Last updated 2026-08-14
TL;DR
The Form 990-N (e-Postcard) is a free, 8-question online filing for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. It's due by the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Miss three straight years and the IRS automatically revokes your tax-exempt status, no warning letter required.
What is the 990-N e-Postcard?
The 990-N is the shortest, cheapest version of the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's not a paper form. It's an online submission through the IRS's e-filing system, and the IRS itself calls it the "e-Postcard" because it asks for almost nothing beyond basic identifying information [1]. Small booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues use it because it's free and takes about ten minutes if you have your paperwork in order. There's no financial statement to attach, no schedule of donors, no balance sheet. You confirm your organization's legal name, EIN, mailing address, tax year, and a one-line statement that your gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, plus a couple of yes/no questions about whether you're still operating and whether you've gone out of business or changed your name [2]. Compare that to a full Form 990 or the mid-size 990-EZ, and the 990-N looks almost too easy. That's by design. Congress created it in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 specifically because small nonprofits were falling off the IRS's radar entirely, with no filing requirement at all before that law took effect [3].
Who has to file the 990-N?
| In existence 1 year or less | $75,000 or less in first tax year | |
|---|---|---|
| In existence 1-3 years | Average of $60,000 or less over first two years | |
| In existence 3+ years | Average of $50,000 or less over the immediately preceding 3 tax years | Source: IRS, "Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N)" [1] Most booster clubs and small PTOs land comfortably under this. A concession stand, a few fundraisers, some spirit-wear sales, that's typically well under $50,000 a year for a small program. If your group runs a big raffle or a golf tournament that pushes receipts over that average, you'll need the 990-EZ or full Form 990 instead. One wrinkle: private foundations can never file the 990-N regardless of size, and certain organizations like churches and their integrated auxiliaries aren't required to file any annual return at all, though many file voluntarily [1]. |
Any tax-exempt organization whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less is eligible to file the 990-N instead of a longer 990 or 990-EZ. "Normally" is an IRS term of art: it means the average of your receipts over the current year and the two years before it, not a strict single-year cutoff [1]. Here's how the IRS actually defines the threshold using that rolling average: | Organization's age | Gross receipts test for 990-N eligibility |
What is Form 990, and how does the 990-N fit in?
Form 990 is the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations. It's how the IRS (and the public) sees what a nonprofit took in, spent, and paid its people, since exempt organizations don't file income tax returns the way businesses do [3]. There isn't just one 990. There's a family of them, sized to the organization: - Form 990-N (e-Postcard): gross receipts normally $50,000 or less
- Form 990-EZ: gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000
- Form 990 (full): gross receipts $200,000 or more, or total assets $500,000 or more [4] For most booster clubs and small PTOs, the 990-N is the one that applies, and it's genuinely simple once you have your EIN and your fiscal year dates straight. If you want the full picture of how the different versions compare, our 990 overview walks through each one side by side, and this piece on the 990 tax form breaks down what the EZ and full versions actually ask for.
How do you actually file the 990-N?
You file through the IRS's own online system. As of the current IRS guidance, you submit the e-Postcard through the IRS website's Form 990-N electronic filing system, not through a separate commercial portal, and there's no paper alternative [2]. You'll need eight pieces of information ready before you start: your EIN, tax year, legal name and mailing address, any other names the organization uses, the name and address of a principal officer, your website if you have one, confirmation that gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, and a statement if the organization has terminated [2]. A few practical notes from the treasurer's side of this. First, you need an IRS username and password (through the Login.gov system the IRS now uses) to access the filing tool, so set that up before deadline week, not during it. Second, save or screenshot your confirmation once you submit. The IRS doesn't mail you anything back, and "I filed it" without proof is a bad position to be in during a leadership handoff. Third, do this every single year even in a year with almost no activity. There's no minimum-activity exception. If you're tax-exempt and under the receipts threshold, you file, period.
When is the 990-N due?
The 990-N is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends [1]. For a booster club or PTO running on a calendar year (January through December), that's May 15 of the following year. For a group on a school-year fiscal calendar (July through June), that's November 15. There's no extension available for the 990-N itself, though the IRS notes filing it late doesn't carry a monetary penalty the way a late 990 or 990-EZ might. But don't read that as "it doesn't matter." The real penalty is worse than money.
What happens if you don't file the 990-N?
Miss it once, nothing happens immediately. Miss it three years in a row and your organization's tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by operation of law, no notice, no appeal, no warning letter first. This is written directly into the tax code: under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), failure to file an annual return or notice for three consecutive years results in automatic revocation as of the filing due date for the third year [5]. The IRS has been blunt about how mechanical this is. Its own guidance states that organizations "that do not file for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status" and that reinstatement, more than "catching up," is required afterward [6]. This isn't a judgment call by an examiner. It's automatic, and it happens to a lot of small booster clubs and PTOs simply because of a leadership handoff where nobody realized filing was still their job. Once revoked, your organization shows up on the IRS's Auto-Revocation List, donations to you are no longer tax-deductible to donors, and depending on your state, you may also lose state tax-exempt status or charitable registration standing. Getting back involves filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ for reinstatement, more than filing the missed e-Postcards [6].
