Small Not For Profits Under the Gun For 990n

All not for profits including those with income under $25,000 must file a 990 tax return this year. 990n cards (notices to file) were received last week. If you are a small not for profit organization you may file online. It’s really not the big deal they are making out to be:

From reporternews.com in Abilene, Texas:

Today is the deadline for many nonprofits to file with the Internal Revenue Service or risk losing their nonprofit status.

About 60 Taylor County organizations could lose their nonprofit status if the deadline is not met, according to unofficial data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

Recent changes in IRS regulations force small organizations to file. Previously, smaller groups did not face that requirement.

Some organizations on the Taylor County list may no longer be active and today’s deadline could serve to filter them out.

“As far as I know, we’re not even existing anymore,” said Bob Weissinger, a one-time president of the Abilene Downtown Homeowners Association. About five years ago, the organization worked to put a ‘Welcome’ sign at North Third and Grape streets noting the historic nature of downtown.

In recent years, however, the organization has become “sort of defunct ,” Weissinger said.

Others remain active, like the Abilene Fastpitch Softball Association, a youth sports organization.

But Bill Black, president of the association, said he wasn’t aware of any filing requirements.

“We’ll look into it, if we need to file,” Black said, adding that “we have never filed anything.”

According to the IRS, a mandate that first took effect in 2007 requires all nonprofits—other than churches and church-related organizations—to file an information form, regardless of the amount of receipts taken in.

Filings for 2009 mark the third consecutive year under the mandate, and nonprofits that go three years without filing will automatically lose their tax exempt status.