Last updated 2026-08-14
TL;DR
Form 990-N (the 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 years in a row and the IRS automatically revokes your tax-exempt status, no warning letter required.
What is Form 990-N (the e-postcard)?
Form 990-N is the shortest tax filing the IRS offers to nonprofits. It's not a paper form at all, it's an 8-question online submission the IRS calls the "e-Postcard," built for small tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts normally run $50,000 or less [1]. You file it at the IRS's own portal, not through tax software, and not for a fee. The IRS states plainly that "there is no paper form" for the e-Postcard [1]. If your booster club, PTO, or youth sports league brings in under $50,000 a year, this is almost certainly your filing. The 8 data points are basic: your organization's legal name, any other names it uses, mailing address, EIN, tax year, confirmation that gross receipts are $50,000 or less, and a statement that the organization hasn't terminated. That's it. No income statement, no balance sheet, no program description. Compare that to the two step-up forms: Form 990-EZ for groups between roughly $50,000 and $200,000 in gross receipts, and the full Form 990 for larger organizations. Picking the wrong one, or assuming you're exempt from filing entirely, is one of the most common mistakes a new booster treasurer inherits from the last one.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, activities, and governance. It's not an income tax return in the traditional sense, since exempt organizations generally don't pay income tax on program revenue, it's a disclosure document. The IRS and the public use it to see how a nonprofit raises and spends money [2]. There are several versions scaled to size. The full Form 990 is for organizations with gross receipts of $200,000 or more, or total assets of $500,000 or more. Form 990-EZ works for the middle tier. Form 990-N is for the smallest group. Private foundations file a different version, Form 990-PF, regardless of size [2]. All versions of the 990 tax form get posted publicly. Donors, grant-makers, and state charity regulators pull these filings to check financial health and governance practices. A booster club that never files anything, thinking it's too small to matter, is both wrong about the requirement and giving up a chance to show parents and sponsors where the money goes.
Who has to file the 990-N, and who's exempt?
You generally must file Form 990-N if your organization is tax-exempt (or claims tax-exempt status), has gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, and isn't required to file a different return [1]. "Normally" is an IRS term of art, based on your average over your current year and the two years before it. Read the specific averaging rules for organizations less than 3 years old versus established ones on the IRS's own gross receipts guidance page [3]. A few types of organizations are exempt from any annual filing requirement at all: churches and their affiliated organizations, and certain other groups the IRS lists specifically [4]. Most booster clubs, parent-teacher organizations, and youth sports leagues do not fall into these exceptions. If you have a federal EIN and 501(c)(3) or other exempt status, you are almost certainly on the hook for something every year. One trap for new treasurers: your group might be a chapter or booster arm operating under a school district's tax ID, with no separate EIN and no separate exempt status. In that case the filing question is different, and you should confirm with the IRS whether your group needs its own EIN and exemption, or whether it's covered by the parent organization's status. Don't guess on this one.
When is the 990-N due?
| Calendar-year booster club | Jan 1 - Dec 31 | May 15 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| School-year PTO/league | July 1 - June 30 | Nov 15 | |
| Fall-start youth sports org | Sept 1 - Aug 31 | Jan 15 | Check your organization's actual fiscal year in its bylaws or its original IRS determination letter before you assume it matches the school calendar. A lot of handoff confusion starts right here, when an outgoing treasurer assumes a fiscal year that was never formally set. |
Form 990-N is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of your organization's fiscal year [1]. For a nonprofit on a calendar fiscal year (January 1 to December 31), that means the filing is due May 15 of the following year. Many school-affiliated booster clubs run a fiscal year that matches the school year, often July 1 to June 30. If that's your group, your 990-N is due November 15. There's no extension form for the e-Postcard, unlike the 990 and 990-EZ, and the IRS doesn't charge a late fee for filing it late. But timing still matters enormously, because of what happens if you miss it repeatedly. | Organization type | Typical fiscal year | 990-N due date |
What happens if you miss the 990-N deadline?
Missing one year isn't fatal. The e-Postcard has no monetary penalty for late filing, and there's no grace period tracking or warning letter for a single missed year [1]. But the IRS revokes tax-exempt status automatically if an organization fails to file any required return or notice for three consecutive years [5]. This is the single biggest risk for volunteer-run booster and PTO groups, because treasurer turnover is constant. A group hands the books to a new volunteer parent every year or two, nobody remembers if last year's e-Postcard got filed, and three years slip by unnoticed. By the time anyone checks the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool [6], the organization's status shows "Revoked." Auto-revocation is automatic and retroactive to the filing due date of the third missed year, not the date the IRS catches it. The IRS does not send a warning before revocation happens; the statute itself, added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, requires revocation after three consecutive years of non-filing with no discretion built in [5]. This is a real gap in the system that catches volunteer treasurers off guard constantly, since nobody is watching the clock for you.
How do you check if your organization's status was already revoked?
