Filing with help from an AI assistant

Fast File Exempt is an Authorized IRS e-file Provider. We file tax year 2025 Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, Form 8868 extensions for those three, and Form 990-N, the e-Postcard.

We file returns prepared by your organization's own officers, employees or volunteers. We don't accept returns completed by a paid preparer. An assistant's help doesn't change who prepares the return or who is responsible for it.

Choose the button for your form. It creates your account, then opens that form with “Enter it online” as the first choice.

• Fill in my Form 990-PF online
• Fill in my Form 990 online
• Fill in my Form 990-EZ online
• Fill in my Form 990-N online
• Fill in my Form 8868 online

Verify your email yourself, then enter your organization's EIN. The editor fills in your organization's name, address and tax period from the IRS records for that EIN. Check those entries. You can't change the EIN in the editor.

You don't need a PDF to enter a return online. If you have a completed IRS PDF, you can upload it instead (up to 5 MB). We read it into the form, and you check each section. Form 990-N is always entered online.

The editor follows the printed form, with one section per Part in order, then “Check & finish”. Each section has its own address, such as a URL ending in ?section=part-iv. Each field shows the printed line number and label. Fields in a repeating table name their row, such as “officer 2”. Where the form says to add up a total, the editor calculates it and marks it “Calculated”. Changes save automatically, and “Saved.” confirms each save. We keep a draft for 30 days after its last change.

Enter amounts in whole dollars:

• Digits. A dollar sign and thousands commas are fine, so “$12,500” is stored as 12500.
• No cents. For 125.50, the editor says “Enter whole dollars — 125.50 rounds to 126.” and offers “Round to 126”.
• Negatives. Use a minus sign where the line allows a negative amount. Elsewhere the editor says “This line can't be negative.”
• No brackets. For (1,250), the editor says “Use a minus sign for a negative amount, like -125.”
• Percentages. Most percentage lines take a fraction of 1, so 98.01% is entered as 0.9801. A few, such as Schedule H's percentages of the poverty guidelines, take the figure as printed. When an entry doesn't fit, the editor says which format the line expects.

If the editor can't read an entry as whole dollars, it keeps the entry exactly as typed and shows the reason under the field. You can't add the form to the filing until the entry is fixed.

Before you pay anything, the review of the main form checks:

• Required entries.
• The IRS e-file business rules for that form that can be checked from the return itself.
• The arithmetic: totals against their lines, and figures one Part quotes from another.
• Entry formats.
• That the EIN is your organization's.

It also warns you when your organization's name doesn't match the IRS name control. The review lists each finding as something to check, with a link to its field. You must fix blocking findings before you can add the form to the filing.

The checks don't compare figures with your organization's books, confirm that you chose the right form, or give tax advice. Passing them doesn't mean the IRS will accept the return. The IRS makes that decision.

• Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF. Starting the return is free. One fee per return unlocks schedules, supporting statements and signing, and it covers e-filing.
• Form 8868. Preparing the extension is free. Paying the fee submits it to the IRS. It doesn't need an officer's signature or a separate submit step.
• Form 990-N. Filing it is free, and an officer attests to it.

You pay by card on a Stripe Checkout page. Fees are listed on the pricing page and each form's page. We email you the IRS acknowledgement whether they accept or reject the return. Resubmitting after a rejection costs nothing extra.

• Verify your email. Enter verification codes yourself.
• Claim your organization. Use its EIN, and check the details filled in from the IRS records.
• Pay. Review the form and the fee before paying. For Form 8868, paying submits the extension to the IRS.
• Have an officer sign or attest. For an annual return, an officer signs Form 8453-TE in the app. When they sign, we send the return to the IRS. There's no review step after signing. For Form 990-N, an officer attests to it.

An assistant can help you enter and review the return. You pay, and the officer signs or attests for themselves.

1. Use the “Fill in my … online” button for the form the person chose. Let the person enter email verification codes and claim the organization by its EIN.
2. Under “Enter it online”, choose “Start filling it in” to enter the prepared figures. If the person uploads a PDF instead, have them check every section we read from it.
3. Work through the Parts in order. Identify fields by their label, column and row name. The printed line number is shown beside each one. You can return to any section by its address.
4. Read each field's value back after entering it. Use whole dollars for amounts, and for percentages use the format the editor asks for. Wait for “Saved.” after changes.
5. If a field refuses an entry, read the reason under it and correct the entry from the prepared figures. The refused text stays in the field until you replace it, and it blocks the form.
6. Open “Check & finish” before telling the person the form is ready. Follow each finding's link and fix the blocking ones. Tell the person what's left and what the review doesn't cover.
7. Stop before payment, and let the person review and pay. Make sure they know that paying for Form 8868 submits the extension.
8. After an annual return is paid for, help with schedules, statements and review as needed. Stop before the officer signs, and don't sign or attest for an officer. Explain that once the officer signs, we send the return to the IRS, with no review step afterwards.

An assistant enters 125.50 on Form 990-EZ, Part I, line 1. The editor keeps “125.50” and shows the reason under the field:

While that entry stands, the form can't be added to the filing. The assistant replaces it with 126, or uses “Round to 126”, and the item clears. Then it reads the field back and moves on to “Check & finish”.