How to file form 990-EZ: a plain-English guide for treasurers

Last updated 2026-07-24

what is form 990-EZ?

Form 990-EZ is the "short form" annual information return that most small and mid-size tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's a condensed version of the full Form 990, built for groups too big to file the postcard-sized 990-N but not big enough to need the full 990. The IRS's own instructions describe eligibility this way: organizations with gross receipts less than $200,000 and total assets less than $500,000 at the end of the tax year may file Form 990-EZ instead of Form 990 ^[1]. If either number goes over the threshold, you're bumped up to the full 990, no exceptions. A 990-EZ runs four pages and asks for a real accounting of revenue, expenses, net assets, program service accomplishments, and officer/director compensation. It's more work than the 990-N e-Postcard, but it's not an audit. Most volunteer treasurers with decent records can get through it in an afternoon, maybe a weekend if the books were messy going in. Filing this form (or the 990-N, or the full 990) is what keeps your group's federal tax-exempt status alive. Skip it and the consequences are automatic and unforgiving, which we'll get to below.

who has to file the 990-EZ instead of the 990-N or full 990?

990-N (e-Postcard)	Normally $50,000 or less	No asset test
990-EZ	Less than $200,000	Less than $500,000
Full 990	$200,000 or more, OR	$500,000 or more	The IRS states it plainly in its exempt organizations filing guidance: organizations "whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less" can file the e-Postcard, and those below the $200,000/$500,000 thresholds may use the 990-EZ [1] [2]. If you're a booster club that had a big fundraising year with a raffle or a capital campaign and crossed $200,000 in receipts, you don't get to choose the EZ form anymore, you're filing the full 990 whether you like the paperwork or not. One wrinkle worth knowing: "gross receipts" is a gross number, not net. It's total money that came in the door before subtracting expenses, cost of goods sold for concessions, or anything else. A booster club that grossed $180,000 in ticket and concession sales but only netted $40,000 after paying for uniforms and referees still has $180,000 in gross receipts for this test.

It comes down to two numbers: gross receipts and total assets, measured at the end of your organization's tax year. | Form | Gross receipts | Total assets |

what does a treasurer do?

A treasurer is the person legally and practically responsible for an organization's money: tracking it, reporting on it, and making sure it's spent the way the board and donors expect. In a small nonprofit, PTO, or booster club, that usually means one volunteer wearing a lot of hats at once. Day to day, what a treasurer does looks like this: reconcile the bank account monthly, record every deposit and expense with a receipt or invoice attached, present a written financial report at board meetings, and keep signed copies of anything involving money (contracts, grant agreements, reimbursement requests). Once a year, the treasurer's job expands to include the annual filings: figuring out which 990 variant applies, gathering the numbers, and getting it filed on time. This is the part that trips up a lot of first-year treasurers, because nobody handed them a manual when they took the job. Filing status doesn't just sit with the outgoing treasurer's memory, it needs to live in a binder or shared drive so the next person isn't starting from zero.

what does a club treasurer do specifically?

A club treasurer, whether for a booster club, PTO, youth sports league, or Scout troop, handles the same core duties as any nonprofit treasurer but usually on a much smaller budget and with far less institutional support. Concretely, a club treasurer's job usually includes: collecting and depositing dues, fundraiser proceeds, and concession stand cash; paying vendor invoices (uniforms, officials, equipment, venue rentals); tracking a checking account and maybe a small savings account; reporting a simple income and expense summary at meetings; and filing the annual IRS return once the club has (or is trying to get) 501(c)(3) or similar tax-exempt status. Many club treasurers also handle raffle or bingo licensing paperwork with the state, since these groups love a raffle fundraiser. That's a separate process from the federal 990 filing, and rules vary a lot by state, so confirm specifics with your state's charity office or attorney general before running one. A club treasurer of a booster or PTO group rarely has an accounting background. That's fine. The job is more about consistency and paper trail than technical skill: same process every month, every receipt saved, every deposit matched to a source.

what is the difference between form 990-N, 990-EZ, and the full 990?

All three are annual information returns for tax-exempt organizations, but they scale with size. The 990-N (e-Postcard) is an 8-question online form for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less ^[3]. The 990-EZ is a four-page form for organizations under the $200,000/$500,000 thresholds. The full 990 is the long version, often 12+ pages plus schedules, required once you're above those thresholds or if you're a private foundation (which files Form 990-PF instead) ^[4]. The practical difference for a treasurer: the 990-N takes about 10 minutes online and asks almost nothing. The 990-EZ asks for actual financial statements, a breakdown of program service accomplishments, and disclosure of officer/director/key-employee compensation. The full 990 adds governance questions, compensation schedules, and often supplemental schedules (A, B, G, etc.) depending on your activities. None of these forms involve paying tax in most cases, since exempt organizations generally don't owe income tax on program-related revenue. They're information returns, not tax bills. But skipping them has the same consequence at every size: automatic revocation of tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of non-filing ^[5].

when is form 990-EZ due, and can you get an extension?