Search your organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which lists organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years [6]. This is the first thing any new treasurer should do in the first week on the job, before touching a checkbook or bank account. If your group shows up on the Auto-Revocation List, don't panic, but don't ignore it either. Revocation means the organization is no longer tax-exempt for federal income tax purposes and, in most cases, donations made after the effective revocation date aren't tax-deductible to donors. That's a real problem for a group asking parents for tax-deductible contributions at a fall fundraiser. Getting reinstated involves filing IRS Form 1023 or 1023-EZ (depending on your prior gross receipts and asset levels) along with all the delinquent annual returns, and in many cases paying the exemption application fee again. The IRS's own retroactive reinstatement procedures, including the streamlined process for organizations that missed the deadline for the first time and file within 15 months of revocation, are laid out in Revenue Procedure 2014-11 . This isn't a DIY afternoon project for most volunteer treasurers, and it's worth being honest that the paperwork here is meaningfully harder than the original e-Postcard ever was.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, keeping bank accounts reconciled, filing required tax paperwork like the 990-N, and reporting the financial picture to the board or membership. In a small booster club or PTO, one volunteer usually wears this hat alone, with no professional accounting staff backing them up. Day to day, what a treasurer does breaks into a few buckets: recording every deposit and expense, reconciling the bank statement monthly, keeping receipts and invoices organized enough that someone else could follow the trail, preparing a simple financial report for meetings, and making sure required filings (the e-Postcard, any state charitable registration renewal, sales tax paperwork if applicable) go in on time. A treasurer isn't automatically a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a lawyer, and this article isn't a substitute for advice from any of those professionals. What a treasurer of a club actually needs is organization, consistency, and a willingness to ask "where's the money and where did it go" every single month, more than at tax time.
What does a club treasurer do specifically, month to month?
The specific tasks change with the size of the club, but a reasonable monthly rhythm looks like this: reconcile the bank statement against your ledger or spreadsheet, log every fundraiser's income and expenses separately so you can tell which events actually make money, file receipts (digital photos count) for anything over a set dollar threshold your bylaws or board set, and give a short written report at the next meeting showing starting balance, income, expenses, and ending balance. At year-end or fiscal-year-end, the treasurer's job adds: confirming the 990-N or 990-EZ filing status, checking whether the state charitable solicitation registration needs renewing (this varies heavily by state, so confirm with your state charity office), and preparing a handoff packet if a new treasurer is taking over. Good cash handling controls matter here too. Two people counting fundraiser cash together, a receipt for every disbursement, and a second signer on large checks all reduce both fraud risk and honest mistakes. None of this needs to be complicated for a $15,000-a-year booster club, but it does need to be consistent, because volunteer turnover means the next person inherits whatever system (or lack of one) you leave behind.
Does a small booster club or PTO really need to file anything with the IRS?
Yes, almost certainly, if your group has its own EIN and tax-exempt status. The IRS is explicit that most exempt organizations, regardless of income level, must file some version of the 990 series annually, and Form 990-N exists specifically so tiny organizations aren't stuck filling out forms designed for large nonprofits [1]. The exceptions are narrow: certain church-affiliated organizations and a short list of other categories the IRS names directly are not required to file annually [4]. A typical booster club, PTO, or youth sports league doesn't qualify for these exceptions just because it's small or all-volunteer. Skipping the filing because "we don't make enough money to matter" is the single most common and most costly mistake new treasurers inherit. The e-Postcard takes maybe 10 minutes once you have your EIN, gross receipts figure, and fiscal year dates in hand. There's genuinely no excuse for skipping it once you know it exists, and knowing about the three-year auto-revocation clock should be reason enough to just get it done every single year on autopilot.
How do you actually file the 990-N?
You file directly through the IRS's e-Postcard filing system, which requires you to register an account tied to your organization's EIN before you can submit. You'll need: your EIN, tax year, legal name and mailing address, any other names the organization uses, the name and address of a principal officer, your organization's website if it has one, and confirmation that annual gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less [1]. There's no cost to file. If a paid preparer or software company offers to charge you money to submit an e-Postcard on your behalf, ask hard questions before paying, since the IRS's own system exists precisely to make this free and fast for small groups. Keep a copy of your confirmation email or screen after submitting. It's the only proof you have that the filing went in, and it's exactly the kind of document a new treasurer will look for during a future handoff. If you're building a [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990) filing calendar for your organization, put the due date on a recurring reminder that survives treasurer turnover, more than in one person's personal calendar app.
How does a booster club decide between 990-N, 990-EZ, and the full 990?
