Understanding Which Form 990 You Need To File

With the major Form 990 deadline coming up tomorrow, we hope you’re ready to file. Filing on time and paying the amount of tax you owe is important to comply with the IRS and to keep your tax-exempt status.

Luckily you have TaxBandits here to help you complete your Form in a matter of minutes, but part of filing involves knowing exactly which 990 form you need to complete and transmit to the IRS by the deadline. That’s why we are taking the time to go over the different types of 990 forms, so you can quickly get started on the correct one.

Form 990 Series

Form 990 is the Return of Organization Exempt From Income tax. It’s filed by nonprofit and tax-exempt groups such as charities, religious organizations, organizations against harm to children and animals, athletic groups, scientific organizations, and more so that they can maintain their tax exempt status.

Form 990 is used by government agencies to make sure that tax exempt groups aren’t abusing their tax exempt status. It’s also used by the IRS to provide the public with financial information about nonprofit organizations.

There are a few different types of 990 forms, and the one you file for your organization depends on if your organization is private or not and how much it makes in gross receipts during the year. The different 990 forms include:

Form 990, which is filed by organizations with gross receipts that are equal to or greater than 200k or with total assets equal to or greater than $500k.

Form 990-EZ is the Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. It’s filed by organizations that have less than 200K in gross receipts and less than $500k in total assets.

Form 990-N is the e-postcard of Electronic Notice for Tax-Exempt Organizations that aren’t required to file Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. Organizations with gross receipts that are normally equal to or less than $50k are required to electronically file this form. You can not paper file this form.

990-PF is the Return of Private Foundation and it’s filed by private organizations in the US. When filing you are required to include a fiscal list of information and a complete list of your grants.

Form 990 Deadlines

Form 990 is due on the 15th day or the 5th month of the tax year for your organization. If you have a traditional tax year that means the deadline is on May 15th, but it varies for fiscal tax years. For example, if your fiscal tax year ended in in June then your Form 990 deadline is November 15.

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