IRS Update – IRS Form 99N or “e-Postcard”

There are still States/Chapters experiencing difficulties in filing the IRS Form 990N. We have a revised recommendation in that case: “Don't continue to try to file a 990-N at all now!”

That may seem cavalier, but our rationale is:

1. There is no penalty for not filing at all until May 2010, and the IRS recognizes they have a huge problem with the form. If the chapter's EIN is not immediately recognized in the data base, it will be a long hassle (we have examples of situations still not resolved after six months), and ultimately it should soon not be necessary; because...
2. Our long-awaited (c)(3) group exemption should be granted soon, and the group exemption filing will remove any 990-N requirement for the chapters covered under the group. We may be a little overly optimistic about the group exemption approval, but we have plenty of time to revise this guidance once the existing database difficulties are worked out and before May 2010!