Exactly what to do
- Due the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends (May 15 for calendar-year orgs). 990-N if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less; 990-EZ under $200,000 receipts AND under $500,000 assets; full 990 at or above either. File electronically, and remember the death penalty: three consecutive missed years and the IRS automatically revokes exemption.
- Treasury previewed an annual financial and programmatic audit by a qualified independent third party, furnished to every state whose list you appear on (a possible internal-committee substitute for smaller SGOs is in the preview too). Budget it inside your 10%, and keep audit-ready books all year so it's a review, not an archaeology dig.
- The corporate annual report and registered agent in your home state, every charitable-solicitation renewal from stage 3, any reports your listing states require, and the stage 4 re-listing itself. All of it should be on the deadline list you’ve kept since stage 3: one page in the records book, every renewal with its date, checked at each board meeting.
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Questions people actually ask
We took in almost nothing this year. Do we still file?
Yes, always. The 990-N e-Postcard takes minutes and exists precisely for low-revenue years. Skipping because “there was nothing to report” still counts toward the three-year automatic revocation.
Can anyone see our 990?
Yes, 990s are public documents, posted by the IRS and mirrored by watchdog sites, and donors and state vetting teams do read them. Treat the program-description and governance sections as marketing you happen to file with the IRS.
