How to file
How to file Form 990-N for prior years
The IRS's free e-Postcard site only accepts your most recent tax year. To file a 990-N for an earlier year, you need an IRS-approved e-file provider, which submits it electronically for a fee. There's no penalty for a late e-Postcard, but three missed years in a row ends tax-exempt status.
Why does the IRS site only show the current year?
That's how the IRS built it. The IRS gives its own example:
"if the organization's tax year ended on December 31, 2014, and you attempt to file your 2014 e-Postcard after the close of your 2015 tax year (December 31, 2015), the filing system only will allow you to file for 2015." (IRS)
So once a new tax year has ended, the IRS site moves on. You can't pick an earlier year there.
How to file 990-N for prior years through an approved provider
The IRS says prior-year e-Postcards can be filed "through one of our approved e-file service providers" (IRS). These are companies authorized to send returns to the IRS electronically. The IRS publishes the list of approved providers for exempt organizations.
In practice:
- File your current year first, on the IRS site, if it's due. It's free, and it's the filing that protects your status.
- Choose a provider that supports prior-year 990-N filing. Not all of them do.
- Enter each missed year separately. Each one is its own e-Postcard.
- Check the status. The IRS doesn't email you a confirmation; check with the provider, and later in the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search.
How far back can a provider go? It varies, so ask before you pay.
What does it cost?
Filing your current year at irs.gov is free (IRS). Prior years cost money, because only a provider can file them.
Prices as each provider listed them on October 15, 2026. Check the provider's own page, and confirm it files prior years, before you pay:
| Option | Price per 990-N | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IRS e-Postcard site | Free, current year only | irs.gov |
| Tax990 | $19.90 | tax990.com |
| TaxBandits | $19.90 | taxbandits.com |
| File990.org | $54.99 | file990.org |
| PTO Today (Beacon) | $99 per year (a membership with other tools) | ptotoday.com |
| File 990 Now | $49.99 · prior years: Not yet: we can't send returns to the IRS yet | Pricing |
If you only need this year's e-Postcard, the free IRS site is the best choice.
Is there a penalty for filing late?
Not for the e-Postcard. The IRS doesn't charge a penalty for a late 990-N (IRS).
The risk is the three-year rule. Miss three years in a row and your organization's tax-exempt status is revoked automatically, on the due date of the third year (26 U.S.C. §6033(j)). If you've missed two, read what to do before the third deadline.
If you've already been revoked
You may not need the missed e-Postcards at all. Under the IRS's streamlined reinstatement process, "for any year for which the organization was eligible to file a Form 990-N, the organization is not required to file a prior year Form 990-N" (IRS).
Focus on reinstatement instead; see how to get tax-exempt status back.
What you'll need for each year
The same eight items as any e-Postcard (IRS):
- Your EIN (employer identification number)
- The tax year
- Legal name and mailing address
- Any other names you use
- Name and address of a principal officer
- Website, if you have one
- Confirmation that gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less
- Whether the organization has ended or is ending
Check item 7 for each year. Gross receipts are everything you took in, before expenses. If they were normally over $50,000 in a year, that year needed a Form 990-EZ or 990 instead, and late penalties can apply (which form you file).
How many organizations are behind?
About 191,000 organizations the IRS lists as 990-N filers are behind on at least one past-due e-Postcard. That's roughly one in five. Every missed year before the current one can only be filed through a provider.
Source: our count of IRS Business Master File and e-Postcard data as published October 12–13, 2026. Some of these organizations may have filed recently, or may be waiting to be added to the IRS revocation list. Counts only; we never publish which organizations are behind.Sources
- IRS, Form 990-N FAQs: When to file
- IRS, Form 990-N FAQs: How to file
- IRS, Annual electronic filing requirement for small exempt organizations
- IRS, Approved e-file providers for exempt organizations
- IRS, How to have your tax-exempt status reinstated
- 26 U.S.C. §6033(j)
- Provider prices: each provider's own pricing page, checked October 15, 2026