Reporting guide
Form 990-N: the e-Postcard
The smallest tax-exempt organizations satisfy their annual filing requirement with Form 990-N — an eight-item electronic notice, not a return. Here's who qualifies, what it asks, and what happens if you skip it.
Who can file it
Form 990-N is for organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. "Normally" is a lookback test, and the IRS relaxes it for young organizations:
| Organization age | Gross receipts | How it’s measured |
|---|---|---|
| In its first tax year | $75,000 or less | Received, or donors have pledged, during the first year |
| One to three years old | $60,000 or less | Averaged over its first two tax years |
| Three years or older | $50,000 or less | Averaged over the three preceding tax years |
Some organizations can't use the e-Postcard even under those thresholds — private foundations always file Form 990-PF, and most supporting organizations must file a 990 or 990-EZ. Any eligible organization may also choose to file the fuller 990 or 990-EZ voluntarily instead.
What it asks for
Eight items, none of them financial statements. If you can answer these, you can file:
- Identification
- Employer Identification Number (EIN) and the tax year
- Names
- Legal name and mailing address, plus any other names the organization uses
- Principal officer
- Name and address
- Website
- The organization’s web address, if it has one
- Receipts confirmation
- Confirmation that gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less
- Termination
- A statement, only if the organization is going out of business
Deadline, extensions, and lateness
The e-Postcard is due the 15th day of the 5th month after the tax year ends — May 15 for calendar-year organizations. See the full due-date table for other year-ends. There is no extension: Form 8868 does not apply to the 990-N.
The IRS charges no monetary penalty for a late e-Postcard — but a missed year still counts toward automatic revocation: three consecutive years without a filing and the organization's tax-exempt status ends by law. If you're behind, filing the current year's 990-N stops the clock.