Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Form 990-EZ is a shorter annual information return for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000. It's due the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Miss three years in a row and the IRS auto-revokes your exempt status, no warning letter required.
What is Form 990-EZ?
Form 990-EZ is the IRS's shortened version of Form 990, the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file to report income, spending, and activities. It runs about 4 pages plus schedules, compared to the full 990's 12 pages plus attachments. The IRS built it for small and mid-size nonprofits that don't need the full disclosure load but bring in too much money to file the postcard-simple 990-N. You can use Form 990-EZ if your organization's gross receipts were less than $200,000 and total assets at year end were less than $500,000 [1]. If you go over either number, you have to file the full Form 990 instead. If you're under $50,000 in gross receipts, you're eligible for the 990-N instead, which is genuinely just eight questions. Most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues that have grown past their first year or two of bake sales and concession stands land in this middle bracket. A $75,000-a-year soccer club with a $30,000 equipment fund is a textbook 990-EZ filer.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer is the volunteer or elected officer responsible for an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, keeping bank accounts reconciled, filing the required tax paperwork, and reporting the group's financial position to the board or membership. In a booster club or PTO, this is almost always an unpaid volunteer role, often held for one or two years before handing off to the next parent. What does a treasurer do in a club, day to day? It's less glamorous than the title suggests. You're depositing cash from car washes, writing checks for uniforms, reconciling the checking account against bank statements monthly, and keeping receipts organized enough that someone could reconstruct the year if you got hit by a bus. You're also the person who knows whether the group owes the IRS anything this year. What does a club treasurer do that's specific to nonprofits? You track the organization's exempt status, file the annual return (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990 depending on size), and often handle state-level requirements too, like charitable solicitation registration or raffle licensing if the group runs games of chance. None of this requires an accounting degree. It requires consistency and a decent filing system. What does a treasurer do in a club when there's a mid-year officer change? Ideally, a clean handoff: bank access transferred, a binder or shared drive with the last three years of filings, and a walkthrough of any recurring deadlines. In practice, a lot of booster clubs skip this and the new treasurer discovers a lapsed 990 filing a year later. That gap is where auto-revocation problems start.
What is a 990 tax form, exactly?
Form 990 is an information return, not a tax bill. Most tax-exempt organizations don't owe income tax on their mission-related revenue, so the form isn't calculating what you owe the IRS. It's disclosure: what money came in, where it went, who's on the board, and whether the organization is still operating the way it said it would when it applied for exempt status [2]. The IRS uses three versions scaled to size. Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. Form 990-EZ is for the $50,000 to $200,000 gross receipts range with assets under $500,000. The full Form 990 is for anything larger, plus private foundations use a separate form, 990-PF [1]. The form is also public. Once filed, 990s (including 990-EZ) become part of the public record, and sites like the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search let anyone look up an organization's filings [3]. Donors, grant funders, and sometimes reporters check these. A sloppy or incomplete 990-EZ is visible to the world, which is one more reason to get it right the first time rather than rushing it in April.
Who has to file Form 990-EZ?
You must file Form 990-EZ, or the full Form 990, if your organization has 501(c)(3) or other IRS tax-exempt status and doesn't qualify for the small-organization 990-N. The specific thresholds: gross receipts under $200,000 AND total assets under $500,000 at the end of the year lets you use the EZ version instead of the full form [1]. Some organizations are excused from filing 990s altogether, mainly churches and certain church-affiliated organizations [4]. Most booster clubs, parent groups, and youth sports associations organized as 501(c)(3) public charities or 501(c)(4)/(c)(7) social organizations don't qualify for that church exception and do need to file something every year, even if it's just the 990-N. A common mistake: assuming that because your group is small and volunteer-run, no filing is required at all. That's wrong. Even a $12,000-a-year booster club with formal 501(c)(3) status has to file the 990-N at minimum. Skipping it isn't a paperwork shortcut, it's the single biggest cause of the auto-revocation letters treasurers scramble to fix every fall.
What information does Form 990-EZ actually ask for?
| 990-N (e-Postcard) | Smallest orgs | Normally ≤ $50,000 | No asset test | 10-15 minutes online | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Small/mid orgs | < $200,000 | < $500,000 | A few hours to a full day, first time | |
| Full 990 | Larger orgs | ≥ $200,000 | ≥ $500,000 | Several days, often with paid help | Source: IRS, Form 990 Series filing thresholds [1] |
The form has six parts. Part I is revenue, expenses, and changes in net assets, essentially your income statement for the year. Part II is your balance sheet at the start and end of the year. Part III asks you to describe your three largest program service accomplishments, in plain language, with the actual dollars spent on each. Part IV lists officers, directors, trustees, and key employees, along with their compensation (usually $0 for booster club volunteers). Part V covers other IRS filings and compliance questions. Part VI is for section 501(c)(3) organizations specifically, covering lobbying and other activities. Depending on your answers, you may need to attach schedules. Schedule A (public charity status and public support) is required for most 501(c)(3) organizations. Schedule B (contributor information) is needed if you received large individual donations above certain thresholds. Schedule G is for organizations that ran gaming or fundraising events, which is relevant if your booster club held a raffle or bingo night, something to flag alongside your raffle licensing paperwork if your state requires it. Here's a side-by-side of the three common forms: | Form | Who files it | Gross receipts threshold | Total assets threshold | Rough time to prepare |
When is Form 990-EZ due?
