Late filing and revocation

Filing Form 990-N late: no penalty, one real risk

There's no penalty for filing Form 990-N late. File it as soon as you can: the IRS may send a reminder, but it won't charge a fee. The one real risk is missing three years in a row, which ends tax-exempt status automatically. If your gross receipts were over $50,000, different rules apply.

Is there a 990-N late filing penalty?

No. The IRS says it plainly: "There is no penalty for late submissions." If it doesn't receive your e-Postcard by the due date, it sends a reminder to the address on file. Organizations "should submit the required form, even if they are late" (IRS).

How to file a late 990-N

That depends on whether a newer tax year has ended since the one you missed:

• The missed year is still your most recent one: file it at irs.gov the usual way. It's free. See how to file Form 990-N.
• A newer year has ended: the IRS site only lets you file the most recent year. File the missed one through an IRS-approved e-file provider (IRS). See filing a 990-N for earlier years.

The reminder letter

The IRS mails its reminder to the address it has on file, which may be a past treasurer's home. The reminder is notice CP299, which tells you your organization may be required to file the e-Postcard and, if it hasn't, "must file as soon as possible" (IRS). If you've received a letter meant for someone who has left, the IRS says to call Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500 and explain (IRS).

When late becomes serious: the three-year rule

An organization that doesn't file for three years in a row loses its tax-exempt status automatically, on the due date of the third year (26 U.S.C. §6033(j)). One late year is fine to fix. Three missed years can't be fixed by filing.

Here's the third deadline for each year end, if you've missed the two years before it:

If you should have filed a 990-EZ or 990

The no-penalty rule is for the e-Postcard. If your gross receipts were normally more than $50,000, the return you owed was a Form 990-EZ or 990, and those can carry late-filing penalties. The IRS explains them on its penalties page. See which form your organization files.

How many organizations are a year behind?

143,574 organizations the IRS lists as 990-N filers (14.4%) are one past-due year behind on the IRS record. Some of them simply filed recently and the record hasn't caught up.

Check what the IRS record shows for your EIN

Sources

• IRS, Annual electronic filing requirement for small exempt organizations
• IRS, Form 990-N FAQs: When to file
• IRS, Form 990-N FAQs: After you file
• 26 U.S.C. §6033(j)