The decision runs entirely on gross receipts and total assets, not on how the organization feels about its own size. Form 990-N works for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [1]. Form 990-EZ is available for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 at year end. Above either of those thresholds, the full Form 990 is required [2]. A booster club that runs one big fall fundraiser and stays under $50,000 for the year files the e-Postcard. A district-wide athletic booster club running concessions, a golf tournament, and multiple sponsorship drives that pushes past $50,000 (even in a single unusually good year, depending on averaging rules) may need to step up to the 990-EZ or full irs form 990. Check your actual three-year average gross receipts, more than this year's number, using the IRS's specific rules for figuring gross receipts [3]. If you're near a threshold, it's worth confirming directly with the IRS or a qualified preparer familiar with nonprofit filings which form applies to your specific situation, since guessing wrong either wastes volunteer time on unnecessary paperwork or risks an incomplete filing.
What should a new treasurer do in the first month on the job?
Pull the organization's EIN and confirmation letter first. If nobody can find it, request an EIN verification letter (Form 147C) from the IRS. Then check the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool immediately to confirm current exempt status hasn't already lapsed [6]. Next, find the last three years of filed 990-N confirmations, 990-EZ copies, or full 990s, whichever applies. If they're missing, that's a red flag worth investigating before you assume everything's fine. Check your state's charitable solicitation registration status too, separately from the IRS filing, since most states run their own registration and renewal process through the attorney general's office or a dedicated state charity regulator, and these deadlines don't line up with IRS deadlines. Confirm requirements with your specific state charity office, since rules vary widely and change often. This is exactly the gap BoosterLedger's $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built to close: a filing calendar and document set matched to your state and organization type, so a brand-new volunteer treasurer isn't reconstructing three years of filing history from a shoebox of receipts and a hunch.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer manages an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, reconciling bank accounts, filing required IRS and state paperwork like Form 990-N, and reporting the financial picture to the board. In a small booster club or PTO, one volunteer usually handles all of this without professional accounting support.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to disclose income, expenses, and governance. It comes in several versions scaled by size: 990-N for organizations with $50,000 or less in gross receipts, 990-EZ for the middle tier, and the full Form 990 for organizations above $200,000.
What is a 990 tax form and is it the same as a tax return?
It's an information return, not an income tax return. Tax-exempt organizations generally don't owe income tax on program revenue, so the 990 series exists to disclose finances and activities to the IRS and the public, not to calculate tax owed.
What does a club treasurer do that's different from a company bookkeeper?
A club treasurer is usually an unpaid volunteer handling a much smaller budget with far less infrastructure: no accounting software subscription, no payroll system, often no second set of eyes. The core tasks (recording transactions, reconciling accounts, filing on time) are the same, but the treasurer typically does all of it solo and part-time.
What is the 990-N e-Postcard exactly?
It's an 8-question online filing the IRS requires from tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. There's no paper version and no fee. You submit it directly through the IRS's e-Postcard filing portal using your organization's EIN.
Who is required to file Form 990-N?
Tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less that aren't required to file a different return. Churches and certain church-affiliated organizations are generally exempt from annual filing requirements; most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues don't fall into that exception.
When is the 990-N due for a booster club?
By the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Calendar-year organizations file by May 15; groups on a July-to-June school-year fiscal year file by November 15. There's no extension form for the e-Postcard.
What happens if a nonprofit misses three years of 990-N filings?
The IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of not filing any required return, with no warning sent beforehand. This is required by federal law (added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006) and applies even to tiny volunteer-run organizations.
How do you check if a nonprofit's tax-exempt status was revoked?
Search the organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which lists every organization on the Auto-Revocation List. Do this in your first week as a new treasurer, before assuming your group's status is fine.
How does a revoked nonprofit get its tax-exempt status back?
By filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ along with all delinquent annual returns, and in many cases paying the application fee again. The IRS's Revenue Procedure 2014-11 lays out a streamlined retroactive reinstatement path for organizations that apply within 15 months of the revocation date.
Does filing the 990-N cost anything?
No. The e-Postcard is free to file through the IRS's own online system. If anyone charges you a fee just to submit the 8-question e-Postcard on your behalf, ask exactly what you're paying for before agreeing.
How do you know whether to file the 990-N versus the 990-EZ?
It comes down to gross receipts averaged over three years. Under $50,000 normally, file the 990-N. Between $50,000 and $200,000 (with total assets under $500,000), file the 990-EZ. Above those thresholds, file the full Form 990.
What does a treasurer of a club do at year-end?
Confirm the year's IRS filing (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990) gets submitted on time, check state charitable registration renewal status, reconcile final bank balances, and prepare a handoff packet if a new treasurer is taking over for the next year.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): Form 990-N requirements, no paper form, 8-question filing, no fee, gross receipts threshold, due date
- IRS, Form 990 Series Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File: Thresholds distinguishing 990-N, 990-EZ, and full Form 990
- IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: List of organizations exempt from annual filing requirements, including churches
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Automatic revocation after three consecutive years of non-filing, no discretion required by statute
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: Tool to check current exempt status and auto-revocation list
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement procedures for organizations that missed the 990-N filing and lost exempt status