Tax Exempt Filing Requirements

Tax Exempt Filing Requirements

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 created a new filing requirement for almost all non-profit organizations to file an information return with IRS. Churches and church-related organizations are exempt from this requirement. All other organizations must file an annual return.

Organizations which fail to meet this required filing for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status. This could be extremely harmful for many small non-profits. Recently IRS Commissioner stated “I want to reassure these small organizations that the IRS will do what it can to help them avoid losing their tax-exempt status,” he said. “So I urge [them] to go ahead and file, even though the May 17 deadline has passed.”

If you are involved in any non-profits, it may be worth your time to question them regarding their filing of the required return with IRS and encourage them to do so immediately if they have not yet filed it.

The filing requirement can be met through filing a properly completed Form 990 series form. Non-profits that do not have a filing requirement for the Form 990 itself based on their income can file a Form 990-N to meet the requirements. This Form 990-N is basically a short on-line form which contains some basic information such as the name of the person in charge, the organization’s address, the organization’s web site address if it has one, and a few other basic questions.

2009 is the third year for this filing requirement. Any non-profit organization which has not filed for any of the years since this requirement began effective back in 2007 stands to lose its non-profit status. The deadline for the 2009 return was May 17, 2010 for any calendar year non-profit entity. As stated above, filing immediately may help towards persuading IRS to not revoke the non-profit status.

This text has been shared with you courtesy of: David & Mary Mellem, EAs & Ashwaubenon Tax Professionals, 920-496-1065 (920-496-9111). , , , .

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