There's Another Form 990 Deadline Coming Up!

Ahh, another day, another dollar.

And another month, another 990 Form deadline!

It’s no secret August brings with it a lot of new and (potentially) exciting things: it’s the beginning of football season, school’s starting back, and tax-exempt organizations that operate on a fiscal year of April 1 to March 31 have a Form 990 deadline for the 2016 tax year! Okay, so that last one doesn’t really roll off the tongue as well, but it’s what we’re here to talk about.

Form 990, Form 990-EZ, & Form 990-N, Oh My!
And did we mention Form 990-PF?! Depending on how much your organization earned in gross receipts during the 2016 tax year, you’ll need to file one of these four 990 Forms with the IRS by August 15, 2017. If your organization

• Received less than $50,000 in gross receipts, you’re required to e-file Form 990-N.
• Received between $50,000 and $200,000 in gross receipts, you’re required to file Form 990-EZ.
• Received more than $200,000 in gross receipts or has more than $500,000 in total assets, you’re required to file Form 990.
• Is a private foundation, you’re required to file Form 990-PF regardless of gross receipts.

Keep in mind that Form 990-N is an online form and can only be electronically filed (or e-filed) with the IRS. The other forms can be submitted online or on paper.

But, Of Course, It’s Easiest to E-file
E-filing Form 990 - whichever Form 990 you file - is infinitely faster, easier, and more secure than paper filing. We even know the best place to do it: ExpressTaxExempt! ExpressTaxExempt is our sister product and the leader of the 990 e-filing game. They’ve simplified the filing process by breaking down each form into interview-style questions so completing your return is a breeze! And their IRS-authorized e-filing software transmits your return securely and directly to the IRS once you’re done.

And if things get away from you in the next week and you won’t be able to file on time, you can always e-file Form 8868, the 990 extension form, with ExpressTaxExempt to get an extra 6 months to file your return.



Head on over to www.ExpressTaxExempt.com now to get started! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give them a call!

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Heads Up: Your Nonprofit's Tax Form May Be Due

Hey! Do you work with a nonprofit? Know someone who does?

Did you know that it may be time for that nonprofit to file its tax form with the IRS to remain a tax-exempt organization?

The Tax-Exempt Tax Form
When a nonprofit becomes a tax-exempt organization, they agree to report certain financial details to the IRS each year on a Form 990. The form and its information let the IRS know that the organization is still operating within the regulations required to remain tax-exempt. How big the organization is - and how much money it brings in for its tax-exempt purpose - determines which 990 Form is filed with the IRS:

• Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, is e-filed by organizations that receive less than $50,000 in gross receipts annually.
• Note: As an electronic form, Form 990-N cannot be paper filed and can only be e-filed.
• Form 990-EZ is filed by organizations that receive between $50,000 and $200,000 in gross receipts annually and/or have more than $200,000 in total assets.
• Form 990, the Long Form, is filed by organizations that receive more than $200,000 in gross receipts annually and/or have more than $500,000 in total assets.
• Form 990-PF, Private Foundation, is filed by tax-exempt organizations classified by the IRS as Private Foundations, regardless of total income.

Who Needs to File July 15
Here’s how the deadline for Form 990 works: it’s due to the IRS the 15th day of the 5th month following the organization’s tax year end date. For organizations that follow a normal calendar year tax schedule - January 1 through December 31 - this deadline is May 15th each year.

But not every tax-exempt organization is created the same way or even on the same timeline. Since some nonprofits become tax-exempt mid-year or work closely with industries that may follow other tax schedules, they’re able to set their tax year with the IRS to be any consecutive 12-month period. Of course, they can’t change it all willy-nilly; once they’ve set a tax year, that’s their tax year. But all of this does mean that Form 990 can pretty much be due any month of the year.

And for organizations who operate on a fiscal tax year that runs from March 1st to February 28th/29th, that month is July!

Where to File Your 990 Form
So, you’ve established that your tax-exempt organization operates on a fiscal year starting in March and ending in February. What’s next?

Well, first things first: your deadline (July 15) falls on a Saturday this year, so it’s automatically extended to Monday, July 17. But if you still don’t think you’ll be able to get everything together in time (Form 990 is known as the Long Form), you can e-file Form 8868 before then to get an automatic 6-month extension of time to file.

The best place to e-file your 990 Form is, of course, with our sister product ExpressTaxExempt. They’re the leader in the nonprofit e-filing industry because they make e-filing Form 990, 990-N, 990-EZ, 990-PF, and even Extension Form 8868, super easy - and fast! You can finish Form 990-N or 8868 in just a few minutes and their simplified, Q & A style format makes finishing the longer forms a much less daunting task. So check ‘em out: create an account and e-file your nonprofit tax return over at www.ExpressTaxExempt.com.

And if you have any questions at all about tax-exempt forms or e-filing, don’t hesitate to give them a call!

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There's Another IRS Deadline Soon!

Have you ever volunteered for a nonprofit or charity? Chances are, it was a 501(c)(3) organization recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS. But did you know that even tax-exempt organizations have to report to the IRS every year?

