Form 990 Schedule A Filing Instructions
Public Charity Status & Public Support
Schedule A for Form 990/990-EZ - Public Charity Status and Public Support
- Updated December 22, 2023 - 2.00 PM - Admin, Tax990
Nonprofit organizations that file Form 990 or 990-EZ are required to include Schedule A to report information on public charity status and public support.
Here, you can find more details about Schedule A, its filing requirements, and more.
Table of Contents
What is the Purpose of Form 990 Schedule A?
Schedule A is used by nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations to provide necessary information regarding their Public Charity status and Public support.
Schedule A provides the IRS with the information required to identify the filing organization as a public charity and not as a private foundation.
Who must File Form 990 Schedule A?
As mentioned earlier, the organizations that file Form 990-EZ or 990 should attach Schedule A.
- Public charities described in section 501(c)(3)
- Organizations described in sections 501(e), 501(f), 501(j), 501(k), or 501(n)
- Nonexempt charitable trusts described in section 4947(a)(1) (Except private foundations)
What are the Accounting Methods used for calculating 990 Schedule A?
While filing Form 990 Schedule A with Form 990, 990-EZ, then the organization should use the same accounting method that is checked on the following lines:
- IRS Form 990 - Part XII, line 1
- IRS Form 990-EZ, line G.
In some cases the organization’s accounting method is changed from the prior year, the organization must provide an explanation in Schedule O.
How to Complete Schedule A for Form 990/990-EZ?
Schedule A has 6 parts in total. The requirements for completing some of these parts depend on your organization type.
Part I - Reason for Public Charity Status
- This part requires you to provide the reason why your organization is categorized as a public charity. The reason provided can be the same as described in the organization’s tax-exempt determination letter.
- It contains 12 checkboxes, and each of them describes a particular organization type. Each organization should check the applicable box to indicate its public charity status for the corresponding tax year.
- For example, if you are filing for a Hospital, you should check the box on line 3.
Note:
You are not required to complete both Part II and Part III. You must only complete the part that is applicable to your organization.
Part II - Support Schedule for Organizations Described in Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)
This part is only required for the organizations described under sections 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (or) organizations that failed to qualify under Part III.
Part II divided into 3 sections including:
A.
Public Support
B.
Total Support
C.
Computation of Public Support Percentage
A. Public Support:
Report the amount of support received from the public in the form of gifts, grants, contributions, and more during the tax years beginning within the 5-year period (2019 - 2023).
B. Total Support:
Report the total amount of support received by your organization (including public support) in the form of gross income from payments received on securities loans, rents, unrelated business activities, and other sources during the same period.
Note:
The organizations that are filing Form 990 for the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth tax year as a section 501(c)(3) organization should not complete the remaining section of Part II.
C. Computation of Public Support Percentage:
Derive and report the percentage of your organization’s public support for 2023 based on the information you reported in two previous sections.
Public Support Percentage
=
Public support
Total Support
Also, mention the public support percentage for 2023 as reported on the previous year’s Schedule A. Then, report your organization’s qualification as a publicly supported organization in one of the
following tests:
33 ⅓ % support test:
Your organization will be qualified as a publicly supported organization if the public support percentage for 2023 or 2022 is more than or equal to 33 ⅓.
10% - facts-and-circumstances test:
Your organization will be qualified as a publicly supported organization if the public support percentage for 2023 or 2022 is at least 10% under the facts and circumstances (Should provide an explanation in Part VI).
Note:
If your organization is described in Section 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) or 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) and is not qualified in any of these tests, it will be treated as a private foundation, and you should file Form 990-PF instead of Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Part III - Support Schedule for Organizations Described in Section 509(a)(2)
This part needs to be completed only by the organizations described in Section 509(a)(2) (or) the organizations that failed to qualify under Part II.
It is divided into 4 sections. They are:
A.
Public Support
B.
Total Support
C.
Computation of Public Support Percentage
D.
Computation of Investment Income Percentage
A. Public Support:
Report the amount of public support received by your organization as grants, contributions, gross receipts from admissions, and activities that are not an unrelated trade or business under section 513 and more over the 5-year period (2018 - 2022).
B. Total Support:
Report the total amount of financial support (including public support) received from various sources of income during the same period.
Note:
If you are filing Form 990 for the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth tax year as a section 501(c)(3) organization, you should not complete the remaining section of Part III.
C. Computation of Public Support Percentage:
Report the percentage of your organization’s public support for 2023 and mention the public support percentage reported on 2023 Schedule A.
D. Computation of Investment Income Percentage:
Calculate and report the percentage of investment income for 2023 and 2022. Following that, report your organization’s qualification as a publicly supported organization in the following test:
33 ⅓ % support test:
Your organization will be qualified if:
- The public support percentage for 2023 or 2022 is more than 33 ⅓ and
- The investment income percentage for 2023 or 2022 is less than 33 ⅓
Note:
If your organization is described in Section 509(a)(2) and is not qualified in this test, it will be treated as a private foundation, and you should e-file Form 990-PF instead of Form 990-EZ or 990.
Part IV - Supporting Organizations
This part needs to be completed only by the supporting organizations, as reported in part I.
Part IV consists of 5 sections. Section A is the only section that must be completed by all supporting organizations. You may be required to complete other sections depending on the type of the organization.
- All Supporting Organizations
- Type I Supporting Organizations
- Type II Supporting Organizations
- Type I Supporting Organizations
- Type I Supporting Organizations
Each section consists of a series of “Yes” or “No” questions regarding the organizations’ activities, business holdings, and other financial information.
Part V - Type III Non-Functionally Integrated 509(a)(3) Supporting Organizations
If your organization is a Type III support organization that is not functionally integrated, you should complete this part.
Part V allows organizations to report the ways in which it complies with the distribution requirements as a sponsoring organization. Organizations are required to make a minimum distribution to or for use by one or more sponsoring organizations.
It consists of 5 sections:
- Adjusted Net Income - Report your organization’s adjusted net income for the current and prior years.
- Minimum Asset Amount - Based on your organization’s average market value and fair market value of assets, derive and report the minimum asset amount for the current and prior years. prior years.
- Distributable Amount - Enter the distributable amount, which should be either 85% of the adjusted net income or the minimum asset amount for the prior tax year.
- Distributions - Report the total amount of distributions made for exempt purposes.
- Distribution Allocations - Report the distributable amount for 2023, including the excess distributions from the past 5 years, and determine the excess distribution carryover to 2023.
Part VI - Supplemental Information
In this part, you can provide any additional information regarding the questions you have answered in the previous parts. This part can be duplicated if you require more space.
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990 Form!
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