Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
The IRS runs a free 990-N lookup tool called the "Exempt Organizations Business Master File" and "Tax Exempt Organization Search" (TEOS) at irs.gov/teos. Type in your organization's name or EIN, and it shows filed 990-N e-Postcards, other 990s, and whether the group's tax-exempt status got revoked for missing three years of filings in a row.
Where do I actually do a 990-N lookup?
Go to the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov/teos. This is the only official 990-N lookup and it's free. You do not need to create an account or pay anyone for this search. Once you're there, pick "Form 990-N (e-Postcard)" from the search options and type in your organization's name, EIN, or state. If you know your EIN, use it. Booster clubs and PTOs often share very similar names ("Lincoln High Boosters," "Lincoln Elementary PTO") across different states and even different schools in the same district, so a name-only search can pull up five almost-identical results and you'll waste ten minutes guessing which one is yours. The IRS also publishes the underlying data as downloadable files if you want to search offline or cross-check a whole list of organizations at once, through the Tax Exempt Organization Search Bulk Data Downloads page [1]. Most volunteer treasurers will never need that; the web tool is enough.
What is Form 990, exactly?
Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's not an income tax return in the way a business or individual return is (exempt orgs generally don't owe federal income tax), it's a disclosure document. The IRS, state charity regulators, donors, and grantmakers all use it to see what a nonprofit took in, spent, and paid its officers [2]. There are several versions depending on the size of the organization. The full Form 990 is for larger organizations, Form 990-EZ is a shorter version for mid-size groups, and Form 990-N is the short electronic notice for the smallest organizations. Confusingly, people sometimes call the whole family "the 990 tax form" even though most small booster clubs and PTOs file the 990-N, which is barely a tax form at all: it's eight data fields. If your booster club, PTO, or youth sports league brings in more than the 990-N threshold, you'll file 990-EZ or the full 990 instead, and those forms ask for a lot more, including a breakdown of program expenses and, on the full 990, information about governance practices and highest-paid staff [2]. For a plain-English walkthrough of which version applies to your group, see our guide to form 990.
What is Form 990-N (the e-Postcard)?
Form 990-N, nicknamed the e-Postcard, is the annual filing for tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less [3]. It asks for eight things: your EIN, tax year, legal name and address, any other names the org uses, the name and address of a principal officer, your website if you have one, and a confirmation that gross receipts are still $50,000 or less [3]. There's no financial detail beyond that one yes/no threshold question. No balance sheet, no expense breakdown. It takes most treasurers under ten minutes once they know their EIN and filing year, and it's filed entirely online through the IRS's e-Postcard system. The catch: 990-N has no paper option and no extension. You either file it electronically by the deadline, which is the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends, or you miss it [3]. For a fiscal year ending June 30, that's a November 15 deadline. For a calendar-year organization, it's May 15. See our 990-N explainer and the form 990-N page for the filing walkthrough itself; this article is about finding what's already on file.
What shows up when I search 990-N lookup results?
| Whether a 990-N was filed for a given year | "Form 990-N (e-Postcard)" tab, list by tax year |
|---|---|
| Whether status was revoked | "Auto-Revocation" flag on the org's result page |
| Full financial detail | Only on 990 or 990-EZ filings, not 990-N |
| Reinstatement date, if reinstated | Listed on the org's exempt organization record once processed |
For each organization, the TEOS tool shows the list of e-Postcards filed, by tax year, along with the date each one was submitted. It also cross-links to any full Form 990 or 990-EZ filings the organization has on record, and it shows whether the organization currently appears on the IRS Automatic Revocation of Exemption List [4]. Here's the thing that trips people up: the tool does not show you the actual content of the 990-N beyond confirming it was filed, because there's almost no content to show. If you need the underlying full Form 990 or 990-EZ for a larger organization, those documents (called Form 990 series returns) are viewable as PDFs directly in the search results or through the [990](https://boosterledger.com/articles/treasurer-basics/990) overview. A quick reference for what you'll see: | What you're looking for | Where it shows up |
How do I find my organization's EIN if I don't have it?
Check old bank statements, your state's charity registration filings, or any prior year's tax paperwork left by the last treasurer, all commonly list the EIN. If your group is genuinely small and has never filed anything, the IRS assigned an EIN when the organization applied for one (via Form SS-4 or the online EIN application), so it exists somewhere even if nobody currently has it written down. You can also try the 990-N lookup itself by organization name and state; if a 990-N was ever filed, the EIN shows up in the result. This is often the fastest way for a new treasurer to recover a lost EIN, faster than calling the IRS Exempt Organizations phone line, which has real hold times. If none of that works, the IRS Tax Exempt/Government Entities customer account services line can help verify an EIN over the phone, but expect to confirm your authority to ask on behalf of the organization.
Why does my 990-N lookup show 'revoked'?
The IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status for any organization that fails to file a required 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N for three consecutive years. This is not a judgment call or a warning shot, it's automatic under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j) [5]. Once three years pass with no filing, revocation happens by operation of law on the filing deadline of that third year. This catches an enormous number of small nonprofits, mostly because volunteer treasurer turnover means nobody remembered to file. A group that skips filings for three straight years loses its exempt status even if it never had any tax to pay, and even if the 990-N itself asks for almost nothing. The IRS publishes the full Auto-Revocation List and updates it monthly; you can search it directly or find your group flagged inside the regular TEOS lookup [4]. If you see a revocation date on your search result, don't panic, but don't ignore it either. Reinstatement is a real process with real paperwork and, depending on the path you take, a real fee (Form 1023 reinstatement applications carry a $600 IRS user fee as of the current Rev. Proc. fee schedule; confirm the current amount with the IRS since fees are adjusted periodically [6]).
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer is the person responsible for a club, PTO, or booster organization's money: tracking income and expenses, keeping the bank account reconciled, and making sure required filings (like the 990-N) actually happen every year. In a volunteer organization, the treasurer is usually the only person who knows the full financial picture at any given moment. Day to day, that means depositing fundraiser cash promptly, paying vendors and reimbursing volunteers with documentation, and keeping a ledger that a new treasurer could pick up and understand without you standing over their shoulder. Annually, it means preparing (or at least gathering the numbers for) the 990-N or 990-EZ, renewing any state charity registration, and handing over a clean set of books at the end of your term. The job is bookkeeping first, but a good treasurer also flags problems early: a fundraiser that's losing money, a bank account with a signer who left the group two years ago, cash handling that has no second set of eyes on it. Nobody expects a volunteer treasurer to have an accounting degree. Everyone benefits when the treasurer keeps things boring and well-documented.
What does a club treasurer do differently from a company treasurer?
A club treasurer, whether for a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, handles a much smaller and simpler set of books than a corporate treasurer, but with less institutional support. There's usually no finance department, no CFO, no accounting software the whole board is trained on. It's one volunteer, a spreadsheet or a basic bookkeeping app, and a shoebox of receipts from the concession stand. What does a treasurer of a club do that's specific to this setting? Mostly: managing cash from fundraisers and gate admissions (a much bigger cash-handling risk than most companies ever face), tracking reimbursements for coaches and volunteers who fronted money, keeping the group under or aware of the 990-N gross receipts threshold, and coordinating with whoever handles state raffle licensing if the group runs raffles or 50/50 drawings. What does a treasurer do in a club that's genuinely different from year to year: the turnover. Most club treasurers serve one to three years, then hand off to someone new who often inherits an incomplete picture. That's a structural weakness unique to volunteer organizations, and it's the reason clean recordkeeping matters more here than almost anywhere else in nonprofit finance.
What if my organization isn't showing up in the 990-N lookup at all?
A few honest possibilities, roughly in order of likelihood. First, you might have the wrong EIN, or you're searching by a name variant the IRS doesn't have on file (many booster clubs incorporate under one name but operate under a nickname). Second, your organization might never have applied for tax-exempt status in the first place, meaning there's no exempt-org record to search because it was never a registered 501(c)(3) or similar entity; some booster clubs operate for years as informal groups without realizing they never filed anything. Third, and this happens more than people expect: a very small or very new organization, one that hasn't yet filed its first required return, simply won't appear yet. The IRS record populates after the first filing, not before. If you genuinely can't find your organization anywhere and you believe it should have exempt status, that's worth resolving before you assume everything is fine. Confirm with the IRS directly (their Exempt Organizations customer account services line handles these questions) and, separately, confirm your organization's registration status with your state charity office or attorney general, since state charitable solicitation registration is a completely separate system from federal tax-exempt status and neither one guarantees the other.
What do I do if the 990-N lookup shows my group was auto-revoked?
First, don't assume the group can just start filing again as if nothing happened. Once revoked, an organization is treated by the IRS as no longer tax-exempt (and, for many small groups, no longer able to tell donors their gifts are tax-deductible) until it goes through reinstatement [5]. Small organizations that would have qualified for the 990-N in the years they missed often qualify for a streamlined retroactive reinstatement process under Revenue Procedure 2014-11, if they apply within 15 months of the revocation date, along with the $600 user fee mentioned above (confirm the current fee schedule directly with the IRS, since these are adjusted periodically) [6]. Organizations outside that window, or larger organizations, generally have to go through the standard Form 1023 or 1023-EZ application again and explain the gap. While you sort out reinstatement, keep filing your state paperwork current too. A federal revocation doesn't automatically cancel your state nonprofit corporation status or your state charity registration, but many state charity offices cross-check the IRS list, so a lapse on one side tends to surface problems on the other. Confirm both tracks with the IRS and your state charity office rather than assuming one covers the other.
