Form 990 Instructions

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Instructions to complete Form 990
Additional Filing Requirements for Form 990
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Form 990 Filing Instructions for 2023: Step-by-Step instructions

- Updated February 07, 2024 - 2.00 PM - Admin, Tax990

Form 990 is filed by certain tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and section 527 political organizations whose gross receipts are more than or equal to $200,000 (or) total assets more than or equal to $500,000 to report the annual information required by section 6033 to the IRS.

The deadline to file Form 990 for these organizations is the 15th day of the 5th month after their accounting period ends.

You can find out more details on how to complete Form 990 in this article.

Instructions to Complete Form 990

Form 990 includes 12 parts. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to fill out the details on each part.

Basic Information about your Organization

At the beginning of the form, there will be a section requiring you to provide some basic information about your organization.

Box A - Start and end dates of the corresponding tax year

Box B - Purpose of the form (Address change, Name change, Initial return, Final return/terminated, Amended return or Application pending)

Box C - Name and address of the organization

Box D - Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Box E - Telephone number

Box F - Name and address of the principal officer

Box G - Gross receipts

Box H (a-c) - Check if it’s group return and enter the Group Exemption Number

Box I - Check the applicable section of your organization’s tax-exempt status (501(c)(3), 501(c)( ), 4947(a)(1) or 527)

Box J - Website

Box K - Form of the organization (Corporation, Trust, Association or Other)

Box L - Year of Formation

Box M - State of legal domicile

Part I - Summary:

This part requires you to summarize your organization’s financial information and is divided into 4 subparts.

Activities & Governance

Revenue

Expenses

Net Assets or Fund Balances

Activities & Governance (Lines 1 - 7)

Mention your organization’s primary mission or most significant activities.

After that, enter details about the number of voting members, volunteers, and employees who joined your organization in the corresponding calendar year.

Then, enter details about your organization’s unrelated business income.

Revenue (Lines 8 - 12)

Enter the values of revenue generated from various sources such as contributions and grants, program service, investment income, and others in the prior year and current year.

Add lines 8 through 11 and enter the Total revenue.

Expenses (Lines 13 - 19)

Report all the expenses incurred as grants, member benefits, employees’ compensation, fundraising, and others in the prior year and current year.

Add all the values and enter the total expenses.

Then, derive the Revenue Less Expenses by subtracting total expenses from total revenue.

Net Assets or Fund Balances (Lines 20 - 22):

Enter the values of Total Assets, Liabilities, and Net Assets or Fund Balances at the beginning and end of the year.

Part II - Signature Block:

In this part, your organization’s authorized personnel such as the president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer, or other corporate officers (such as a tax officer), can sign and acknowledge the form.

If the form is prepared by a paid preparer, their details can be provided in this part.

Part III - Statement of Program Service Accomplishments:

The activities conducted by the organization serving the organization's exempt purpose are called Program service accomplishments.

This part requires you to elaborate on your organization’s program service accomplishments during the
tax year.

Line 1 - 3:
Describe the primary mission (exempt purpose) of your organization.

Check “Yes” if your organization has conducted any new program services which weren’t reported in the prior year's return and if there are any changes made on how it conducts.
Lines 4a - 4e:
Provide details about any three of the largest program service accomplishments made by your organization during the corresponding tax year. If there are any other program services, provide details about them as well.

Enter the total expenses incurred on program services.

Note:

For each program service, Sections 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations must report the amount of grants, expenses, and revenue.

Part IV - Checklist of Required Schedules:

This part consists of a series of “Yes” or “No” questions. Based on the answers provided, you may be required to attach the applicable 990 Schedules.

Enter “Yes” for the below questions if you need the condition mentioned. Also, please make sure to attach the corresponding Schedules for the questions to which you have answered “Yes”.

Part V - Statements Regarding Other IRS Filings and Tax Compliance:

In this part, you must provide information regarding the other IRS filings that you may have completed or
will complete.

Lines 1 and 2:
Enter the numbers reported on the specified boxes or lines of Forms 1096, W-2G, and W-3 if applicable. If not, enter -0-.
Lines 3 - 7:
Enter “Yes” for the following questions,

If your organization’s unrelated business income is over $1000 and filed 990-T.

If your organization has an interest in financial accounts in any foreign country.

If your organization was a party to a prohibited tax shelter transaction and filed Form 8886-T.

If your organization’s annual gross receipts are greater than $100,000 and solicited any contributions that were not tax deductible as charitable contributions.
Lines 7 - 13:
These lines are applicable only to specific organizations:

Line 7 - Organizations that may receive deductible contributions under section 170(c)

Lines 8 and 9 - Sponsoring organizations maintaining donor-advised funds

Line 10 - Section 501(c)(7) organizations

Line 11 - Section 501(c)(12) organizations

Line 12 - Section 4947(a)(1) non-exempt charitable trusts

Line 13 - Section 501(c)(29) qualified nonprofit health insurance issuers
Lines 14 - 17:
Mention if your organization received any payments for indoor tanning services, and filed a
Form 720.

Provide details regarding section 4960 tax and excise taxes, and file Form 4720 if required.

Section 501(c)(21) organizations can mention if they engaged in any activities that result in an excise tax under sections 4951, 4952, or 4953.

Part VI - Statements Regarding Other IRS Filings and Tax Compliance:

This part contains 3 sections.

Section A. Governing Body and Management (Lines 1 - 9)
Provide the details of voting members, members or stockholders, and about governing
body members.

Also mention if there are any significant changes to your organization’s governing documents and if the meetings are documented.
Section B. Policies (Lines 10 - 16)
Mention if your organization has local chapters, branches, or affiliates, a written conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy, and document retention and destruction policy.

