Who to call about filing form 990-N or 990-EZ

Last updated 2026-08-14

what phone number do I call about form 990-N or 990-EZ

The number is 877-829-5500. That's the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) customer account services line, and it's the one line the IRS lists for "exempt organizations" questions, which covers 990-N, 990-EZ, and the full 990 family. ^[1] It's toll-free, and it's staffed for organization-side questions, not personal tax returns, so don't call your regular 1040 help line. Hours matter here. The IRS lists this line as open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm local time (some regional variation applies). ^[1] Call early in the week if you can. Monday mornings and the days right around the May 15 deadline (more on that below) get long hold times, sometimes 30 to 45 minutes based on general IRS phone-line reporting during peak season, though the IRS doesn't publish exact 877-829-5500 wait-time stats separately. Have your organization's EIN ready before you call. The agent will ask for it in the first thirty seconds, and if you don't have it, the call basically stalls. If you're a first-year treasurer and don't know the EIN, check last year's filing, your bank's account paperwork, or your state charity registration file. If none of those exist, that's its own problem and worth reading up on irs form 990 filing history recovery.

is there a way to file 990-N or ask questions online instead of calling

Yes, and for 990-N, online is actually the only path. The e-Postcard (990-N) is filed exclusively through the IRS website at irs.gov, using the organization's login through the IRS's e-Postcard filing system. ^[2] There's no paper version of 990-N. If your gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, you're required to file this way each year, and you can't mail anything instead. ^[2] For 990-EZ, you have more flexibility. Organizations can e-file through an IRS-authorized e-file provider, and as of tax years beginning after July 1, 2019, the Taxpayer First Act requires electronic filing for most exempt organizations, phased in with transition relief for smaller filers. ^[3] Paper 990-EZ filing is being phased out; check the current year's instructions on irs.gov before assuming paper is still accepted for your filing year. There's no general customer-service email address for exempt organization filing questions. The IRS doesn't run an email help desk for this. If you need something in writing, you either call and ask them to note your account, or you write to the mailing address on the current Form 990-EZ instructions, which changes depending on your state and whether you're including a payment.

where do I mail form 990-EZ

There is one mailing address, and it doesn't vary by state: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027. ^[4] That's the address printed in the current Form 990-EZ instructions for organizations still filing on paper. Double-check the current year's instructions before you mail anything, because IRS mailing addresses do shift between tax years and this reference guide can't guarantee it hasn't changed since publication. Don't send a 990-EZ payment (if you owe an excise tax or penalty) to a random IRS address you found from a search. Use the address tied to the specific form and tax year, printed on the form's own instructions page for that year. A payment sent to the wrong service center can get lost or delayed processing by weeks. If you're mailing because your organization qualifies for a paper-filing exception under the Taxpories First Act transition rules, keep a certified mail receipt or similar proof of mailing. IRS notices assume non-filing until they process what you sent, and "I mailed it" without proof doesn't help you if a notice for automatic revocation shows up eighteen months later.

what if my organization already had its tax-exempt status revoked

That's a different process, and a different set of contacts. Organizations that fail to file a required 990-series return (990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF) for three consecutive years lose their tax-exempt status automatically, by operation of law under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j). ^[1] The IRS publishes the Auto-Revocation List (sometimes called the Automatic Revocation of Exemption List) and you can search it by EIN or name at irs.gov. ^[5] If you're on that list, the same 877-829-5500 line can answer general questions, but the actual fix is filing Form 1024 or 1024-A (depending on your exemption subsection) along with the correct user fee, requesting reinstatement. Streamlined retroactive reinstatement is available for organizations that were eligible to file 990-EZ or 990-N and apply within 15 months of the revocation date, per Revenue Procedure 2014-11. ^[6] Read the ^[990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990) overview and the form 990 explainer before you start the reinstatement paperwork, because the application asks for prior-year financial detail you'll need to reconstruct. This is also where a lot of booster clubs and PTOs get burned. Nobody wants to call the IRS. But calling early, before revocation, costs you a hold-time headache. Calling after revocation costs you a $275 to $600 user fee (fee varies by form and org size, confirm current fee on the Form 1024 instructions) ^[7] plus weeks of reconstructing three years of financial records.

what is form 990

990-N (e-Postcard)	Small orgs	Normally $50,000 or less [2]
990-EZ	Mid-size orgs	Gross receipts under $200,000 AND total assets under $500,000 [9]
990 (full form)	Larger orgs	Gross receipts $200,000+ OR total assets $500,000+ [9]
990-PF	Private foundations	All private foundations, regardless of size [8]	Most volunteer-run booster clubs, PTOs, and small youth sports leagues fall into the 990-N or 990-EZ tier. If your group brought in more than $50,000 last year but less than $200,000, you're a 990-EZ filer by default, not 990-N, and filing the wrong one doesn't count as filing at all in the IRS's eyes.

Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, activities, and governance. ^[8] It's not a tax bill in the way a personal 1040 is; it's a disclosure document. The IRS uses it to confirm an organization is still operating within its exempt purpose, and the public can use it to see how a nonprofit spends money, since 990s are open records under section 6104. There isn't just one "990." There's a family of related forms, sized to the organization: | Form | Who files it | Gross receipts threshold |

what is a 990 tax form and how is it different from a regular tax return

A 990 tax form is an information return, not an income tax return. Most organizations that file it owe no federal income tax on their exempt-purpose activities, because they're recognized under section 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or another exempt subsection. ^[10] The form exists so the IRS and the public can see what the organization actually did with its money. That distinction confuses new treasurers constantly. You're not calculating a tax liability on line after line the way you would on a 1040. You're reporting revenue sources, program expenses, officer compensation (if any), and answering governance questions about conflicts of interest and record retention. If your booster club did have unrelated business income (say, running a for-profit concession stand unconnected to the exempt purpose), that piece might trigger Form 990-T and actual tax owed, which is a separate filing. For reference on the specific line-by-line mechanics, see the 990 tax form breakdown and the 990-n page for the e-Postcard version specifically.

what does a treasurer do

A treasurer manages an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, keeping the bank account reconciled, and making sure required filings (like the 990-series return) go in on time. In a volunteer group, that usually means you're also the one person who understands where the money actually is. The job breaks into three buckets. First, bookkeeping: recording every deposit and expense, ideally with receipts and a simple ledger or spreadsheet, so anyone auditing the books later can trace a dollar from bank statement to purpose. Second, compliance: filing the 990-N or 990-EZ by the deadline (the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends, so May 15 for a calendar-year org), ^[2] renewing any state charity registration, and keeping raffle or gaming licenses current if your group runs those. Third, reporting: giving the board or membership a clear financial picture at meetings, so decisions get made with real numbers instead of guesses. None of that requires an accounting degree. It requires consistency, a system you actually use every month (more than at tax time), and knowing which deadlines apply to your specific organization size and state.

what is a treasurer, exactly

A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's financial records and reporting, usually an elected or appointed volunteer position in a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league. It's a fiduciary role. That means you're legally and ethically on the hook for handling the group's money honestly and keeping accurate records, even though you're almost certainly unpaid and doing this alongside a full-time job. Most bylaws for these organizations name specific treasurer duties: maintaining the bank account, preparing financial statements, filing tax paperwork, and presenting a budget or financial report at meetings. If your organization's bylaws don't spell this out clearly, that's worth fixing before your term is over, because the next treasurer will thank you (or curse you) depending on what you leave behind. The title sounds bigger than the day-to-day work usually is for a small nonprofit. You're not running a corporate finance department. You're keeping honest, simple records and hitting a small number of annual deadlines. The trouble comes from skipping years, not from the complexity of any single task.

what do treasurers do day to day, month to month, and at tax time

Day to day, a treasurer deposits checks and cash from fundraisers, pays approved invoices or reimbursements, and keeps receipts filed (digital or paper, doesn't matter, as long as it's consistent). Month to month, the job shifts to reconciliation: matching the bank statement against your internal ledger, catching anything that doesn't add up, and reporting a summary to the board. At tax time, the job narrows to one task with a hard deadline: filing the correct 990-series form. For most small booster clubs and PTOs that means 990-N if gross receipts stayed under $50,000, or 990-EZ if you crossed that threshold. ^{[2] [9]} Miss this three years running and the IRS auto-revokes your tax-exempt status under section 6033(j), no warning letter required beyond what's already published in the statute. ^[1] A practical monthly habit that prevents 90% of treasurer headaches: reconcile the bank account within the first week of the following month, every month, without exception. Groups that let three or four months pile up almost always find errors they can't fully explain later, and untangling that mess right before a filing deadline is miserable.

