990 Forms for Tax Exempt Organizations Are Due Soon!

We’re all about tax and IRS information here at ExpressTaxFilings. That’s why, today, we’re going to take a dive into the nonprofit sector of IRS filing!

Believe it or not, tax-exempt organizations have a “Tax Day” and it’s coming up! May 15, 2017, is the deadline for tax-exempt organizations who follow a calendar year tax year to report their 2016 tax activity to the IRS.

We know what you’re thinking: tax-exempt organizations don’t pay federal taxes…what activity do they need to report? Well, they use their IRS information return to report certain donations, expenses, and other details of the organization to confirm with the IRS that its operations are still in accordance with its tax-exempt purpose.

990 Forms
The forms tax-exempt organizations use to prove they’re still operating within the IRS tax-exempt rules are forms in the 990 Series. The organization type and how much they receive in gross receipts each year determine which 990 Form they file.

• Form 990, Long Form. The traditional 990 Form and the most in-depth, this form is filed by organizations that receive at least $200,000 in gross receipts per year or have more than $500,000 in gross assets.
• Form 990-EZ. This is the simplified version of the 990 Form, filed by organizations that receive more than $50,000 but fewer than $200,000 in gross receipts annually.
• Form 990-N, e-Postcard. The e-Postcard is an online-only version of the 990 Form that’s filed by organizations that receive less than $200,000 in annual gross receipts. It’s very basic and can usually be completed in about five minutes.
• Form 990-PF, Private Foundation. Regardless of the amount of gross receipts received in a year, tax-exempt organizations that are considered Private Foundations must report their financial information on Form 990-PF.

The Form 990 Deadline
You may have noticed we had some conditions along with the 990 deadline we mentioned earlier. That’s because May 15 isn’t the IRS’s official deadline for tax-exempt filers, but it is close. You see, the actual deadline to have a 990 Form completed and filed with the IRS is the 15th day of the fifth month after your tax year end date.