Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
Form 990-EZ is the IRS's short annual return for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000. It's due the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Below those thresholds, you can usually file the simpler 990-N instead; above them, you need the full Form 990.
What is the 990-EZ form?
Form 990-EZ, officially "Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax," is the middle-tier annual information return the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations. It's shorter than the full Form 990 but longer than the postcard-style 990-N. The IRS describes eligibility plainly: organizations "with gross receipts less than $200,000 and total assets less than $500,000 at the end of the tax year" can use the 990-EZ instead of the full 990 [1]. Both thresholds have to be true at the same time. A booster club with $150,000 in gross receipts but $600,000 sitting in an endowment account doesn't qualify for the EZ; it has to file the full 990. Most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues that have grown past the tiny end of the spectrum land here. If your group runs a concession stand, a couple of tournaments, and an annual banquet, and you're pulling in something like $60,000 to $190,000 a year, the 990-EZ is probably your form, not the postcard version. For context on the full-size version, see form 990 and irs form 990.
What is form 990 and how does the 990-EZ fit in?
| 990-N (e-Postcard) | Smallest orgs | Gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [2] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Small-to-mid orgs | Gross receipts under $200,000 AND total assets under $500,000 [1] | |
| 990 (full) | Larger orgs | Gross receipts $200,000+ or assets $500,000+ [1] | |
| 990-PF | Private foundations | All private foundations, regardless of size [3] | The 990-EZ sits in the middle. It asks for more detail than the postcard (a real balance sheet, a statement of revenue and expenses, officer compensation, some program service description) but it's nowhere near as long as the full 990 with its many schedules. For a plain-language overview of the whole family, see 990 tax form and [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990). |
Form 990 is the IRS's general term for the family of annual information returns tax-exempt organizations file to report income, expenses, activities, and governance. It's not a tax bill in the usual sense (most exempt orgs owe no income tax on program activity), but it's the public accountability document that keeps your exemption active. There are really four versions, sorted by size: | Form | Who files it | Rough threshold |
What is a 990 tax form, exactly, and is it a tax return?
Yes and no. It's called a tax form and it's filed with the IRS, but for most exempt organizations it doesn't generate an income tax bill. It's an information return: it tells the IRS (and the public, since 990s are open records) what money came in, what went out, who ran the group, and whether it stayed within the bounds of its tax-exempt purpose. If your group has unrelated business income over $1,000 in a year (say, renting out equipment to non-members for profit, or running an ad-heavy program unrelated to your exempt purpose), you may also owe Form 990-T and actual tax on that slice [4]. That's a separate filing from the 990-EZ itself. The 990-EZ specifically has two parts most treasurers dread the first year: Part I (Revenue, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets) and Part II (Balance Sheets, beginning and end of year). If your books balance and you've kept clean records all year, this takes an afternoon. If you inherited a shoebox, it takes longer, and it's exactly the kind of task the 990-n filers eventually graduate into once they cross $50,000 in receipts.
When is the 990-EZ due, and what happens if I file late?
The 990-EZ is due the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends. For a calendar-year filer (year ends December 31), that's May 15. For a school-year filer (year ends June 30), that's November 15. You can request an automatic 6-month extension using Form 8868, which the IRS accepts without needing a reason stated [5]. That pushes a May 15 deadline to November 15. The real danger isn't one late filing, it's three in a row. Federal law is specific here: "the exempt status of such organization shall be considered revoked" if it fails to file the required return or notice for three consecutive years [6]. This isn't a warning letter situation. It's automatic. The IRS does not send a "final notice" before pulling the trigger; the revocation is baked into the statute itself. If your organization has already lost its exemption this way, that's a separate recovery process (reinstatement applications, possibly retroactive), and it's worth reading up specifically on that before assuming the 990-EZ alone fixes it.
What does a treasurer do, generally, in a booster club or PTO?