what does a treasurer do in a club or what does a club treasurer do

A club treasurer, whether it's a booster club, a PTO, or a youth sports league board, handles the same core functions as any nonprofit treasurer, scaled down. You collect dues or fundraiser proceeds, pay club expenses (uniforms, tournament fees, snacks, whatever the club actually does), and keep a running record the rest of the board can see. Where club treasurers differ from, say, a large nonprofit's CFO is scope and formality. You're probably not managing investments or payroll. You are managing cash handling at car washes and concession stands, which is actually a harder control problem in some ways, because cash is easy to lose track of without anyone doing anything wrong. Two-person counting, deposit logs, and a simple receipt-and-reimbursement policy solve most of that. See financial-controls resources on your site's hub for cash handling specifics if your club runs fundraisers with cash intake. A club treasurer of a school booster group or rec league also usually inherits the 990-N or 990-EZ filing duty from whoever came before, sometimes with no handoff notes at all. If that's you right now, your first move is confirming the EIN, confirming the last filed year, and calling 877-829-5500 to check your organization's current filing status before you do anything else.

does the IRS have a live chat or email option for exempt organizations

No. As of this writing, the IRS does not offer live chat or a dedicated email inbox for exempt organization filing questions like 990-N or 990-EZ. Phone (877-829-5500) and mail are the two channels. ^[1] The IRS has piloted limited chat features for some individual taxpayer account questions in recent years, but nothing equivalent exists for the exempt organizations unit handling 990-series filings. If you need a written response for your board's records (say, confirming your organization's filing status or EIN), your options are: call and ask the agent to send written confirmation, request an account transcript through the mail, or check your status yourself using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov, which shows filing history and revocation status without needing to call anyone. ^[5] That search tool is genuinely useful and underused. Before calling the IRS about anything, check whether your organization's EIN shows up correctly, what its filing history looks like, and whether it's on the auto-revocation list. That alone answers half the questions treasurers call in with.

what should I have ready before I call the IRS about my 990-N or 990-EZ

Have four things ready: your organization's legal name exactly as registered, the EIN, the tax year in question, and whether you're calling about 990-N specifically or the broader 990-EZ/990 filing. The agent will verify your identity as an authorized representative of the organization, so if you're a brand-new treasurer who isn't yet listed with the IRS as a contact, that verification step can slow the call down or stop it entirely. If you're not sure whether you're even authorized to speak for the organization on IRS matters, check whether a Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) or 2848 (Power of Attorney) is on file. Small volunteer groups rarely file these, which means a brand new treasurer sometimes can't get detailed account information over the phone until this gets sorted. It's a genuine headache during a handoff with no documentation, worth reading about in the handoff-and-audits hub if you're starting a term with no records from the prior treasurer. This is also the moment where having a standard reference for your specific state and org type pays off, since IRS deadlines interact with your state's charity registration renewal on a separate timeline. A $99 State-Personalized Treasurer Kit exists for exactly this gap: one document mapped to your state and org size instead of piecing together IRS.gov and your state AG site separately, though the IRS itself remains the only authoritative source for your actual filing requirement.

what happens after I file, and how do I confirm the IRS received it

For 990-N, confirmation is nearly instant: the IRS e-Postcard filing system shows an "accepted" or "rejected" status right after submission, since it's a simple, short online form with no attachments. ^[2] Save a screenshot or the confirmation page for your records; this is the single most common document a new treasurer wishes the prior treasurer had kept. For 990-EZ, e-filed returns get an acknowledgment from your e-file provider, similar to how personal tax software confirms an accepted e-file. Paper 990-EZ filings don't get an automatic confirmation at all; the IRS doesn't send a receipt for paper mail. If you need proof, that's another reason certified mail with a return receipt is worth the extra few dollars at the post office. Either way, check the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool 60 to 90 days after filing to confirm your organization shows the current year as filed. ^[5] Processing times vary and the IRS doesn't publish a guaranteed turnaround for e-Postcard updates in the public search tool, so don't panic if it takes a few weeks to show up, but do check before you assume it's handled.

Frequently asked questions

What is the IRS phone number for 990-N and 990-EZ questions?

Call 877-829-5500, the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities customer account services line. It's the number the IRS lists for exempt organizations questions covering the whole 990 family, staffed Monday through Friday during business hours. Have your EIN ready before calling; the agent needs it to look up your account in the first minute of the call.