How is Form 990-N different from Form 990-EZ or the full Form 990?
| 990-N (e-Postcard) | Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 | 8 basic data fields, no financials | Online only, IRS e-Postcard system | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Gross receipts < $200,000 and assets < $500,000 | Summarized income/expense/balance sheet | Electronic filing required | |
| Form 990 (full) | Larger organizations, or by choice | Full financial statements, governance, compensation | Electronic filing required | A group can always choose to file a more detailed form than it's required to, and some do, because grant applications or state registrations sometimes ask for it. But nobody is required to file 990-EZ or the full 990 if their receipts genuinely stay under the 990-N threshold. For the full breakdown of thresholds and what's on each form, see our 990 tax form and IRS Form 990 guides. |
The line is gross receipts. Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less file the 990-N [3]. Organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 generally have the option of filing the more detailed 990-EZ instead of the full form . Above those numbers, the full Form 990 is required. Here's a comparison that most new treasurers find useful: | Form | Who files it | What it asks for | Filed how |
What records should a new treasurer pull together after checking the 990-N lookup?
Once you know your filing history and revocation status, build a simple folder (physical or digital, doesn't matter) with: your EIN and determination letter if you have one, the last three years of whatever 990 form applies, your state charity registration confirmation, and your bank statements going back at least a year. This is exactly the kind of housekeeping that gets skipped during a rushed handoff between treasurers, and it's exactly what makes the next 990-N lookup (and the next handoff) painless instead of a scavenger hunt. If you're setting this up for the first time or rebuilding it after a gap, a state-specific starting point helps a lot, since your state's charity registration rules and forms differ from the neighboring state's. That's the whole idea behind our $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit: it gives a new treasurer a filled-in starting folder built for their state instead of a generic checklist. None of this replaces an accountant or attorney if your situation is complicated (multiple revocations, real back taxes owed, a raffle license dispute). Treat the 990-N lookup as your starting map, not your final answer.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 990-N lookup?
A 990-N lookup is a search of the IRS's free Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool at irs.gov/teos, which shows whether an organization has filed its annual e-Postcard, what years are on file, and whether the organization's tax-exempt status has been automatically revoked for missing filings.
Is the 990-N lookup free?
Yes. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool is free and requires no account or login. Any paid "990 lookup" service you find online is just repackaging the same public IRS data, so there's rarely a reason to pay for it.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS, disclosing income, expenses, and governance details rather than calculating income tax owed. Depending on size, an organization files the full Form 990, the shorter 990-EZ, or the minimal 990-N e-Postcard.
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used by the IRS, state regulators, donors, and grantmakers to check what a nonprofit brought in and spent, whether it's still operating within its exempt purpose, and whether required filings are current. It's a disclosure return, not an income tax calculation, since most exempt organizations owe no federal income tax.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks a club or nonprofit's money: deposits, expenses, bank reconciliation, and required filings like the 990-N. In small volunteer organizations, the treasurer is usually the only person with a full picture of the finances at any given time, so clear recordkeeping matters enormously.
What does a club treasurer do that's different from other treasurer roles?
A club treasurer for a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league usually manages fundraiser and gate cash, tracks volunteer reimbursements, keeps the group aware of IRS filing thresholds, and often coordinates state raffle licensing, all without a finance department behind them.
How do I know if my 990-N was actually filed?
Search your organization by name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool and select the 990-N tab. If a filing exists for a given tax year, it will show a submission date. If nothing appears for a year you believe you filed, confirm directly with the IRS since processing delays happen.
What happens if a nonprofit misses three years of 990-N filings?
Its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by operation of Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), with no separate IRS notice required before revocation takes effect. The organization then needs to apply for reinstatement, which can include a user fee and, for smaller groups, a streamlined process under Revenue Procedure 2014-11.
Can I search 990-N filings by EIN instead of name?
Yes, and EIN search is more reliable, since many small nonprofits share very similar names. Check old bank statements or state charity filings for your EIN if you don't already have it, or try a name search first since a past 990-N filing will display the EIN.
Does the 990-N lookup show how much money an organization has?
No. The 990-N asks only for basic identifying information and confirmation that gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, so no financial detail appears. Organizations that file the full Form 990 or 990-EZ instead do show income, expense, and balance sheet detail in the search results.
What's the difference between IRS revocation and losing state nonprofit status?
IRS auto-revocation affects federal tax-exempt status only. It doesn't automatically dissolve your state nonprofit corporation or cancel state charity registration, but many state charity offices check the IRS revocation list, so problems on one side often need attention on both. Confirm both separately with the IRS and your state charity office.
What does a treasurer of a club actually need to hand off to the next person?
At minimum: the EIN and any IRS determination letter, the last three years of 990-series filings, current state charity registration paperwork, and at least a year of bank statements. Building this folder before a handoff avoids the scavenger hunt that most new club treasurers face.
Sources
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search Bulk Data Downloads: IRS publishes downloadable bulk data files of exempt organization filings
- IRS, About Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax: Form 990 is the annual information return for tax-exempt organizations disclosing finances and governance
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations - Form 990-N (e-Postcard): Form 990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, requires eight data fields, has no paper option, and is due the 15th day of the 5th month after fiscal year end
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Organizations that fail to file required 990-series returns for three consecutive years automatically lose tax-exempt status under IRC section 6033(j)
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11, Streamlined Retroactive Reinstatement: Small organizations can apply for streamlined retroactive reinstatement within 15 months of revocation, subject to a user fee
- IRS, Instructions for Form 990-EZ: Form 990-EZ is available to organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000