A treasurer is the person responsible for tracking every dollar that moves through the organization and making sure the group can account for it, to the board, to the members, and to the IRS or state if asked. It's a stewardship role more than an accounting-degree role, though good habits matter more than credentials. Day to day, what does a treasurer do? Concretely: deposit cash from fundraisers promptly, keep receipts and reconcile the bank statement monthly, pay approved bills, track restricted funds separately (that $2,000 someone donated specifically for new uniforms can't quietly become field-trip money), and report a clear financial picture at every board meeting. Annually, what do treasurers do that a member wouldn't see? File the 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 depending on size. Renew any state charitable solicitation registration. Handle 1099s for paid contractors over $600. Keep the organization's EIN, bylaws, and exemption letter in one findable place, not in a departing volunteer's garage. A good rule: if a new volunteer took over tomorrow with zero handoff, could they find last year's bank statements and the exemption letter in under ten minutes? If not, your recordkeeping needs work regardless of how good your numbers are.
What is a treasurer, in plain terms, versus what a bookkeeper does?
A treasurer is an elected or appointed officer with fiduciary duty to the organization. A bookkeeper (sometimes the same person, sometimes hired help) is the one entering transactions. In a small booster club these are almost always the same person, which is fine, but it's worth knowing the distinction because the treasurer's duty runs to the board and the membership, more than to accurate ledgers. Legally, board members and officers, including treasurers, generally owe a duty of care and duty of loyalty to the nonprofit corporation under state nonprofit corporation law. That means acting in good faith, avoiding self-dealing, and using reasonable judgment, standards that show up in most state nonprofit corporation statutes and are commonly summarized by state attorney general charity offices. Confirm the specifics with your state's nonprofit corporation act and your state charity regulator's office, since duties and any personal-liability protections vary by state. Practically, that duty is why a treasurer signs off on the 990-EZ (or whichever version applies), even if a hired bookkeeper or accountant prepared it. Signing means someone with actual knowledge of the organization is standing behind the numbers.
What does a treasurer do in a club, specifically for youth sports or PTOs?
In a school-affiliated or youth-sports booster club, the treasurer's job usually breaks into four buckets: cash handling, banking, filing, and reporting. Cash handling means concession stands, gate admissions, spirit-wear sales, and raffle ticket sales all get counted by two people, logged, and deposited within a couple of days, not held in a coach's trunk for a month. This is the single biggest source of "where did the money go" disputes in youth sports groups, and it's almost always a controls problem, not an actual theft problem, though sometimes it's that too. Banking means reconciling monthly against the bank statement, keeping signers current (former board members should be removed from the account promptly), and requiring two signatures above some dollar threshold your bylaws set. Filing means the 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990, plus any state annual charity registration renewal, plus sales tax exemption paperwork if your state has that. Reporting means a monthly or quarterly financial statement to the board that a non-accountant parent volunteer can actually read: cash in, cash out, ending balance, budget-to-actual by major category (uniforms, travel, concessions, tournament fees). If nobody on your board understands the report, it's not doing its job.
What does a club treasurer do that's different from a corporate treasurer?
A corporate treasurer manages cash flow, investments, and debt for a for-profit company, often with a finance team underneath. A club treasurer at a PTO or booster club is usually one volunteer wearing every hat: bookkeeper, bill payer, bank liaison, and IRS filer, all with no staff and often no accounting background. The scale is different too. A corporate treasurer might manage millions in liquidity. A booster club treasurer might manage $40,000 across a checking account and a savings account for uniform replacement, and the stakes (losing tax-exempt status, personal liability for misused donor-restricted funds, a state charity registration lapse) are proportionally just as real for the small organization, because the consequences fall on volunteers, not shareholders. That's really the core difference: the corporate treasurer answers to a board and public markets; the club treasurer answers to parents, members, the IRS, and sometimes a state attorney general's charity division, with far fewer resources to do it right.
How do I know if my organization should file the 990-EZ instead of the 990-N or full 990?