Can I file form 990-N by mail instead of online?

No. Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) is only filed electronically through the IRS website. There's no paper version and no mail-in option for organizations under the $50,000 gross receipts threshold that qualify for 990-N. If your organization exceeds that threshold, you'd file 990-EZ or the full 990 instead.

Where do I mail form 990-EZ if I'm filing on paper?

The address on current Form 990-EZ instructions is Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027. Confirm this against the current year's instructions before mailing, since IRS addresses can change, and note that electronic filing is now required for most organizations under the Taxpayer First Act.

What is form 990?

Form 990 is the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS, reporting income, expenses, activities, and governance details. It's public information, not a tax bill; the IRS uses it to confirm ongoing eligibility for exempt status, and the public can view filed 990s to see how a nonprofit spends its money.

What is a treasurer?

A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money: bank accounts, bookkeeping, budgets, and required tax filings like the 990-series. It's usually an elected or appointed volunteer role in booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues, carrying fiduciary responsibility for accurate, honest financial records.

What does a treasurer do in a club or PTO?

A club treasurer collects dues and fundraiser income, pays club expenses, reconciles the bank account monthly, and files the group's 990-N or 990-EZ by the deadline. Scope is smaller than a corporate finance role, but the core job (accurate records, honest cash handling, on-time filings) is the same.

What is a 990 tax form, in plain terms?

It's an information return, not an income tax return. Most filers owe no federal income tax on exempt-purpose activities. The form reports revenue, expenses, and governance practices so the IRS and public can verify the organization is operating within its exempt purpose.

What happens if my organization misses three years of 990 filings?

Your tax-exempt status gets automatically revoked under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), no additional warning required beyond the statute itself. You'd need to file Form 1024 or 1024-A with the IRS to request reinstatement, potentially using streamlined retroactive reinstatement if you apply within 15 months of the revocation date.

Does the IRS have live chat for exempt organization questions?

No. As of this writing, the IRS doesn't offer live chat or a dedicated email address for 990-N or 990-EZ questions. Your options are the phone line (877-829-5500), postal mail, or the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool online, which shows filing history and status without a phone call.

How do I check if my nonprofit's tax-exempt status was revoked?

Use the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov, searchable by EIN or organization name. It shows current exempt status, filing history, and whether the organization appears on the Automatic Revocation of Exemption List, without needing to call the IRS directly.

What is the deadline for filing form 990-N or 990-EZ?

The 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year organization (fiscal year ending December 31), that's May 15. Missing this deadline for three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status.

What's the difference between 990-N and 990-EZ eligibility?

990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. 990-EZ is for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000. Above those 990-EZ thresholds, the organization must file the full Form 990 instead.

Do I need proof that I filed form 990-N or 990-EZ?

Yes, keep it. The 990-N e-Postcard system shows an immediate accepted or rejected confirmation; save that screenshot. For paper 990-EZ, the IRS sends no automatic receipt, so use certified mail with return receipt if you want proof of filing for your organization's records.

Can a new treasurer call the IRS about a prior year's filing without authorization on file?

It can be difficult. The IRS verifies you're an authorized representative before sharing detailed account information, and small volunteer organizations rarely have Form 8821 or 2848 on file for each new treasurer. Checking the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool first often answers basic status questions without needing full phone verification.

Sources

1. IRS, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Contact Information: 877-829-5500 is the IRS phone line for exempt organization questions
2. IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): 990-N is filed exclusively online through the IRS e-Postcard system
3. IRS, Instructions for Form 990-EZ: Paper 990-EZ mailing address is the Ogden, UT IRS service center
4. 26 U.S.C. 6033(j): Automatic revocation of tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of failing to file a required return
5. IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement available within 15 months of revocation for organizations eligible to file 990-EZ or 990-N
6. IRS, Form 1024 and Instructions: User fee applies to Form 1024 exemption reinstatement applications
7. IRS, About Form 990: Form 990 is the annual information return for tax-exempt organizations
8. IRS, Form 990 Series which forms do exempt organizations file: 990-EZ eligibility requires gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000
9. IRS, Exemption Requirements 501(c)(3) Organizations: 501(c)(3) organizations are generally exempt from federal income tax on exempt-purpose activities
10. IRS, Unrelated Business Income Tax: Unrelated business income can trigger a separate Form 990-T filing and tax liability