How do you fix auto-revocation from missed 990-N filings?
You apply for reinstatement using Form 1023 (or the streamlined Form 1023-EZ if you qualify) and check the box requesting reinstatement, then pay the applicable user fee. As of the IRS's current fee schedule, Form 1023-EZ carries a $275 fee and the full Form 1023 carries a $600 fee . The IRS offers a streamlined retroactive reinstatement process for small organizations that qualify (generally those eligible to file the 990-N or 990-EZ) if you apply within 15 months of the revocation date and haven't had your exemption previously auto-revoked. If you meet those conditions, the IRS states it "will treat the organization's application as having established reasonable cause for its failure to file" without requiring separate written reasonable-cause statements [6]. Miss that 15-month window, or don't qualify for streamlined treatment, and you'll need to submit a full reasonable-cause explanation with your reinstatement application, which is a heavier lift and a good time to talk to an accountant who handles nonprofit reinstatements regularly. This is genuinely one of the more painful things a new booster or PTO treasurer inherits, and it's exactly the kind of gap a 990-N filing history check should catch early during a handoff, before three years have quietly stacked up.
What does a treasurer do, and why does 990-N filing fall on them?
A treasurer manages an organization's money and its financial reporting obligations. In a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, that means keeping the books, tracking income and expenses from fundraisers and dues, maintaining bank account records, and making sure required filings, state and federal, go in on time [3]. What does a club treasurer do day to day? Realistically: collects and deposits money from concessions, spirit wear, and fundraisers; pays vendors and reimburses volunteers; reconciles the bank statement monthly; reports a budget update at meetings; and keeps records clean enough that next year's treasurer (or an auditor) can follow the trail without asking you a hundred questions. What does a treasurer of a club do that's easy to overlook until it bites you? Federal and state compliance. The 990-N is federal. Many states also require annual charitable solicitation registration renewals separate from the IRS, handled through the state attorney general or secretary of state's charity office, so confirm your specific state's requirement directly with that office since rules vary widely and change often. So when someone asks what is a treasurer in plain terms: it's the person accountable for the money and the paperwork that proves the money was handled honestly. The 990-N is one small but nonnegotiable piece of that paperwork.
What information do you need before you sit down to file?
Gather this before you start the clock on your ten-minute filing: - Your organization's EIN (not your personal SSN, and not a bank account number)
- Confirmation of your tax year start and end dates
- Legal name exactly as registered with the IRS, plus any DBA or "also known as" names
- Current mailing address
- Name and address of a current principal officer (often the treasurer or president)
- Organization website URL, if you have one
- A rough gross receipts figure for the current and prior two years, to confirm you're under the $50,000 average threshold If you're new to the role and don't have this from the outgoing treasurer, the fastest way to find your EIN and past filing history is the IRS's own Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which shows whether prior 990-N filings actually went in and whether your organization appears on the Auto-Revocation List .
990-N vs 990-EZ vs full 990: which one does your group file?
| 990-N | Normally $50,000 or less | No separate test | $0 | 8 basic data points, no financials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Under $200,000 | Under $500,000 | $0 (paper/e-file, but preparation isn't free if you hire help) | Summary financials, program service accomplishments | |
| Form 990 (full) | $200,000 or more | $500,000 or more | $0 | Full financial statements, compensation, governance detail | Source: IRS, "Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File" [4] The IRS itself lets an organization that qualifies for the 990-N choose to file the 990-EZ or full 990 voluntarily instead, generally because a state charity regulator or a grantmaker wants to see actual financials, more than a yes/no postcard. Some states, for instance, require charitable registration renewals that ask for a copy of your most recent 990, and a 990-N doesn't give them much to look at, so check with your state charity office about what they actually require you to attach. For a side-by-side of what the EZ and full versions ask for in detail, see our breakdown of the 990 tax form and the general 990 overview. |
The line between these three is drawn almost entirely by money in and money held, not by how the organization is organized or what it does. | Filing | Gross receipts threshold | Total assets threshold | Filing fee | What's disclosed |
What records should you keep after filing?
Keep your confirmation of submission (the IRS doesn't mail a paper receipt, so a screenshot or saved confirmation page is your proof), the gross receipts calculation you used to confirm eligibility, and a simple year-over-year log of what was filed and when. This matters most at handoff time. A new treasurer inheriting the books needs to know, at a glance: was last year's 990-N filed, when, and by whom. If your club doesn't have a written system for this, a one-page annual filing log (fiscal year, filing type, date filed, confirmation number, who filed) solves most of the problem and takes five minutes to set up. This is the exact gap the $99 State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built to close: a filing calendar built around your state and your fiscal year, so the 990-N deadline (and your state's separate charity registration renewal, if it has one) shows up before it becomes a three-year auto-revocation problem instead of after.