Also, mention If your organization has provided a complete copy of their 990 return to all members of your governing body before filing the form.
Section C. Disclosure (Lines 17 - 20)
List the states which require a copy of this Form 990 (even if the organization is yet to file Form 990 with that state).

Mention how you made your Form 1023 available for public inspection and provide details about the organization’s books and records.

Part VII - Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, Highest Compensated Employees, and Independent Contractors:

There are 2 sections in this part.

Section A. Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, and Highest Compensated Employees (Lines 1 - 5)
Provide details regarding the organization’s officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and highest compensated employees (both current and former).

Mention if you have listed any former employees and if any of the employees received compensation of more than $150,000 from any unrelated organization.

Note:

Answering “Yes” to any of these questions requires you to attach Form 990 Schedule J.
Section B. Independent Contractors
Enter the total number of independent contractors who received more than $100,000 and provide details about any five of the highest compensated contractors.

Part VIII - Statement of Revenue:

As the name suggests, this part requires you to provide completed details on revenue generated from all sources. It is split into 4 sections. For each section, you can report the following values (whichever
is applicable):

Total revenue

Related or exempt function revenue

Unrelated business revenue

Revenue excluded from tax under sections 512–514

Contributions, Gifts, Grants, and Other Similar Amounts (Lines 1a - 1h)
Enter the amount of revenue generated as contributions or grants from federated campaigns, membership dues, fundraising events, and government.
Program Service Revenue (Lines 2a - 2g)
Enter the revenue generated from the program services of your organization.
Other Revenue (Lines 3 - 10)
Enter the revenue generated from other sources such as investment income, investment of tax-exempt bond proceeds, gross rents, gross sales of assets and inventory, gaming, and fundraising activities.
Miscellaneous Revenue (Lines 11 and 12)
If your organization has generated revenue from any sources other than the ones mentioned above, you can report them here.

Part IX - Statement of Functional Expenses:

In this part, you must report all the expenses incurred for various functional purposes. It contains 4 columns:

Total expenses

Program service expenses

Management and general expenses

Fundraising expenses

Note:

Section 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations must complete all columns. All other organizations must complete column (A).

Lines 1 - 26:
Enter the values of program service expenses, management, and general expenses, fundraising expenses for the grants & other assistance, benefits paid to or for members, other employee benefits, payroll taxes, service fees, lobbying, travel, occupancy, interest, royalties, occupancy, advertising & promotion, and more.

Part X - Balance Sheet:

The balance sheet should reflect the value of assets, liabilities, and net assets or fund balances at the beginning (A) and the end of the tax year (B).

Assets (Lines 1 - 16):
Enter the values of different types of assets that your organization has in the form of cash, savings, investments, loans, land, buildings, and equipment.

Report the value of Total Assets by adding all the values.
Liabilities (Lines 17 - 26):
Report the payable accounts and grants, deferred revenue, tax-exempt bond liabilities, secured and unsecured mortgages, notes, and loans payable to unrelated third parties

Derive the value of Total Liabilities by adding all the values.
Net Assets or Fund Balances (Lines 27 - 33):
Report the values of net assets with and without donor restrictions, capital stock, retained earnings, endowment, accumulated income, and more.

Part XI - Reconciliation of Net Assets:

The IRS requires you to complete this part to ensure that the value of net assets reported on Form 990 matches the financial statements.

Lines 1 - 10:
Enter the total revenue, expenses, net assets, or fund balances at the beginning and end of the year, gains, investment expenses, and prior period adjustments.

Part XII - Financial Statements and Reporting:

This part requires you to report details regarding your organization’s accounting method and
financial statements.

Lines 1 - 3:
Mention the type of accounting method you used to prepare the form:

Cash

Accrual

Other

Mention whether your organization’s financial statements were compiled or reviewed and audited by an independent accountant.

Mention your organization’s requirement to undergo an audit or audits as set forth in the Single Audit Act and OMB Circular A-133.

Additional Filing Requirements for Form 990

The organizations filing Form 990 may also be required to report additional information by attaching
various Schedules.

There are 16 Schedules available for Form 990 to provide more information about the Organization. Failing to attach the required schedules may result in an incorrect filing, leading to IRS penalties.

Schedule A - Public Charity Status and Public Support

Schedule B - Schedule of Contributors

Schedule C - Political Campaign and Lobbying Activities

Schedule D - Supplemental Financial Statements

Schedule E - Schools

Schedule F - Statement of Activities Outside the United States

Schedule G - Supplemental Information

Schedule H - Hospitals

Schedule I - Grants and Other Assistance to Organizations, Governments, and Individuals in the U.S

Schedule J - Compensation Information

Schedule K - Supplemental Information on Tax-Exempt Bonds

Schedule L - Transactions with Interested Persons

Schedule M - Noncash Contributions

Schedule N - Liquidation, Termination, Dissolution, or Significant Disposition of Assets

Schedule O - Supplemental Information to Form 990

Schedule R - Related Organizations and Unrelated Partnerships

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Steps to File your Form 990:

Step 1

Add Organization Details

Just search for your EIN, and our system will automatically import your organization’s details from the IRS. You can also enter your details manually.

Step 2

Choose Tax Year

Tax 990 supports current and previous years’ filings. Choose the tax year for which you are filing, select the 990 Form, and continue.

Step 3

Enter Required Form Data

Enter all the information required to complete your Form 990.

Step 4

Review your Form Information

After providing all the required information, review your form, make any necessary changes,
and proceed.

Step 5

Transmit directly to the IRS

Once your form is reviewed and approved, you can transmit your Form 990 to the IRS.

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