Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) is the annual IRS filing for tax-exempt orgs with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. It's free, filed online at irs.gov, and asks eight quick questions. Miss it three years running and the IRS auto-revokes your exempt status.
What is Form 990-N (the e-Postcard)?
Form 990-N is the shortest of the annual information returns the IRS requires from tax-exempt organizations. Most people call it the "e-Postcard" because that's literally what the IRS calls it too. It's an eight-question online form, free to file, and it exists so small nonprofits (booster clubs, PTOs, tiny youth sports leagues) don't have to fill out a full tax return just to stay in good standing. According to the IRS, "Most small tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less" file the e-Postcard annually, and it "must be completed and filed electronically. There is no paper form" [1]. That last part trips people up every year: you cannot mail this in, fax it, or email a PDF. It's online-only, through the IRS's filing portal. The eight questions cover basics: your EIN, tax year, legal name and address, any other names you use, your website if you have one, confirmation your gross receipts are $50,000 or under, and (if applicable) a statement that you're going out of business. That's genuinely the whole form. No financial statements, no schedules, nothing about your budget line items. If your organization already has a 990 tax form obligation because your revenue is higher, you don't file the 990-N at all. It's strictly the bottom tier of a three-tier system, which we break down below.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer keeps the organization's money honest and on the books. That's the one-sentence version. In a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, the treasurer tracks income and expenses, reconciles the bank account, pays bills, deposits fundraising cash, and makes sure the group files whatever the IRS and state require each year. Day to day, what does a treasurer do? Collect dues or fundraiser proceeds, write checks or approve payments, keep receipts, and give the board a report at every meeting showing what came in, what went out, and what's left. Annually, the treasurer (or whoever the board designates) is usually the one who actually clicks submit on the 990-N or gathers numbers for a full Form 990. What does a club treasurer do that's different from a corporate bookkeeper? Mostly scale and stakes. A booster club treasurer might handle $8,000 a year moving through a single checking account, but that $8,000 came from bake sales, raffle tickets, and parent Venmo payments, and every dollar of it needs a paper trail because volunteers rotate every year or two. What is a treasurer of a club responsible for beyond money? Usually also record-keeping continuity: making sure the next person who takes over isn't starting from zero. What do treasurers do when something goes wrong, like a lapsed filing or a bounced state registration? They're usually the one who discovers it (often mid-year, buried in an old email) and the one who has to fix it, because nobody else on the board knows where the EIN or login credentials are. That's a big part of why this article exists.
What is Form 990, and how is it different from the 990-N?
| Form 990-N | Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 [1] | 8 questions, no financials | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 990-EZ | Gross receipts < $200,000 AND total assets < $500,000 [2] | Summary financials, program info | |
| Form 990 (full) | Gross receipts ≥ $200,000 OR total assets ≥ $500,000 [2] | Full financials, schedules, governance | What is a 990 tax form used for beyond compliance? Donors, grantmakers, and state charity regulators pull these from GuideStar/Candid or ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer to check how an organization spends money. A booster club that grows past $50,000 in a good fundraising year needs to know it may have jumped filing tiers, sometimes without anyone on the board noticing until the next filing deadline. See our breakdowns on [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990), 990 tax form, and IRS Form 990 for the EZ and full-form details. |
Form 990 is the IRS's full annual information return for larger tax-exempt organizations. What is the 990, structurally? It's a multi-page return with financial statements, program descriptions, compensation disclosures, and governance questions, filed by organizations with more revenue or assets than the small ones that qualify for the e-Postcard. The IRS actually runs three versions depending on size, plus the e-Postcard as the floor. Per the IRS's own filing thresholds, organizations with gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 file Form 990-N; those with gross receipts < $200,000 and total assets < $500,000 can file the shorter Form 990-EZ; anyone above that files the full Form 990 [2]. | Filing | Who qualifies | What it asks for |
Who has to file the 990-N, and who's exempt from filing anything?