Well, head’s up: they do and their main deadline is coming up!

In order to confirm that they’re still operating within the regulations for tax-exempt organizations with the IRS each year, these groups must file one of the forms in the 990 Form Series. And their deadline to have their 990 Form filed is the 15th day of the fifth month after their tax year end date. So, for organizations that follow a calendar year tax year - which runs from January 1 to December 31 - that deadline is May 15!

Curious to know more about the 990 Forms? Well, we’ll tell ya! First, there’s the one that started it all: the 990 Form, also known as the 990 Long Form. This one’s filed by organizations that receive $200,000 or more in gross receipts for the year or those with more than $500,000 in total assets. A lot of information is needed for the 990 Long Form to confirm such large amounts of money are being used for the organization’s tax-exempt purpose.

Slightly less in-depth is the 990-EZ Form, which is filed by organizations that receive between $50,000 and $200,000 in gross receipts annually. Not as much information is needed to complete Form 990-EZ, but filers should still be prepared to provide thorough data on their contributions, expenses, assets, etc. to complete the form.

For those tax-exempt organizations that make fewer than $50,000 in gross receipts annually - which is the majority of them - there’s the Form 990-N, also known as the e-Postcard. It gets this name because it’s an online-only form that must be e-filed either with the IRS directly or through a third-party, IRS-authorized e-file provider (psst…like ExpressTaxExempt!). With the 990-N, all filers need to do is provide their organizations basic identifying information (name, EIN, address, contact), confirm that they made less than $50,000 and are still operational, and submit the return.

Now, based on how they’re set up and receive donations, some tax-exempt organizations fall under the category Private Foundation. These organizations, regardless of their total gross receipts, must file Form 990-PF.

And now for the best part: all of these forms are available to e-file more easily than ever with our sister product, ExpressTaxExempt! They even have the extension form for the 990 Series, Form 8868, so users can get an automatic 6 extra months to file if they need it. So why not pop on over to their website and check ‘em out? Or, if you want, give us a call and we’ll put you right in touch with them to answer any questions you may have!

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Has Your Nonprofit Filed the 2015 Form 990?

Did you know that there are over 1.5 million tax-exempt organizations in the US? That includes 1,097,689 public charities, 105,030 private foundations, and 368,337 other types of non-profit organizations, according to the IRS Business Master Files (BMF).

Nonprofit organizations include everything from neighborhood associations to large universities and foundations, soup kitchens and traditional charities to local churches. To maintain their duties in raising awareness/funds and volunteering for their causes, nonprofit organizations can file for tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 501(c). Once approved, they must then file some variant of the 990 Form each year to keep their tax-exempt status.

ExpressTaxExempt, a sister product of ExpressIRSForms, offers simplified and streamlined e-filing for three of the most used 990 Forms: Form 990-N (e-Postcard), Form 990-EZ, and the full 990 long form. ExpressTaxExempt is also working to add more versions of the 990 Form, as well as Form 1023, the application for tax-exempt status, to become a complete solution for tax-exempt organizations and nonprofits.

Once you create an account with ExpressTaxExempt, the program will ask you a few questions to determine which form your organization needs to file. The 990-N (e-Postcard) is filed by organizations that make less than $50,000 per year in gross receipts. It’s a quick form that only requires your organization’s details, including the tax period year, and confirmation your organization is still operational and made less than $50,000 that year. The majority of the organizations who file through ETE file this form, and it’s free to e-file for the current tax year (2015). But if you need to e-file tax years 2013 or 2014, it’s only $9.90.

Since the other two forms are filed by organizations who make significantly more in gross receipts each year, they’re a bit more in depth as far as the reporting information goes. Form 990-EZ is the shorter of these two forms, filed by organizations making between $50,000 and $200,000 in gross receipts - with total assets less than $500,000 - for the filing year.

With only one form left, this means organizations making more than $200,000 in gross receipts with assets totaling over $500,000 must file Form 990, the long form. Both Forms 990 and 990-EZ require more extensive reporting on your organization’s revenue and expenses, contributions, volunteers, and employees, etc. Because of the in-depth nature of these forms, ETE breaks down the form into a simplified interview-style process. You just answer questions about your organization and enter a few numbers to show what’s on the books; the program will even automatically compile any schedules you’re required to have based on how you answer the questions.

Because not all organizations follow a calendar year tax period, the official 990 deadline for every tax-exempt organization is the fifteenth day of the fifth month after your tax period end date. So calendar year filers - those with tax periods from January 1 to December 31 - have a deadline of May 15 the year following the year for which they’re filing. In other words, the 2015 990 form deadline for calendar year filers is May 16, 2016! (May 15 is on a Sunday.)


But don’t worry, if your organization still hasn’t filed, you know exactly where to do it: www.ExpressTaxExempt.com. It’s simple, fast, and you have the same friendly, expert customer support you’re used to over here at ExpressIRSForms. They keep the same hours we do, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT; give them a call at (704) 839-2321 or send them a live chat for help getting started. You can also send any questions you have 24/7 to support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

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