Which Form 990 Series You Need To File for your Tax Exempt Organization

Do you know the Form 990 series return for the tax year, which is to be filed by the organizations? The 990 filing thresholds for the tax year is given below for all the organizations that are required to file 990 series return. Form 990 series need to be filed by most of tax-exempt organizations, except government-affiliated organizations and churches. Form 990 serves as a primary tool for IRS to gather information about tax-exempt organizations. Check out the 990 forms related to the status of the organizations.

Status Form to File Title
Gross Receipts ≤ $50,000 IRS Form 990 N Electronic Notice (e-Postcard) for Tax-Exempt Organizations Not Required to File Form 990 or 990-EZ
Gross Receipts< $ 200,000 and
Total assets < $ 500,000
IRS Form 990 EZ or Form 990 Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax
Gross Receipts  ≥ $200,000, or
Total assets ≥ $500,000
IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax
Private Foundation – irrespective of financial status IRS Form 990 F Return of Private Foundation or Section 4947(a)(1) Nonexempt Charitable Trust Treated as a Private Foundation

Who must File Form 990?

Most of the tax-exempt organizations, which have gross receipts of at least $ 200,000 or assets worth at least $ 500,000 should file Form 990 on a yearly basis. Organizations that are exempted from filing Form 990 are churches, political organizations, and other religious organizations.
This Form 990 also includes a separate section for the organization to specify the organization’s accomplishments in the previous tax year to justify its tax-exempt status.

Who must File Form 990N?

All nonprofit organizations with a gross receipt under $ 50,000 need to submit Form 990 N. When the organization has a fluctuating income every year, it must file the e-postcard when the average revenue was $ 50,000 or less for the previous 3 consecutive years. But the nonprofit organization with gross receipts of $ 50,000 or more, then the organization must file Form 990 or Form 990 EZ.

Who must File Form 990 EZ?

The IRs Form 990 EZ is the short form of the information return for the exempt organizations which includes the political organizations. A political organization that needs to file Form 990 but has not exceeded the 990 thresholds for the total gross receipts during the tax year and total assets may file Form 990 EZ at the end of the year instead of Form 990.

Who must File Form 990 PF?

Form 990 PF is also an annual information return, which must be filed by

  • Exempt private foundations
  • Taxable private foundations.
  • Organizations, which made the election under the section 41 (e) (6) (D) (iv)
  • Organizations, which has agreed to the status of the private foundation but the application for the tax-exempt status is pending on the due date of filing form 990 PF.
  • Private foundations, which makes termination under section 507 (b)
  • Non-exempt charitable trusts Section 4947 (a) (1) treated as private foundations.

Filing 990 forms is purely based on the gross income of nonprofit organizations. Hence before preparing to file the 990 form series, it is better to check the status of the organization and the appropriate form to file for the current tax year. Knowing the 990 form series better will help you when you start to file for your organization.