I loved the IRS’s provided “drop in media”, which displays your tax return being crumpled and thrown in the garbage. Their portrayal isn’t far from what happens if you don’t file your 990 – you are in effect throwing away your 1023. With IR-2010-10 the IRS has implemented an automatic revocation of tax-exempt status for not filing your Form 990 for three consecutive years. In order to regain its tax-exempt status, an organization would have to reapply and any contributions received between revocation and renewed exemption status will likely not be tax deductible to the donor.

For those of you who have annual receipts of $25,000 or less, don’t forget you can file the 990-N. This simple form should take you all of 10 minutes. 2009 forms also fall under the revised 990-EZ qualifications – organizations making between $25,000 and $500,000 with total assets less than $1.25M (this will increase again in 2010).

And for those of you who are not calendar year-end organizations, now is still a good time to think about your 990. There are a number of required disclosures relating to compensation on a TAX YEAR basis so, as you are preparing your W-2’s, keep in mind some of the information you will need to prepare your 990 later this year (such things as bonuses paid in 2009, health/dental/life insurance premiums paid for officers, and W-2 wages).

Katie Thomas, CPA