Form 990 for PTAs, PTOs and booster clubs

• File my Form 990-N free
• Start my Form 990-EZ free

No card needed to start. You can fill in a Form 990-EZ before you create an account.

Yes. A local PTA is its own organization, not a program of the school. The IRS requires every exempt organization to have its own EIN, employees or not, and National PTA's finance guidance says the same of every PTA: the EIN is part of the unit's permanent record, and "the responsibility of filing lies with the PTA treasurer, whether or not such forms are received." Local, council and district PTAs each file an annual return.

The state PTAs say so too. New York State PTA tells every PTA, including units, councils and regions, to file a 990 every year. Utah PTA: all PTAs file a 990 with the IRS, most of them the 990-N. Texas PTA has its treasurers e-file "the appropriate IRS Form 990" within 60 days of the fiscal year end and present the IRS acceptance at the first membership meeting. California State PTA lists filing "all required state (199/199N) and federal (990N/990EZ/990) tax returns" among the conditions of a unit's good standing.

Sources: IRS: EINs for exempt organizations · National PTA, Federal Requirements (PDF) · New York State PTA, Treasurer Forms and Information · Utah PTA, Financial FAQs · Texas PTA, Treasurer · California State PTA, The Local Unit PTA

Many state PTAs hold a group exemption letter from the IRS. California State PTA, Utah PTA and Minnesota PTA say their units are covered by one; National PTA notes that in other states each local PTA secures its own exemption. Under a group exemption, your unit is tax-exempt without filing its own Form 1023. The state PTA reports changes to its list of covered units to the IRS each year.

A group exemption covers only that. The IRS requires each organization in a group exemption to have its own EIN, and the annual return is a separate question. A parent organization may file a group return on Form 990 covering subordinates that agree to be included; a unit on that return doesn't file one of its own for the year. A unit that isn't on a group return "must file its own return unless it meets another exception", and if its gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, that return is Form 990-N. The state PTAs quoted above tell their units to file their own, so assume yours does unless your state PTA tells you in writing that it files a group return that includes you.

If the IRS's e-Postcard system doesn't recognize your unit's EIN, the usual cause is that the unit is missing from the state PTA's list of subordinates. The IRS has the parent write to them to fix it, so ask your state PTA office. Our guide to Form 990-N filing problems covers the other reasons a filing is refused.

Sources: IRS Publication 557 · IRS: returns by members of a group ruling · IRS: who must file Form 990-N · California State PTA, Tax Requirements · Minnesota PTA, 990 information

A PTO, a "friends of" group or a parent club that isn't part of a state PTA has no group exemption behind it. It is a separate organization: it needs its own EIN and, to be recognized as a 501(c)(3), its own application on Form 1023 or 1023-EZ. Our guide on starting a nonprofit covers that. A 501(c)(3) whose gross receipts are normally $5,000 or less isn't required to apply at all, but it still files Form 990-N every year; an officer asks the IRS to set it up first so their system will accept the filing. A group whose application is pending files the 990-N the same way.

Keep the group's money and identity separate from the school's. National PTA tells treasurers that the bank should hold the PTA's EIN rather than an individual's Social Security number, and that a PTA should never share its EIN or run another group's money through its account. The same applies to a PTO.

Sources: IRS: who must file Form 990-N · National PTA Finance Quick Reference Guide (PDF)

The IRS has long recognized booster clubs as exempt under section 501(c)(3), or the related section 501(j), because they promote amateur athletics and instruct young people in sports. A club files like any other charity: its own EIN, and a 990-N, 990-EZ or 990 by the size of its receipts.

The rule that catches booster clubs is the one that applies to every 501(c)(3): the organization can't be run for the private benefit of its members, and none of its net earnings may go to a private individual. In 2023 the IRS revoked a youth sports club that paid each fundraiser's net proceeds into the accounts of the families who had worked it, to offset their own children's costs. The letter cites the Tax Court's decision in Capital Gymnastics Booster Club v. Commissioner and describes the club as "raising funds to benefit only families of athletes that participated in the fundraisers" rather than all of its members, whether they fundraised or not. Required dues and "fundraising amounts" that buy a child's place on the team are also, in the IRS's view, generally not deductible gifts, except for any amount above the value of what the family gets back.

If your club credits individual family accounts or sets fundraising quotas per child, that is a question for a professional before the next return, not something the return fixes.

Sources: IRS: inurement and private benefit · IRS determination letter 202334016 (PDF) · IRS Chief Counsel memorandum on booster club dues (PDF)

Gross receipts are everything the group took in during the year, before costs: fundraiser sales count in full, not the profit. The IRS's "normally" test for the 990-N averages the last three years, with higher limits for a group under three years old; our guide to choosing between the three forms has the details.

The return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends, or the next business day when that is a weekend or legal holiday. Most PTAs run July 1 to June 30, so the return for the year that began July 1, 2025 and ended June 30, 2026 is due Monday, November 16, 2026. That return is the tax year 2025 return, because a return is named for the year the organization's fiscal year begins. Your fiscal year is set in your bylaws; if yours is different, the filing deadlines guide gives the date for every year end.

A 990-N can't be extended. For a 990-EZ or 990, Form 8868 filed by the due date gives six more months. Some state PTAs set an earlier target of their own so the outgoing treasurer files before handing over; Texas PTA's is 60 days after the year end.

Sources: IRS: which forms exempt organizations file · IRS Form 990-N page · California State PTA, Federal Taxes · Texas PTA, Treasurer

School groups most often lose their exemption here. Officers turn over every year or two, the IRS's notices go to a past treasurer's address, and nobody files. There is no dollar penalty for a late 990-N, so nothing prompts anyone. But an organization that doesn't file for three consecutive years loses its tax-exempt status automatically, on the due date of the third year. National PTA's own instructions to revoked units open by noting that the IRS revoked "numerous organizations, including many local PTAs" this way, and New York State PTA traces its units' revocations to missed e-Postcards.

Getting it back means applying to the IRS again on Form 1023 and paying the fee. Reinstatement normally runs from the new application date; it reaches back to the revocation date only if the IRS accepts a reasonable cause statement, which National PTA warns is rare. Donations in the gap aren't deductible. The late filing guide covers the penalties.

So before you file, check what the IRS has on record for your EIN. Our nonprofit lookup shows the returns the IRS lists for an organization; the lookup on our home page also suggests the form it most likely files next and can start it. If a recent year is missing, file the current year now: that stops the three-year count.

Sources: IRS Form 990-N page · IRS: who must file Form 990-N · National PTA reinstatement instructions (PDF) · New York State PTA, Treasurer Forms and Information

National PTA's finance guide has a new treasurer gather the unit's records in the first 30 days and confirm the most recent Form 990 was filed. Make that easy. The folder, paper or shared drive, should hold:

• The EIN, and where it came from (the state PTA office or the IRS letter assigning it).
• The IRS determination letter, or for a unit under a group exemption, the state PTA's confirmation that the unit is covered.
• The bylaws, which give the fiscal year end and so the due date.
• A copy of every Form 990-N, 990-EZ or 990 filed, with the IRS acceptance for each, and the login for whatever account was used to file.
• Gross receipts for each of the last three years, which the 990-N's "normally" test needs.
• The latest financial review or audit report, the budgets, and the treasurer's books.
• Bank statements and access. Change the signers and online passwords at the handover, and make sure the account carries the PTA's EIN.

Sources: National PTA Finance Quick Reference Guide (PDF) · Texas PTA, Treasurer