Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
To look up a 990-N (e-Postcard), go to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at apps.irs.gov, search by EIN or name, and check the organization's filing history and revocation status. No account or fee is required. Results show filed years and whether the org is on the Auto-Revocation List.
Where do I actually look up a 990-N?
You use the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool, and it's free. Go to apps.irs.gov/app/eos and search by the organization's EIN or its legal name [1]. You don't need an account, a password, or anyone's permission. This is public data because tax-exempt status is a public trust arrangement: the org doesn't pay income tax, so the IRS makes basic filing facts visible to anyone who asks. Once you search, TEOS gives you a few different databases to check: Publication 78 data (organizations eligible for tax-deductible donations), the Auto-Revocation List, Form 990-N filings, and copies of full 990/990-EZ/990-PF returns for larger orgs [1]. For a booster club or PTO that files the 990-N (because gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less), you'll mostly care about two things: does the 990-N filing history show recent years, and is the org NOT on the revocation list. If you're the new treasurer and you don't know the group's EIN, check old bank statements, the prior treasurer's files, or a state charity registration filing. You can also search TEOS by name and city, though common names ("Wildcats Booster Club") return a lot of noise. If you'd rather not learn this tool from scratch, our 990-N guide walks through the filing side, and the form-990 explainer covers what the bigger forms ask for once you outgrow the postcard.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's not an income tax return in the way a business or individual files one; exempt orgs generally don't owe income tax on money raised for their mission. Instead, Form 990 reports revenue, expenses, program activities, and governance details so the IRS and the public can see how a tax-exempt organization operates [2]. There are several versions depending on size. The full Form 990 is for organizations with gross receipts generally at or above $200,000 or total assets at or above $500,000. Form 990-EZ is a shorter version for mid-size orgs. Form 990-N, the "e-Postcard," is for the smallest organizations, those with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [3]. Private foundations file 990-PF regardless of size. Most small booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports groups file the 990-N. It only asks for eight items: EIN, tax year, legal name and mailing address, any other names the org uses, name and address of a principal officer, website (if any), confirmation that gross receipts are $50,000 or less, and a statement if the org has terminated or is going out of business [3].
What is a 990 tax form used for, exactly?
The 990 series exists so the public and the IRS can verify that a tax-exempt organization is still operating, still meets the size threshold for its filing type, and hasn't quietly disappeared. For donors, it's a transparency tool. For the IRS, it's how they track compliance and flag orgs that stop filing. Here's the number that matters most for volunteer treasurers: if an organization required to file an annual return or notice fails to do so for three consecutive years, its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by law under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j) [4]. This isn't a warning from an agent. It's automatic, and it happens on the filing due date of the third missed year. That's why looking up your 990-N history matters the moment you take over as treasurer. If the prior treasurer missed three years of e-Postcards, the group may already be off the exempt list without anyone noticing, sometimes for years, until a bank or grantor asks for a determination letter that no longer applies.
What is the 990-N (e-Postcard), and who has to file it?
The 990-N is the shortest form in the 990 family, and it's filed entirely online, there's no paper version [3]. It applies to tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less per year. "Normally" is an average over the current year and the two years before it, not a hard single-year cutoff, so a booster club with one unusually big fundraiser year can still qualify if the three-year average stays under $50,000 [3]. The 990-N is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's accounting period ends. For a group on a calendar year (Jan 1 to Dec 31), that's May 15 [3]. There's no extension form for 990-N and no late fee for a single missed year, but three consecutive misses triggers automatic revocation under IRC 6033(j) [4], which we covered above. Organizations file through the IRS's Form 990-N electronic filing system, accessible at irs.gov, using their EIN and basic organizational info [3]. You can find the current filing portal and instructions on the form-990-n page.
How do I know if my club's 990-N was actually filed?
| 990-N | Smallest orgs | Normally $50,000 or less | Online only [3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Mid-size orgs | Generally under $200,000 and assets under $500,000 | Paper or e-file [2] |
| 990 (full) | Larger orgs | $200,000+ receipts or $500,000+ assets | E-file required for most [2] |
| 990-PF | Private foundations | Any size | E-file required [2] |
Don't take anyone's word for it, including the prior treasurer's. Go to TEOS at apps.irs.gov/app/eos, search the EIN, and look at the "Form 990-N (e-Postcard)" filing list [1]. It shows each tax period filed and the date it was submitted. If you see a gap of three or more consecutive years with nothing filed, that's a red flag worth acting on immediately, not eventually. Also check the Auto-Revocation List in the same tool. If the organization's name shows up there, its exempt status is gone, regardless of what any old determination letter says. One quirk worth knowing: TEOS data updates on a lag, sometimes a few months behind the actual filing date, per IRS guidance on the search tool [1]. So if you just filed and it's not showing yet, that's normal, not a failure. Give it some time before panicking. Here's a quick comparison of what each 990 series form requires, since a lot of new treasurers aren't sure which one applies to their group: | Form | Who files it | Gross receipts threshold | Filed how |
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer is the person responsible for tracking, reporting, and protecting an organization's money. For a booster club, PTO, or youth sports group, that means keeping the checkbook (or online banking) reconciled, recording income and expenses, filing whatever IRS form the group's size requires, and reporting the group's financial position to the board or membership regularly. It's a job with real legal weight even though it's usually unpaid. Signing off on a 990-N, however brief, is an official IRS filing under the organization's EIN. Treasurers who let filings lapse can be the reason a 300-family booster club suddenly finds itself without tax-exempt status and facing back taxes or awkward conversations with the school district about fundraising accounts. Day to day, most of the job is unglamorous: deposit slips, reimbursement requests, a shared spreadsheet, maybe a QuickBooks login inherited from whoever came before you. The high-stakes part, the part that gets missed, is the annual filing and the state registration renewal that happens once a year and is easy to forget between seasons.
