file the form for any single year, the IRS will merely send your nonprofit a reminder notice. Every employer, including a tax-exempt organization, who pays wages to employees is responsible for withholding, depositing, paying, and reporting federal income tax, social security taxes FICA , and federal unemployment tax FUTA for such wage payments, unless that employer is specifically excepted by statute from such requirements or if the taxes are clearly inapplicable.

A church, an interchurch organization of local units of a church, a convention or association of churches,. A church-affiliated organization that is exclusively engaged in managing funds or maintaining retirement programs,. Church-affiliated mission societies if more than half of their activities are conducted in, or are direct at persons in, foreign countries,.

A corporation described in section c 1 that is organized under an Act of Congress, an instrumentality of the United States, and is exempt from Federal income taxes,. A religious or apostolic organization described in section d required to file Form , U. Return of Partnership Income ,. A foreign organization, including an organization located in a U.

A governmental unit or an affiliate of a governmental unit that meets the requirements of Revenue Procedure , C. A private foundation described in section c 3 and exempt under section a required to file Form PF, Return of Private Foundation ,. A political organization that is a state or local committee of a political party, a political committee of a state or local candidate, a caucus or association of state or local officials, or required to report under the Federal Election Campaign Act of as a political committee.