Almost every tax-exempt organization recognized under Section 501(c) has to file something every year, and for the smallest ones that something is the 990-N. The IRS states plainly that most exempt organizations must file an annual return, and the e-Postcard covers those "whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less" [1]. A narrow set of organizations don't have to file any annual return at all. The IRS lists exceptions including churches and their integrated auxiliaries, and certain organizations included in a group return [2]. If you're a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, you almost certainly don't fall into an exception. You're the exact organization type this form was built for. "Normally" is the word that confuses treasurers most. It doesn't mean last year's number exactly. The IRS uses averaging rules over a rolling period (generally the current year and the two prior years) to determine your normal gross receipts, so one unusually big fundraiser year doesn't automatically bump you to the EZ or full 990 [2]. Still, if your club just ran its first big golf tournament and cleared $70,000, don't assume the 990-N still fits. Check the averaging math or confirm with the IRS. New organizations that haven't been in existence for three tax years yet use a shorter averaging window, calculated proportionally. If your booster club incorporated 18 months ago, this matters a lot, and it's worth confirming with the IRS directly rather than guessing.
When is the 990-N due, and what's the deadline math?
The 990-N is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's tax year ends. For a calendar-year organization (tax year ending December 31), that puts the deadline at May 15 of the following year [1]. There's no extension available for the 990-N itself, per the IRS: "There is no penalty assessment for a late-filed 990-N, however, organizations that fail to file required 990s (which includes the 990-N) for three consecutive years will automatically lose their tax-exempt status" [3]. So the risk isn't a fine, it's the slow-motion loss of your exemption. That three-year rule is the one every treasurer needs tattooed somewhere. Miss one year, nothing happens. Miss two, still nothing happens. Miss the third consecutive year and the IRS auto-revokes, no warning letter required by statute, though the IRS does typically send notices to the address on file. If your club's mailing address changed three treasurers ago and nobody updated it, you might not find out until a bank or grantor asks for a determination letter that no longer applies. Mark May 15 (or your version of the 5th-month deadline) on whatever calendar the board actually looks at. Not a personal calendar that leaves with the outgoing treasurer.
How do you actually file a 990-N? Step by step
You file the 990-N through the IRS's own online system, not through a third-party preparer (though some fee-based portals also offer it; you don't need to pay). Here's the mechanical sequence: 1. Go to the IRS's e-Postcard filing page for Form 990-N, currently hosted through the IRS website [4]. 2. Register or sign in. First-time filers create an account; returning filers use existing credentials. 3. Enter your organization's EIN. The system pulls up basic info if you've filed before. 4. Confirm tax year, legal name, mailing address, and any "doing business as" names. 5. Confirm your website URL if you have one (optional field). 6. Confirm gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. 7. Confirm the name and address of a principal officer. 8. Submit. You'll get an immediate confirmation of acceptance or rejection. The whole process, if you have your EIN and officer info handy, takes under fifteen minutes. Rejections are almost always caused by an EIN mismatch or a name that doesn't match IRS records exactly, often because a previous treasurer registered under a slightly different legal name than what's on your official paperwork. Keep the confirmation email or screenshot. Digital or printed, it's your only proof of filing, and the next treasurer will want to see three years of these before assuming your exempt status is solid.
What happens if you miss a year, or if your status gets auto-revoked?
Missing one year of the 990-N triggers no IRS penalty by itself [3]. Missing three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of your tax-exempt status, and the IRS publishes a running list of revoked organizations that you can search by name or EIN [5]. If you discover your club is on that list, the fix is called Streamlined Retroactive Reinstatement, available to organizations that were eligible to file the 990-N or 990-EZ for the years they missed and are applying within 15 months of the revocation date. Per IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11, organizations meeting these conditions can have their exemption retroactively reinstated to the original revocation date by filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ (for 501(c)(3)s) with the appropriate paperwork and, in many cases, a reduced or waived user fee showing reasonable cause isn't even required for this specific streamlined path . Organizations under other 501(c) subsections generally use Form 1024 or the applicable reinstatement process; check current IRS guidance since fee structures and forms are updated periodically. If you're past that 15-month window, you generally need to show "reasonable cause" for the failure to file, which is a higher bar and a longer process, sometimes requiring the full Form 1023 with a written explanation. This is the point where a lot of volunteer boards decide to bring in an actual CPA or nonprofit attorney for a few hours, and that's a reasonable call. This article isn't legal or tax advice, and nobody can promise reinstatement will be approved. Confirm current forms, fees, and processing times with the IRS directly, since these change. Donations made while your status is revoked are not tax-deductible to your donors during that window, which is its own headache if a parent wants a receipt for a $500 sponsorship check written in the gap year.