Form 990-EZ is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of your organization's accounting period, per IRS instructions ^[1]. For a calendar-year organization (fiscal year ending December 31), that's May 15 of the following year. If your fiscal year runs on a school-year schedule, say July 1 to June 30, your 990-EZ is due November 15. Mark that date somewhere permanent, more than in the outgoing treasurer's head, because turnover is exactly when these deadlines get missed. You can request an automatic 6-month extension by filing Form 8868 before the original due date ^[6]. This is genuinely automatic; you don't need a reason. If you're not going to make the deadline, file the extension. It costs nothing and buys you until October 15 (for a calendar-year filer) with zero penalty exposure for lateness, as long as the 8868 itself was timely.

how much does it cost to file form 990-EZ?

Filing Form 990-EZ directly with the IRS costs nothing. There's no government filing fee for the 990-EZ, the 990-N, or the full 990 ^[1]. If you or a board member has the time and the books are clean, you can file it yourself for free. Where cost comes in is preparation. If you hire a bookkeeper or CPA to prepare and file it for you, expect a real range depending on your area and how messy the books are; there's no single published national fee schedule for this, so get a quote locally rather than trusting a generic number. Some tax-prep software packages that support 990-EZ e-filing charge a per-return fee in the range of $50 to a few hundred dollars, but exact pricing changes often enough that you should check the current rate with the provider rather than relying on last year's figure. As of the 2020 tax year, most exempt organizations are required to file electronically rather than on paper. The Taxpayer First Act mandated electronic filing for the 990 series, and the IRS has been phasing in the e-file requirement across form types ^[7]. Check IRS.gov for the current e-file mandate status for your specific form and tax year, since implementation dates have shifted.

what happens if you don't file form 990-EZ?

Miss it once and you'll likely just get a notice. Miss it three years in a row and the consequence is severe and automatic: the IRS revokes your tax-exempt status with no additional warning required. The statute is explicit. Under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), an organization that fails to file the required annual return or notice for three consecutive years "shall have its status as an organization exempt from tax... revoked" as of the filing due date for the third year ^[8]. The IRS doesn't send a special notice before this happens; it's automatic by operation of law. Once revoked, the organization owes income tax on its revenue going forward (until reinstated), loses the ability to tell donors their gifts are tax-deductible, and often loses state-level sales tax or property tax exemptions that were piggybacking on the federal determination. It also shows up publicly: the IRS publishes a searchable Auto-Revocation List ^[9]. Getting reinstated means filing Form 1023 (or 1023-EZ, if eligible) again, along with all the back 990s you missed, and in many cases paying a reinstatement user fee. Depending on how quickly you apply after revocation and whether you qualify for streamlined retroactive reinstatement, this can take months and cost real money in professional fees even though the IRS's own application fee is set separately. If your group's status was already revoked, the IRS's page on 990 tax form filings and the reinstatement procedures are the place to start, and this is a good moment to bring in a CPA rather than DIY it.

what information do you need to fill out form 990-EZ?

Before you sit down with the form, gather these: your bank statements for the full fiscal year, a list of every deposit categorized by source (dues, fundraisers, grants, donations), a list of every expense categorized by purpose, your EIN, and the names/titles of current officers and directors. The form itself asks for revenue by category (contributions, program service revenue, investment income, fundraising event gross vs. net), a functional expense breakdown, a balance sheet showing beginning and ending net assets, and a narrative section describing your program accomplishments for the year. It also asks whether you had any transactions with officers, directors, or their family members, and whether you engaged in political or lobbying activity. Most booster clubs and PTOs can pull this together from a simple spreadsheet or basic accounting software (QuickBooks, Wave) if the treasurer kept monthly reconciliations all year. If the books were kept on paper receipts in a shoebox, budget extra time to reconstruct categories before you even open the form. This is the exact gap a lot of incoming treasurers hit: the outgoing treasurer's system existed only in their head. A State-Personalized Treasurer Kit ($99 one-time) is built to hand a new treasurer the categorized tracking sheets and filing calendar up front, so this scramble doesn't happen every changeover.

what is form 990, and how does 990-EZ fit into that family?

Form 990, officially "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax," is the umbrella name for the family of annual information returns the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations under IRC section 501(a) ^[1]. It's not a single form; it's a size-tiered system: 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF for private foundations, chosen based on gross receipts and assets. The purpose of the whole 990 system is public accountability. Unlike individual tax returns, most 990-series filings are public documents. Donors, watchdog groups (like GuideStar/Candid), journalists, and other nonprofits can look up any organization's 990 to see revenue, expenses, and executive pay. This is intentional: tax exemption is a public benefit, so Congress requires public disclosure in return. For a small booster club, the irs form 990 family mostly just means: figure out which size tier you're in, file that version every year, on time, without fail. It's genuinely one of the least glamorous parts of the job and one of the most important, because it's the thing that keeps your donors' contributions tax-deductible and your group's exemption alive.

does form 990-EZ count as a tax form, and do you owe taxes with it?

