Organizations whose annual gross receipts are $50,000 or less are allowed to submit a Form 990-N to the IRS in lieu of the long Form 990. Beginning February 29, 2016, the IRS will be using a new website to collect 990-N submissions.
Form 990-N, a short 8-question filing, is extended to organizations that meet the following criteria:
- The organization has been in existence for 1 year or less and received, or donors have pledged to give, $75,000 or less during its first taxable year.
- The organization has been in existence between 1 and 3 years and averaged $60,000 or less in gross receipts during each of its first 2 tax years.
- The organization is at least 3 years old and averaged $50,000 or less in gross receipts for the immediately preceding 3 tax years (including the year for which calculations are being made).
Form 990-N is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of an organization’s tax year. For example for a fiscal year ending December 31st, the Form 990-N is due by May 15th. As of February 29, 2016, it must be submitted electronically through a website hosted by the IRS: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/epostcard/.
The IRS has acknowledged that technical issues may delay the implementation of the new Form 990-N submission process and states that it has put in place systems to prevent organizations from being penalized if their filing due dates occur before the submission system is in place. You can find more information on the IRS website here.