990-N vs 990-EZ vs full 990: which one does your club actually file?
Run the math on your last three years of gross receipts, averaged per the IRS's rules [2], and match it to the table above. Most single-team booster clubs and small PTOs land in 990-N territory. A district-wide PTO council running a $150,000 fall festival and $60,000 in concession sales might be solidly in 990-EZ range. A large athletic association with paid staff and $600,000 in annual revenue is filing the full 990 whether anyone wants to or not. The practical difference in effort is enormous. The 990-N takes fifteen minutes. The 990-EZ requires actual financial statements: a statement of revenue and expenses, a balance sheet, and program service descriptions. The full Form 990 adds compensation schedules, governance questions, and often several supplemental schedules depending on your activities (fundraising events, lobbying, related organizations). A lot of boards discover the tier mismatch the hard way: they've been clicking through the 990-N for years out of habit, then a big grant or a bond issue year pushes gross receipts over $50,000, and nobody adjusts. Filing the wrong form isn't automatically catastrophic, but filing 990-N when you no longer qualify can create its own compliance problem, so check your actual numbers every single year, more than the first year you set up the filing.
What if your organization doesn't have 501(c)(3) or any IRS exemption yet?
If your booster club or PTO has never applied for tax-exempt status, the 990-N conversation is premature; you don't have exempt status to maintain yet. Many small groups operate for years as an informal parent association using the school's tax ID or no separate EIN at all, which creates its own risks (no personal liability separation, no ability to accept tax-deductible donations in the group's own name). Applying for exemption means filing Form 1023 or the streamlined Form 1023-EZ with the IRS, getting your own EIN first, and (for many groups) also registering with your state's charity regulator or attorney general's office before or shortly after soliciting donations. Requirements vary significantly by state, so confirm with your state charity office directly rather than assuming your neighboring district's process applies to you. Getting an EIN itself is free and instant through the IRS's online EIN application; there's no fee for the number itself, though the exemption application (Form 1023-EZ or 1023) carries its own IRS user fee that changes periodically, so check the current fee on the IRS's forms page before applying.
How do you find your organization's EIN and past filing history?
You need your EIN to file the 990-N, and it's also how you search the IRS's public records. The IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool lets you look up an organization by name or EIN to see its exemption status, filed 990s, and any revocation history . If a previous treasurer didn't hand off the EIN, check old bank statements (banks require it to open a nonprofit account), old grant applications, prior years' tax filings if any exist in a binder somewhere, or the school's business office if you're a school-affiliated booster group. As a last resort, the IRS can look it up if you call their Tax Exempt/Government Entities customer service line, though verifying your identity as an authorized officer takes some paperwork. This is exactly the kind of continuity gap that causes filings to lapse in the first place: an EIN known only to one person who moved on two years ago. If you're setting up records for a new treasurer, a State-Personalized Treasurer Kit ($99 one-time) bundles your state's specific charity and raffle registration steps with an IRS filing checklist, so the next volunteer isn't starting from a blank inbox. It's not a substitute for a CPA on complicated years, but for the routine annual 990-N and state renewal, it keeps the paper trail in one place.
What records should a treasurer keep to make 990-N filing painless?