Form 990-EZ is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends [5]. For a calendar-year organization (year ending December 31), that's May 15. For a fiscal year ending June 30, which many school-affiliated booster clubs use, the deadline is November 15. You can request a six-month extension by filing Form 8868 before the original due date, which pushes a May 15 deadline to November 15 [6]. The extension is automatic once filed correctly, no explanation needed, but it has to be filed on time. Filing late doesn't just risk penalties, it starts the clock toward auto-revocation.
What happens if you file Form 990-EZ late or not at all?
Late filing can trigger penalties, though the IRS has discretion and small-organization penalties are often modest or waived on request with reasonable cause. The bigger risk isn't one late form, it's three in a row. Under section 6033(j) of the tax code, an organization that fails to file its required 990-series return for three consecutive years automatically loses its tax-exempt status, by operation of law, no notice or hearing required . The IRS publishes the list of automatically revoked organizations, and reinstatement means reapplying, sometimes with back filings and a new Form 1023 or 1023-EZ. This is the scenario a lot of new booster club treasurers walk into cold: the group's status quietly lapsed two treasurers ago because nobody realized the 990-N or 990-EZ was still required every single year, even in a slow year with almost no activity. If you're not sure where your organization stands, the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search tool lets you check current status and see the filing history [3].
How do you actually file Form 990-EZ?
As of the 2020 tax year, the IRS requires electronic filing for Form 990-EZ, the same as the full 990 . You can't mail in a paper form anymore for most filers. The IRS maintains a list of approved e-file providers on irs.gov, since the agency itself doesn't offer free direct e-filing for the EZ the way it does for the 990-N e-Postcard. Practically, that means a small booster club has three paths: use a low-cost e-file service built for small nonprofits, hire a bookkeeper or accountant familiar with exempt organizations, or, if a board member has real accounting background, prepare it in-house and run it through an approved e-file provider. Costs for e-file services aimed at small nonprofits commonly run in the $50 to $250 range depending on the provider and whether you need schedules prepared, though this varies enough that you should get a current quote before assuming a number. Before you file anything, confirm your organization's exact status and requirements with the IRS directly, since the specifics (thresholds, forms, penalties) get updated and your situation may have wrinkles a general article can't cover.
What does a treasurer of a club do differently when 990-EZ applies versus 990-N?
The jump from 990-N to 990-EZ is a real jump in workload, not a rounding error. The 990-N is eight questions online: EIN, tax year, legal name, address, website if you have one, confirmation you're under the receipts threshold, and a couple of status questions. It takes most people 10 to 15 minutes . Form 990-EZ needs actual financial statements behind it: a reconciled income statement, a balance sheet, a breakdown of program spending, and officer information. If your booster club crossed $50,000 in gross receipts this year (a bigger fundraiser, a good sponsorship year, a one-time grant), you're likely stepping up from 990-N to 990-EZ territory, and that means your bookkeeping needs to be tighter all year, more than in the weeks before the deadline. This is also where basic financial controls start paying off: monthly bank reconciliations, a simple chart of accounts, receipts filed by month. A treasurer who does this consistently can pull together a 990-EZ in an afternoon. A treasurer who's been tracking everything in a shoebox is looking at a much longer week.
What if your booster club is brand new and has never filed anything?
New groups sometimes assume that because they just formed, they don't owe the IRS anything yet. That's not quite right. If you've applied for and received 501(c)(3) status (or another exempt category), your filing obligation generally starts with your very first tax year, even if it was only a partial year. If you haven't applied for exempt status at all and you're operating as an informal parent group, you're in a different situation entirely, one worth sorting out with the IRS and, if relevant, your state's charity registration office before you assume any 990 rules apply to you. Being unincorporated and informal has its own tradeoffs (personal liability exposure, no ability to offer tax-deductible receipts) that are worth understanding before you decide formal 501(c)(3) status isn't necessary.
What records do you need before you sit down to prepare Form 990-EZ?