What does a club treasurer do, specifically, versus a corporate one?
A club treasurer's job looks a lot like a small business bookkeeper's job, minus the profit motive and plus a layer of IRS compliance most volunteers never learned in school. The core tasks: collect and deposit dues or fundraiser proceeds, pay vendor invoices and reimburse volunteers, keep a ledger that separates restricted funds (like money raised for a specific trip) from general funds, and prepare a treasurer's report for each board meeting. On top of that day-to-day bookkeeping, a club treasurer usually owns the annual compliance calendar: the 990-N or 990-EZ filing, any state charitable solicitation registration renewal, and (if the group runs raffles) the state raffle license application. None of this is optional just because everyone involved is a volunteer. The IRS revocation rule under section 6033(j) applies the same to a 12-person softball booster club as it does to a national charity [4]. The honest answer for what to prioritize in your first month: find the EIN, look up the filing history on TEOS, confirm the last filed year, and check the org's state charity registration status with your state attorney general's office or secretary of state charities division. Confirm the specific renewal cycle with your state, since it varies.
What does a treasurer do in a club when there's no accountant on staff?
In most volunteer organizations, there is no accountant on staff, and that's exactly the point of the treasurer role. You are the accountant, at least for basic bookkeeping purposes. That doesn't mean you need a degree in it. It means you need a system you actually follow: a dedicated bank account in the org's name and EIN (never a personal account), a simple ledger or spreadsheet, receipts kept for every expense, and a monthly reconciliation against the bank statement. When the numbers get complicated, like grant reporting, sales tax on concessions, or a full 990/990-EZ instead of the postcard, that's when it makes sense to bring in an actual CPA or bookkeeper for a few hours, even if the org can't afford one year-round. Many CPAs offer discounted or pro bono help to small nonprofits; ask your state CPA society for a referral list. This is also where a lot of orgs quietly fall behind: the treasurer changes every year or two (common in PTOs especially), and the handoff is a shoebox of receipts and a login nobody wrote down. If that's you right now, our handoff-and-audits hub has the checklist for exactly this situation.
What is a treasurer, in one clear definition?
A treasurer is the officer of an organization responsible for its money: receiving it, spending it, recording it, and reporting on it accurately to the board, the members, and (through required filings) the IRS and the state. In a nonprofit or unincorporated club, the treasurer is usually one of a handful of named officers (often president, secretary, treasurer) required by the group's bylaws. Legally, in most states, an officer of a nonprofit has fiduciary duties, meaning a duty of care and loyalty to the organization's finances. That's a real legal concept, more than a nice title. It's why treasurers who mishandle funds, even unintentionally through sloppy recordkeeping, can face real consequences from the board or, in extreme cases, from a state attorney general's charity oversight office. For most volunteer treasurers though, the job is far less dramatic day to day: it's showing up, keeping receipts, filing on time, and being able to answer "where did the money go" with an actual answer instead of a shrug.
What happens if I search TEOS and find my club is on the Auto-Revocation List?
First: don't panic, and don't assume the group has to start over from scratch as a brand-new entity. The IRS has a formal process for reinstatement, and small organizations often qualify for a streamlined "retroactive reinstatement" if they apply within 15 months of the revocation date and meet certain conditions, per IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11 [5]. The process generally involves filing Form 1023 or Form 1023-EZ (depending on the org's size and prior gross receipts) along with a specific reasonable cause statement, and paying the applicable user fee. As of the IRS's current fee schedule, Form 1023-EZ has a $275 filing fee, and Form 1023 has a $600 filing fee [6]. These fees change periodically, so confirm the current amount on IRS.gov before filing. While reinstatement is pending, the organization is technically not tax-exempt, which matters for donors wanting a tax deduction and for the group's own tax filings during the gap. This is a real headache but a fixable one, and thousands of small orgs go through it every year. Don't let embarrassment about the lapse stop you from starting the paperwork; the IRS process assumes volunteer-run orgs miss filings sometimes.
Do I need a login or IRS account to look anything up?