Filing itself takes fifteen minutes, but knowing your gross receipts and having your EIN, officer names, and mailing address ready takes longer if your books are messy. Keep these current all year, more than in April: - EIN and IRS determination letter (the original exemption approval letter)
- Prior three years of 990-N confirmation emails or screenshots
- A running log of gross receipts by fundraiser, updated monthly, not reconstructed in April
- Current principal officer name, title, and mailing address
- Bank statements reconciled monthly (makes the gross receipts number trustworthy)
- State charity registration renewal dates, if your state requires them separately from the IRS filing A five-minute board handoff meeting where the outgoing treasurer walks the incoming one through where each of these lives (physical binder, shared drive folder, whatever) prevents most of the lapses that lead to auto-revocation three years later. The IRS doesn't care that your club had four treasurers in five years. It only cares whether the filing showed up.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations. The full version is required for organizations with gross receipts of $200,000 or more, or total assets of $500,000 or more; smaller organizations file the shorter 990-EZ or, for the smallest, the 990-N e-Postcard instead [2].
What is the 990-N and who has to file it?
Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, is a free, eight-question online filing for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [1]. It's the smallest of the IRS's annual filing tiers and is filed entirely online; there's no paper version.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks all money coming in and going out, reconciles bank accounts, keeps receipts and records, reports finances to the board, and handles required annual filings like the 990-N or state charity renewals. In small booster clubs and PTOs, the treasurer is usually the sole financial gatekeeper.
What does a club treasurer do differently from a company bookkeeper?
A club treasurer usually works with smaller, cash-heavy revenue (bake sales, raffles, concession stands) and has to maintain records that survive volunteer turnover every year or two. They also typically handle the IRS and state compliance filings directly rather than handing them to a paid accounting department.
What is a 990 tax form used for?
A 990 tax form (in any of its three versions) reports a tax-exempt organization's finances and activities to the IRS annually, keeping the organization's exemption in good standing. Donors, grantmakers, and watchdog sites like Candid/GuideStar and ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer also use these filings to evaluate nonprofits.
What happens if a booster club misses the 990-N deadline?
Missing one year has no IRS penalty [5]. Missing three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status. There's no late fee for a single missed 990-N, which makes it easy to forget until the third-year cutoff arrives.
How do you fix an auto-revoked tax-exempt status?
Organizations revoked for missing three years of filings can often use Streamlined Retroactive Reinstatement under IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11 if they apply within 15 months of the revocation date [8]. Past that window, you generally need to show reasonable cause, a harder and longer process. Confirm current forms and fees with the IRS.
Is there a fee to file Form 990-N?
No. The 990-N itself is free to file through the IRS's online portal [6]. There is no fee for the e-Postcard filing, though a separate exemption application (like Form 1023-EZ) does carry an IRS user fee if you're applying for exemption for the first time.
What's the deadline for filing the 990-N?
The 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's tax year ends. For calendar-year organizations, that's May 15 [4]. There's no extension option for the 990-N specifically, so mark it on a calendar the whole board can see.
Can a treasurer file the 990-N without hiring an accountant?
Yes. The 990-N is designed for exactly this: a volunteer treasurer with no accounting background can complete it in about fifteen minutes through the IRS's online system, provided they have the EIN, tax year, and officer information ready.
What's the difference between 990-N and 990-EZ?
990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less and asks eight basic questions with no financial statements. 990-EZ is for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000, and requires a summary of revenue, expenses, and a balance sheet [2].
Where can you check if your organization's tax-exempt status was revoked?
Use the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool, searchable by organization name or EIN, which shows exemption status, filed 990s, and revocation history [9]. It's the same tool donors and grantmakers use to verify your standing.
Do churches have to file the 990-N?
No. The IRS exempts churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches from the annual filing requirement entirely [3]. Most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports organizations don't qualify for this exception and do need to file.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations, Form 990-N (e-Postcard): 990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less; must be filed electronically, no paper form
- IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: Thresholds separating 990-N, 990-EZ, and full Form 990 filers
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search, Automatic Revocation of Exemption List: IRS publishes a searchable list of organizations that have had tax-exempt status automatically revoked
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement process for organizations that file within 15 months of automatic revocation
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS): Public tool to search organization exemption status, filed 990s, and revocation history by name or EIN