Questions

Which form, and when

The two questions that decide everything else.

Which form does my organization file?

It depends on gross receipts and total assets. Form 990-N — the e-Postcard — is for organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. "Normally" is an average, and a newer organization is measured differently: in its first tax year the figure is $75,000 or less, and between one and three years old it is an average of $60,000 or less over the first two years. Form 990-EZ is for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000. Above that, the IRS expects the full Form 990, which we do not support yet. Private foundations file Form 990-PF whatever their size, and we do not prepare that. When you enter your EIN we show what the IRS has on record for your organization, which is usually the fastest way to settle it.

When is my return due?

The 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. For the calendar-year organizations that make up most filers, that is May 15. If your fiscal year ends in June, it is November 15. If that date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday the deadline moves to the next business day, which is why the actual date is not the same every year — and the two interact, because rolling the 15th off a weekend lands it on the Monday, and two federal holidays are third Mondays. Our deadline calculator works the date out from your fiscal year end, and we publish the next five years for each one.Work out your due date

Our chapter is covered by our national organization's group return. Do we file?

Not if your chapter is included in the group return your parent organization files: that return satisfies your chapter's annual filing requirement. If it is not included, your chapter files its own return — Form 990-N, 990-EZ or 990, by size — like any other organization. If you are not sure which applies, ask your parent organization; it decides which subordinates its group return covers. A chapter on a group return has no return of its own on the IRS record, so the chapter tracker usually shows its status as "unknown" rather than behind. We do not prepare group returns: they are filed on Form 990.

What happens if I file late, or not at all?

A late Form 990-EZ is penalised per day from the due date, and the IRS will abate that for reasonable cause. A late Form 990-N is not penalised at all. The thing that actually costs an organization its exemption is the three-year rule: miss the return or notice for three consecutive years and tax-exempt status is revoked automatically, by operation of law, on the due date of the third one. The IRS does send reminder notices when a return or notice is missed — what it does not do is make a decision, which is why there is nothing to appeal and no discretion to appeal to. In the meantime donations are not deductible and the organization may owe income tax. Getting it back is usually possible: a small organization revoked for the first time has a streamlined retroactive route, and our reinstatement guide covers all four. This is the single reason the product exists.The four routes back

Can I get an extension?

For Form 990-EZ, yes, if you file it by the original due date: Form 8868 gives an automatic six-month extension, but one filed after the due date extends nothing. Preparing one here costs nothing. Form 990-N cannot be extended — the IRS does not accept Form 8868 for the e-Postcard. If you are up against the deadline on a 990-N, the answer is to file it rather than to extend it; it is a short form and there is no late-filing penalty for 990-N, only the three-year revocation rule.

What do I need before I start?

Your organization's EIN, your gross receipts for the year, and the name and address of the officer who will sign. For a 990-EZ you will also need total assets, expenses by category, and the officers' names. You do not need to know any IRS line numbers — we ask in plain language and map the answers to the form.

What it costs

How much is it?

Form 990-N is $49.99 and Form 990-EZ is $79.99, per return. A Form 8868 extension is free. There is no subscription, no per-user fee, and no charge for creating an account or preparing a return you do not submit.

When am I charged?

At submission, not before. You can enter everything, see the completed return and change your mind without paying. Nothing is charged while you are still filling it in.

What if the IRS rejects my return?

Corrections and resubmission are free. Rejections are usually mechanical — a name that does not match IRS records, or an EIN typo — and we show you the IRS's own rejection code and what it means. You do not pay twice to fix something the first submission got wrong.

What if you cannot transmit my return at all?

You are refunded. If a return cannot be transmitted, the fee comes back — that is in our terms, not a courtesy. The software also refuses to take payment in the first place if it knows it cannot file: it will save your answers and tell you, rather than charging and hoping.Terms of service

About File 990 Now

Are you an IRS Authorized e-file Provider?

Yes. We hold an EFIN and an ETIN. What we have not finished is Modernized e-File assurance testing — the IRS tests a transmitter against its own scenarios before switching it on — so we cannot transmit returns yet, and we do not pretend otherwise. The software will not accept payment for a return it cannot file, and our security page states the current status in plain terms and is generated from the same switch the product reads rather than written by hand. Form 8868 extensions and return preparation work today.Security and e-file status

Do you give tax advice?

No. We are not a law firm or an accounting firm. We provide software that prepares and files the return you tell it to file, and you are responsible for the accuracy of what you enter and for signing the declaration. For a judgment call about your organization's situation, talk to a CPA.

Who is behind this?

File990Now LLC, 2337 Sandersville Rd, Lexington, KY 40511. We are not affiliated with the IRS. Questions go to support@file990now.com and reach a person.

I look after dozens of chapters. Is there something for that?

Yes. Parent organizations can import every chapter's EIN at once, see who has filed and who has not, send treasurers a one-click link to their own return, or file on their behalf in bulk. Each chapter gets its own return, not a group return. It is built for the national office of a federated organization rather than for a single treasurer.

Your organization's information

What do you do with our information?

We use it to prepare and file your return, and we send it to the IRS when you tell us to. We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for advertising. Three companies process data on our behalf — our database provider, our email provider and Stripe — and our privacy policy names all three and says exactly what each one receives.Privacy policy

Can your staff read our return?

Not by default. The admin console shows filing metadata — status, dates, amounts — and not the contents of a return. To see the return itself, support has to impersonate your account, which expires after 30 minutes, shows you a banner while it is happening, and is recorded at both ends in a log that cannot be edited from the application.

Do you store our card details?

No. Card details go from your browser to Stripe directly and never touch our servers. Stripe receives the amount and two internal reference numbers — no organization name, no EIN, no address, and nothing from your return.

How long do you keep our return?

Seven years, along with the record of what happened to it. That is the period over which you might need a prior return, and it is applied by a scheduled job rather than left to intention. Shorter-lived things — failed sign-in attempts, expired invitations — are deleted much sooner. Our privacy page lists every period.

Is my account protected beyond a password?

Two-factor authentication is available on every account, using an authenticator app, with single-use recovery codes in case you lose the device. Passwords are stored as salted hashes and are never visible to staff, and sign-in is rate limited by both email address and IP address.