No. TEOS is a public search tool at apps.irs.gov/app/eos, and it requires no account, no password, and no fee to search [1]. That's true whether you're checking your own club's status or looking up any other nonprofit before you donate or partner with them. The only time you'd need an actual IRS login is to file something (like the 990-N e-Postcard itself, which requires the organization's EIN and a few basic details to submit), not to look up existing filing history. One practical tip: bookmark the TEOS search page and check it once a year, right after your filing deadline, as a confirmation step. It takes two minutes and it's the single best habit a new treasurer can build to avoid an accidental revocation down the line.
Where does state raffle licensing or charity registration fit into all this?
Looking up your 990-N is a federal, IRS-only check. It tells you nothing about whether your state considers your fundraising activity properly registered. Most states have a separate charitable solicitation registration requirement, often run through the attorney general's office or secretary of state, and many states also require a specific license before a nonprofit can legally run a raffle. These are two completely different systems that don't talk to each other. A group can be perfectly current on its federal 990-N filings and still be operating an unlicensed raffle in a state that requires one, which can carry its own fines separate from anything the IRS does. Because every state's rules, fees, and renewal cycles differ (and change over time), confirm the specific requirement for your state with your state attorney general's charity office or gaming/raffle licensing division before running any raffle or major solicitation campaign.
A faster way to handle all of this at once
If you're a brand-new treasurer trying to sort out the EIN, the 990-N history, the state registration, and the raffle license question all at the same time, that's a lot to hold in your head in your first month on the job. That's the exact gap our $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built for: it walks through your state's specific charity registration and raffle rules alongside the federal 990-N basics, so you're not piecing it together from six different government websites. It's not tax or legal advice, and it doesn't replace an accountant for anything complicated. But for the routine annual compliance most small booster clubs and PTOs actually face, it's a much faster starting point than a blank search bar.
Frequently asked questions
How do I look up a 990-N for free?
Go to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at apps.irs.gov/app/eos and search by the organization's EIN or legal name. It's free, requires no account, and shows the org's 990-N filing history and revocation status directly from IRS records.
What is Form 990 used for?
Form 990 is the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations file so the IRS and public can verify revenue, expenses, and governance. It's not an income tax bill; it's a transparency and compliance filing, with different versions (990-N, 990-EZ, 990, 990-PF) based on the org's size.
What is the 990-N e-Postcard?
The 990-N is the shortest annual IRS filing, for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. It's filed online only, asks eight basic questions, and is due the 15th day of the 5th month after the org's fiscal year ends.
What does a treasurer do in a booster club or PTO?
A treasurer tracks income and expenses, reconciles the bank account, prepares financial reports for the board, and files required IRS and state paperwork (like the 990-N and state charity registration). It's essentially small-organization bookkeeping plus annual compliance duties.
What happens if my club misses three years of 990-N filings?
The organization's tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by law under IRC section 6033(j), no warning letter required. You can check this on the IRS Auto-Revocation List inside the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at apps.irs.gov/app/eos.
How much does it cost to reinstate revoked tax-exempt status?
As of the IRS's current fee schedule, Form 1023-EZ costs $275 to file and the full Form 1023 costs $600. Fees change periodically, so confirm the current amount on IRS.gov before submitting a reinstatement application.
Can I look up any nonprofit's 990, more than my own?
Yes. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool is public, and for larger organizations that file the full Form 990 or 990-EZ, you can often view or download copies of the actual return, more than the filing date.
What's the difference between 990-N, 990-EZ, and full Form 990?
990-N is for orgs with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, filed online only with no financial detail required. 990-EZ suits mid-size orgs generally under $200,000 in receipts. Full Form 990 applies to larger orgs and includes detailed financial and governance disclosures.
Does looking up my 990-N tell me if I need a raffle license?
No. The IRS 990-N search only shows federal filing status. Raffle licensing and charitable solicitation registration are separate state-level requirements, usually run through your state attorney general's office, and vary by state.
What does a club treasurer do differently from a corporate treasurer?
A club treasurer usually handles both day-to-day bookkeeping and annual compliance filings personally, since there's rarely paid accounting staff. Duties include reconciling accounts, reimbursing volunteers, filing the 990-N or equivalent, and renewing state charity registration.
Is there a fee to search the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool?
No. Searching apps.irs.gov/app/eos is completely free and doesn't require creating an IRS account. You only need the organization's EIN or name to pull up filing history, revocation status, and (for larger orgs) copies of returns.
How often does the IRS update the 990-N search results?
The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search database updates on a lag; recently filed 990-Ns may not appear for a few months. If you just filed and don't see it yet, that's normal processing delay, not necessarily an error.
Sources
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: Free public tool to search 990-N filings, revocation status, and 990 returns by EIN or name
- IRS, Form 990 Series Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File: Filing thresholds and requirements for 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): 990-N gross receipts threshold, due date, and eight required data items
- 26 U.S.C. § 6033(j): Automatic revocation of tax-exempt status after three consecutive years of failing to file
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement process for small organizations within 15 months of revocation
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1023-EZ: Filing fees for Form 1023-EZ and Form 1023 reinstatement applications