Form 990-EZ is called an "annual information return," not a tax return, even though people casually call it a 990 tax form. Most tax-exempt organizations don't owe income tax on the money reported, because the whole point of exemption is that qualifying revenue isn't taxed. There's an important exception: unrelated business income. If your booster club runs, say, a for-profit-style side business unrelated to its exempt purpose (renting out equipment to non-members for profit, running ongoing paid advertising unrelated to your mission), that income can be subject to Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT), reported separately on Form 990-T . Occasional fundraisers like a car wash or a raffle almost never trigger this, but a genuinely ongoing commercial operation might. So the honest answer is: the 990-EZ itself usually generates no tax bill, but it's the mechanism the IRS uses to confirm your organization is still behaving like a tax-exempt one. Get UBIT questions in front of an actual CPA if your group runs anything that smells like a regular business; this isn't something to guess on.

Frequently asked questions

What is a treasurer?

A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, keeping bank accounts reconciled, reporting financial status to the board, and handling required government filings like the annual 990. In small nonprofits and clubs, it's usually an unpaid volunteer role held by a parent, coach, or member.

What do treasurers do on a monthly basis?

Most treasurers reconcile the bank statement against their records, log deposits and expenses with receipts attached, and give a short financial update at the next board or membership meeting. Monthly consistency is what makes the year-end 990 filing manageable instead of a scramble.

What does a treasurer of a club do that's different from a corporate treasurer?

A club treasurer handles the same core duties (tracking money, reporting, filing) but usually on a volunteer basis, with a much smaller budget, and often without accounting training. The job leans more on paper trail discipline (save every receipt, reconcile every month) than on technical finance skill.

What is the 990, in one sentence?

Form 990 is the IRS's annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations must file to report revenue, expenses, and governance details, with the exact version (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990) determined by the organization's gross receipts and total assets ^[1].

Is form 990-EZ the same as a 990 tax form?

People often call it a "990 tax form," but it's technically an information return, not a tax bill. Most exempt organizations owe no income tax on the amounts reported, unless they have unrelated business income, which gets reported separately on Form 990-T ^[10].

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

Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less can file the simple 990-N e-Postcard. Organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 can file the 990-EZ instead of the full 990 ^{[1] [2]}. Cross those thresholds and the full 990 is required.

When is form 990-EZ due for a calendar-year nonprofit?

It's due the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year filer (Jan 1 to Dec 31), that's May 15 of the following year ^[1]. Groups on a July-to-June fiscal year owe theirs by November 15.

Can you get an extension to file form 990-EZ?

Yes. File Form 8868 before your original due date to get an automatic 6-month extension, no explanation required ^[6]. There's no penalty for using it as long as the extension request itself is filed on time.

What happens if a nonprofit doesn't file its 990 for three years?

Under IRC section 6033(j), the organization's tax-exempt status is automatically revoked as of the filing due date for the third missed year, with no separate notice required ^[8]. Reinstatement requires refiling Form 1023 (or 1023-EZ) plus back returns, and the group loses tax-exempt status in the meantime.

How do you check if a nonprofit's tax-exempt status was revoked?

Search the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search / Auto-Revocation List, a public database the IRS maintains listing organizations that lost exempt status for not filing three consecutive years ^[9]. It's searchable by name or EIN and updates periodically.

Does filing form 990-EZ cost money?

The IRS charges no fee to file Form 990-EZ, 990-N, or the full 990 ^[1]. Costs only come in if you pay a preparer, accountant, or e-file software provider, and those fees vary enough by provider and complexity that you should get a current local quote rather than assume a fixed price.

What does a booster club treasurer need before filling out the 990-EZ?

Gather full-year bank statements, deposits categorized by source, expenses categorized by purpose, your EIN, and current officer names. If the outgoing treasurer kept clean monthly records, this takes an afternoon. If records are scattered, budget real time to reconstruct categories first.

Sources

1. IRS, Instructions for Form 990-EZ: 990-EZ eligibility thresholds ($200,000 gross receipts / $500,000 total assets), due date (15th day of 5th month), and no filing fee
2. IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: gross receipts and total assets thresholds distinguishing which 990 variant to file
3. IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): 990-N eligibility for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less
4. IRS, Form 990-PF: private foundations file Form 990-PF instead of 990/990-EZ
5. IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: three consecutive years of non-filing triggers automatic revocation
6. IRS, About Form 8868: Form 8868 provides an automatic 6-month extension for exempt organization returns
7. 26 U.S.C. section 6033(j), Cornell Legal Information Institute: statutory text: automatic revocation after three consecutive years of failing to file required annual return or notice
8. IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: public database listing organizations with automatically revoked exempt status
9. IRS, About Form 990-T: unrelated business income of exempt organizations is reported and taxed separately on Form 990-T