It’s that time of year again! The time when rain showers lead to blooming flowers, when kids anticipate summer vacation, and when nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations scramble to find CPAs to file their taxes.
That’s right, it’s May! Which means there’s a tax exempt deadline right around the corner!
More specifically, on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, tax exempt organizations must file Form 990, the Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.
When’s that Deadline?
Since the deadline should be the fifteenth day, but that is a Sunday,
the actual deadline falls on May 16th. That is, there’s a deadline for any tax exempt organization that runs on a calendar year (January 1st through December 31st).
If you’re on your own fiscal year, your deadline is still the fifteenth day of the fifth month after your tax period ends.
Types of 990 Forms
Form 990-N (e-Postcard): You may only file an e-Postcard if you have an organization that makes $50,000 or less a year in gross receipts. Exceptions to this requirement include:
- Organizations that are included in a group return.
- Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches.
- Organizations required to file a different return.
Form 990-EZ: You can use this form if your gross receipts are less than $200,000 or total assets are less than $500,000. Schedules are a vital part of Form 990-EZ, allowing the filer to go into further detail on its reason for being tax-exempt. Each schedule is designed to provide specific information on certain activities.
Form 990: This form must be filed by an organization exempt from income tax under section 501(a) (including an organization that has not applied for recognition of exemption) if it has either gross receipts greater than or equal to $200,000 or total assets greater than or equal to $500,000 at the end of the tax year. Form 990 also uses schedules.
Why You Should E-file
Want to save time? Want to reduce errors? Want to avoid paper cuts? If you answered yes to these questions, you should e-file your Form 990 tax exempt returns.
Instead of going through piles of paper forms, ExpressTaxExempt walks you through an interview-style form that simplifies and streamlines your filing.
Also, we offer the 990, the 990-EZ, and the 990-N, so you can bet that we provide a tax filing option for your nonprofit.
We also provide
tax-exempt return extensions and error checks (on our end), as well as bulk file uploading, and multi-user access. Basically, we’re trying to make the whole process easier.
Best of all, smaller nonprofits and exempt organizations can file the 990-N (the e-Postcard) FREE for the current year!
So when you’re gathering your records and getting ready to file your Form 990, head over to
ExpressTaxExempt and create a free account. We won’t charge you until you’re ready to e-file!
If you have any questions about your 990 form, your friendly and dedicated customer support staff will be here to answer by email 24/7 at
Support@ExpressTaxExempt.com, or by phone at 704.839.2321.
If your organization operates from January 1 to December 31 it is considered to have a calendar tax year with a standard tax filing deadline each year. Organizations that function for 12 consecutive months but end on any month besides December are operated as a fiscal tax year. 
If you ever want to see someone raise their eyebrow or look stunned when checking their mailbox, let them receive a letter from the IRS. Although millions of letters and notices are mailed to taxpayers each year, there is still that worry and concern that immediately comes over you when you first see that sealed envelope from the IRS with your name on it. Fortunately, all letters from the IRS are not negative and many may be very easy to resolve. 