What if your organization isn't tax-exempt yet, or you're not sure?
If your group has never applied for federal tax-exempt status, it isn't eligible to file a 990-N at all, because the e-Postcard is for organizations that already hold exempt status. You'd need to apply first, typically through Form 1023-EZ for smaller organizations, before any annual filing requirement kicks in . If you genuinely don't know whether your booster club or PTO has exempt status, check the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search tool by name or EIN . It will show current status, revocation history, and past filings on record. This is worth ten minutes of anyone's time in their first month as treasurer, before assuming last year's filings happened just because nobody mentioned a problem.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations, reporting income, expenses, and activities instead of a business-style tax return. It comes in three main sizes based on gross receipts and assets: the 990-N e-Postcard for the smallest organizations, the 990-EZ for mid-size ones, and the full Form 990 for larger nonprofits [5].
What is a 990 tax form?
It's the informal name for the IRS's family of annual information returns for tax-exempt organizations. Despite the name, it's not an income tax return since exempt organizations generally don't owe income tax; it's a disclosure and accountability filing that reports finances and activities to the IRS and, for most versions, the public [4].
What is the 990-N and how is it different from the 990?
The 990-N (e-Postcard) is the smallest version, an 8-question online-only filing with no financial statements, for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. The full Form 990 is dozens of pages covering detailed financials, compensation, and governance, required once receipts hit $200,000 or assets hit $500,000 [1][5].
Who is required to file the 990-N?
Tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less that aren't required to file a 990-EZ or full 990, and aren't private foundations. Churches and certain religious organizations are exempt from the annual filing requirement entirely but may file voluntarily [1].
Is there a fee to file the 990-N?
No. Filing the 990-N e-Postcard itself is free through the IRS's online system. There's no filing fee, though there is a fee if your organization later needs to apply for reinstatement after auto-revocation ($275 for Form 1023-EZ, $600 for full Form 1023) [8].
When is the 990-N due each year?
By the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Calendar-year organizations (January to December) file by May 15. Organizations on a July-to-June fiscal year, common for school-affiliated groups, file by November 15 [1].
What happens if a booster club misses the 990-N deadline?
One missed year carries no direct monetary penalty for the 990-N specifically. But miss three consecutive years and the IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), with no advance warning letter, and reinstatement then requires a new exemption application [6][7].
How do you check if your organization already lost its tax-exempt status?
Search your organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. It shows current exempt status, the Auto-Revocation List, and a record of past 990-series filings, which is the fastest way for a new treasurer to confirm the filing history they inherited [9].
What does a treasurer do in a club or booster organization?
A club treasurer manages incoming and outgoing money, keeps the bank account reconciled, tracks fundraiser income and expenses, reports finances to the board, and handles required filings like the 990-N and any state charitable registration renewal. It's both a bookkeeping job and a compliance job.
What's the difference between 990-N, 990-EZ, and full Form 990?
The 990-N applies at gross receipts normally $50,000 or less with no financial detail required. The 990-EZ applies under $200,000 in receipts and under $500,000 in assets, with summary financials. The full Form 990 applies above those thresholds, with complete financial statements and governance disclosures [5].
Can a new organization file the 990-N in its first year?
Yes, if it already has recognized tax-exempt status and expects gross receipts of $75,000 or less in its first tax year (the first-year threshold is higher than the standard $50,000 average test) [1]. An organization that hasn't yet applied for exemption isn't eligible to file any 990-series return.
Do you need an accountant to file the 990-N?
Most small booster clubs and PTOs can file it themselves; it's eight basic questions with no financial statements attached. An accountant becomes genuinely useful once your receipts push you toward the 990-EZ or full 990, or if you're dealing with reinstatement after auto-revocation, which involves more judgment calls.
Does filing the 990-N replace state charity registration requirements?
No. The 990-N is a federal IRS filing only. Many states separately require charitable organizations to register or renew registration with the state attorney general or secretary of state's charity office, with their own deadlines and forms; confirm your specific state's requirements directly with that office.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): gross receipts thresholds, filing exemptions for churches, and the 'normally $50,000 or less' rolling average test
- Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280: the 990-N annual filing requirement for small exempt organizations was created by this 2006 law
- IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: exempt organizations file information returns rather than income tax returns, and the general purpose of Form 990
- 26 U.S. Code Section 6033(j): automatic revocation of tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of failing to file required annual returns or notices
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: organizations that fail to file for three consecutive years automatically lose exempt status, and the streamlined retroactive reinstatement process and its 15-month window
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: tool to check current exempt status, Auto-Revocation List membership, and past 990-series filings