Check gross receipts and total assets for the tax year, both, more than one. If your organization's gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, the IRS generally lets you file the 990-N e-Postcard instead, which is an 8-question online form with no financial detail required [2]. See 990-n and form-990-n for that process specifically. If gross receipts are between roughly $50,000 and under $200,000, and total assets are under $500,000, you're in 990-EZ territory, or you can choose to file the full 990 voluntarily even though you don't have to (some organizations do this for grant applications that expect the fuller form). If gross receipts hit $200,000 or more, or total assets hit $500,000 or more, you must file the full Form 990, not the EZ [1]. A quick example: your booster club had a huge fundraising year, a $220,000 gross from a big raffle and gala combined, even though normal years run $70,000. That one big year pushes you into full-990 territory for that specific tax year, even if you drop back under $200,000 the next year. Filing status is evaluated year by year, not based on your typical size.
What information does the 990-EZ actually ask for?
The form has six parts. Part I covers revenue, expenses, and changes in net assets, basically your income statement for the year. Part II is the balance sheet at the start and end of the year. Part III asks for a description of your program service accomplishments, in plain language, not boilerplate. Part IV lists officers, directors, trustees, and key employees along with any compensation paid. Part V covers other IRS filings and compliance questions (did you file all required returns, do you have unrelated business income, etc.). Part VI is only required for section 501(c)(3) organizations and asks about lobbying, related organizations, and other disclosures. Depending on your activities, you may also need to attach schedules: Schedule A (public charity status) is required for most 501(c)(3) filers, Schedule B for large contributors in some cases, Schedule G if you ran professional fundraising or a gaming/raffle event over certain thresholds, and Schedule O for supplemental explanations that don't fit in the boxes. Most booster clubs and PTOs end up attaching at minimum Schedule A. If you ran a raffle, bingo night, or similar gaming activity, check whether Schedule G's reporting thresholds apply to your event size; confirm current dollar thresholds with the IRS instructions for Schedule G since these are the kind of figure the IRS updates periodically.
Can I file the 990-EZ myself, or do I need an accountant?
Plenty of volunteer treasurers file it themselves the first year, especially if the books are clean and the prior treasurer left good records. The form itself isn't technically hard; the hard part is having accurate numbers to plug in. Where people get into trouble: not knowing whether something counts as "gross receipts" (hint: it's usually total revenue before subtracting expenses, which trips people up when a $30,000 fundraiser only netted $8,000 after costs), missing a required schedule, or not knowing whether a prior year's error needs correcting first. A CPA who's done nonprofit returns before can review your draft for a flat fee in many cases, often cheaper than a full year's engagement, and that's frequently worth it for a first-time treasurer even if you did the data entry yourself. This isn't tax advice and every organization's situation differs; confirm specifics with the IRS instructions for Form 990-EZ and, if the numbers or history are messy, a qualified preparer. If your organization is starting from scratch on recordkeeping systems, a $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit type resource that's pre-built for your state's rules can save the hours of googling that eat up a volunteer's first filing season, though it's not a substitute for professional advice on anything genuinely uncertain.
What happens after I file? Does the 990-EZ become public?
Yes. Form 990-EZ, like all 990-series returns, is a public document. Anyone can request it from the organization directly, and most filings show up through the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search tool or through nonprofit data sites that republish IRS data [7]. Donors, grant committees, and journalists routinely pull these to check on financial health and officer compensation. That public nature is exactly why the description in Part III matters. A vague "we support student athletics" line tells a potential donor or grant reviewer nothing. A specific one ("funded uniforms and travel for 140 student athletes across 6 teams, sponsored two tournaments") does real work for you the next time someone's deciding whether to write a check. Keep a copy of every filed return permanently in your organization's files, more than for three years. The next treasurer will need the prior year's ending balance to start the new year's Part II, and grant applications routinely ask for the last two or three years of 990s.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks all money coming in and going out, keeps the bank account reconciled, pays approved bills, keeps restricted donations separate from general funds, and files required IRS returns (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990) and any state charity registration. It's a stewardship role focused on accurate records and public accountability, more than bookkeeping.
What is a treasurer?
A treasurer is an elected or appointed officer of a nonprofit, club, or association responsible for its finances. The role carries a fiduciary duty to act in the organization's best interest, similar to duties described in most state nonprofit corporation statutes, and typically includes signing off on annual IRS filings.