Gather these before you start, whether you're doing it yourself or handing it to a preparer: twelve months of bank statements, a reconciled ledger of income and expenses, a list of any grants or large individual donations received, a list of officers/directors and any compensation paid, and documentation of your three biggest program activities with dollars attached to each. If your group ran a raffle, bingo night, or other gaming event, pull those records separately, since gaming income and expenses get reported on Schedule G and sometimes trigger state reporting requirements too. If you're not sure whether your state considers your fundraiser a raffle requiring a license, that's worth confirming with your state's raffle rules and gaming or charity office before assuming it doesn't apply to you. A lot of the pain in filing Form 990-EZ comes from reconstructing a year of transactions after the fact, not from the form itself. This is exactly the kind of setup work a Form 990 filing gets easier with every year you keep clean books, and it's also why a lot of treasurers build a simple binder or shared folder system from day one, rather than scrambling every May.
Where does the $99 Treasurer Kit fit into this?
None of this is complicated in theory. It's complicated in practice because most volunteer treasurers are doing it once, maybe twice, before handing the job to someone else who starts from zero. That's exactly the gap the BoosterLedger State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built for: a one-time $99 kit with state-specific checklists, filing calendars, and handoff templates so the next treasurer isn't reconstructing your first year of guesswork. It's not a substitute for an accountant if your organization's finances are genuinely complex, and it's not tax or legal advice. But for a straightforward booster club or PTO tracking 990-N or 990-EZ deadlines and basic state raffle rules, it's built to save the ten hours most new treasurers burn figuring out where to even start. You can look at what's included at /treasurer-kit-builder.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS, reporting revenue, expenses, assets, and governance details. It comes in three main sizes based on gross receipts and assets: 990-N for the smallest organizations, 990-EZ for mid-size ones, and the full Form 990 for larger organizations, per IRS filing thresholds [1].
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used for public disclosure, not tax calculation. Since most exempt organizations don't owe income tax on mission-related revenue, the 990 series tells the IRS and the public what the organization took in, spent, and who runs it. Filed 990s become publicly searchable through the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search [3].
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer manages an organization's money: tracking income and expenses, reconciling bank accounts, filing required tax forms like the 990-series, and reporting financial status to the board. In small nonprofits like booster clubs, it's usually an unpaid volunteer role held for a year or two before handoff.
What does a club treasurer do that's different from a regular treasurer?
A club treasurer at a nonprofit or booster club has the same core job (tracking money, reconciling accounts) plus exempt-organization duties: filing the annual 990-series return, tracking IRS exempt status, and often handling state charitable registration or raffle licensing if the club runs fundraising games.
Who is required to file Form 990-EZ?
Tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 at year end can use Form 990-EZ instead of the full Form 990, per IRS thresholds [1]. Organizations below $50,000 in gross receipts can generally use the simpler 990-N instead.
When is Form 990-EZ due?
It's due the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's fiscal year ends [5]. For a calendar-year filer, that's May 15. You can get an automatic six-month extension by filing Form 8868 before the original deadline [6].
What happens if a nonprofit doesn't file Form 990-EZ for three years?
Its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked by law under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), with no notice or hearing required [7]. Reinstatement requires reapplying for exempt status, sometimes with back filings, and the IRS publishes a public list of automatically revoked organizations.
Can you file Form 990-EZ on paper?
No. As of the 2020 tax year, the IRS requires electronic filing for Form 990-EZ, the same as the full Form 990 [8]. You'll need to use an IRS-approved e-file provider, since the agency doesn't offer free direct e-filing for the EZ.
What's the difference between Form 990-N and Form 990-EZ?
Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) is eight questions for organizations normally under $50,000 in gross receipts, taking about 10-15 minutes online. Form 990-EZ requires a full income statement, balance sheet, and program details for organizations up to $200,000 in receipts and $500,000 in assets, taking significantly longer to prepare.
What does a treasurer do in a club during handoff to a new officer?
A clean handoff transfers bank account access, provides the last two to three years of financial records and tax filings, and walks the new treasurer through recurring deadlines like 990 filing dates. Skipping this is a common reason booster clubs discover lapsed filings a year or more later.
Does a booster club with $0 income still need to file a 990?
Generally yes, if it holds 501(c)(3) or other exempt status. Even organizations with minimal or no income during a slow year typically still need to file at least Form 990-N annually to avoid triggering the three-year auto-revocation rule under IRC section 6033(j) [7].
Where can you check if your organization's tax-exempt status was revoked?
Use the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov, which lists current exempt status and filing history, including organizations on the automatic revocation list [3]. Confirm any concerning results directly with the IRS before assuming reinstatement steps.
Sources
- IRS, About Form 990: Form 990 is the annual information return for tax-exempt organizations
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: Filed 990s are publicly searchable and the tool shows exempt status and filing history
- IRS, Instructions for Form 990-EZ: Form 990-EZ is due the 15th day of the 5th month after the accounting period ends
- IRS, About Form 8868: Form 8868 provides an automatic six-month extension for filing exempt organization returns
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Failure to file required returns for three consecutive years results in automatic revocation under IRC section 6033(j)
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): Form 990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less and requires basic identifying information