What is form 990?
Form 990 is the IRS's general term for the annual information returns tax-exempt organizations file. There are several versions based on size: the 990-N e-Postcard for the smallest orgs, the 990-EZ for mid-size orgs under $200,000 in gross receipts and $500,000 in assets, and the full Form 990 for larger organizations, per IRS guidance [1][2].
What is a 990 tax form?
It's the annual IRS information return tax-exempt organizations file to report revenue, expenses, assets, and governance. It's not usually a tax bill; it's a public disclosure document that keeps the IRS and the public informed and keeps your organization's exemption active as long as you file every year.
What is the 990?
The 990 is the full-length version of the annual return for tax-exempt organizations with $200,000 or more in gross receipts or $500,000 or more in total assets, per IRS thresholds [1]. Smaller organizations file the shorter 990-EZ or the 990-N e-Postcard instead, based on their gross receipts and assets.
What does a club treasurer do?
A club treasurer handles dues or fundraiser income, pays club expenses, keeps a running ledger, reports balances at meetings, and files whatever annual IRS return the club's size requires. In youth sports and school clubs specifically, this also usually means overseeing cash from concessions, gate fees, and merchandise sales with two-person counting.
What does a treasurer of a club do differently from other officers?
Unlike the president or secretary, the treasurer has direct control over money and financial records, and carries specific accountability for accurate reporting and required filings. Other officers vote on spending and set direction; the treasurer executes, tracks, and reports on that spending, and is usually the one who signs the annual tax filing.
Does every nonprofit have to file a 990-EZ specifically?
No. Which version you file depends on size. Organizations with gross receipts $50,000 or less can generally file the simpler 990-N [2]. Those with gross receipts under $200,000 and assets under $500,000 can use the 990-EZ [1]. Larger organizations must file the full 990. Churches and a few other categories have separate exceptions; confirm with IRS guidance.
What's the deadline to file Form 990-EZ?
The 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year organization (year ending December 31), that's May 15. A 6-month extension is available automatically via Form 8868 [5], moving that deadline to November 15.
What happens if my organization misses three years of 990 filings?
Federal law automatically revokes tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of not filing the required 990-series return or notice, with no case-by-case warning required [6]. Reinstatement requires a separate application process with the IRS; confirm current requirements and any fees with irs.gov before assuming a routine filing fixes it.
Can a small booster club choose to file the full 990 instead of the 990-EZ?
Yes. Organizations under the 990-EZ thresholds can voluntarily file the full 990 if they prefer, sometimes useful for grant applications that expect fuller financial disclosure. You cannot go the other direction: if you exceed the 990-EZ thresholds, filing the shorter form isn't an option that year.
Is the 990-EZ the same as a state charity registration filing?
No. The 990-EZ is a federal IRS filing. Many states separately require charitable organizations to register and file annual reports with a state charity office or attorney general, often due on a different schedule and sometimes requiring a copy of your 990. Confirm requirements with your state charity office; these vary widely by state.
Do gross receipts for the 990-EZ threshold include fundraiser expenses?
Gross receipts generally mean total revenue before subtracting related expenses. A raffle that brought in $40,000 in ticket sales counts as $40,000 in gross receipts even if you only netted $12,000 after prizes and costs. This trips up many first-time treasurers; confirm the exact definition in the current IRS Form 990-EZ instructions.
Sources
- IRS, "Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N)": 990-N is generally available for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less
- IRS, "Private Foundations": Private foundations file Form 990-PF regardless of size
- IRS, "Unrelated Business Income Tax": Exempt organizations with unrelated business income over $1,000 generally must file Form 990-T
- IRS, "Form 8868, Application for Extension of Time To File an Exempt Organization Return": Automatic 6-month extension available via Form 8868 without needing to state a reason
- Internal Revenue Code Section 6033(j): Tax-exempt status is automatically revoked after failing to file required returns for three consecutive years
- IRS, "Tax Exempt Organization Search": Filed 990-series returns are public and searchable through the IRS's own database
- IRS, "Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax": Description of the 990-EZ form's parts, schedules, and filing instructions