Federal tax exemption for your nonprofit, on Form 1023-EZ or the full Form 1023. We prepare it, file it with the IRS and follow it until the answer arrives.
Which form do you need?
Your application
Receipts up to $50,000 a year
$299
The IRS decides in about 2 to 4 weeks.
It is the request that asks the IRS to recognize your nonprofit as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3). Once approved, the nonprofit pays no federal income tax and donations to it become tax deductible, which opens grants and public fundraising.
There are two forms. Form 1023-EZ is the short online form for smaller organizations, and the full Form 1023 describes your activities and finances in detail. Which one you file depends on what you expect to bring in each year. The IRS allows the 1023-EZ when gross receipts are expected to stay at or under $50,000 a year for the next three years and total assets are $250,000 or less, and a few organization types, such as churches, schools and hospitals, always file the full form.
Choose by what you expect to bring in each year. Form 1023-EZ is for receipts up to $50,000 a year and assets of $250,000 or less.
| What you get | Plus the $275 IRS fee | Plus the $600 IRS fee |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility confirmed first | Included | Included |
| Application prepared for you | Included | Included |
| Filed online with the IRS | Included | Included |
| IRS fee paid at cost | Included | Included |
| Articles and bylaws attached | Not included | Included |
| Narrative of activities written with you | Not included | Included |
| Budgets and financial data prepared | Not included | Included |
| Start your application |
Four points to plan for from the start.
The IRS expects a return in the Form 990 series every year. Three years missed in a row ends the exemption.
Your application and IRS letter must be shown to anyone who asks to see them.
Many states ask a charity to register before it raises money from their residents.
A 501(c)(3) may not campaign for or against a candidate, and its lobbying must stay limited.
Most of the work is ours. You share a few details and documents.
Start your applicationYour application
It depends on what you expect to bring in. Form 1023-EZ is for organizations whose gross receipts stay at or under $50,000 a year, in each of the past three years and the next three, with total assets of $250,000 or less. Churches, schools, hospitals, supporting organizations and a few other types file the full Form 1023 at any size. We confirm which one fits before anything is filed.
Yes. The IRS recognizes an organization that already exists, usually a nonprofit corporation formed in a state. Its articles must limit its purposes to exempt ones and dedicate its assets to another exempt purpose if it ever dissolves, and it needs an EIN. If you have not formed yet, we can form the nonprofit for you with that language built in.
The IRS sets its own pace, so any time is an estimate. Most Form 1023-EZ decisions come in about 2 to 4 weeks and most full Form 1023 decisions in about 3 to 6 months. We file within 10 business days of receiving your documents, or within 3 with Express.
Before it decides, the IRS may write to ask for more information, with a date to reply by, and the decision waits for your answer. We help you prepare the reply and send it back by that date. Attorney Signed lowers the chance of questions, as a licensed U.S. attorney checks the application before we file.
Yes. If you apply within 27 months after the end of the month you were formed, the exemption goes back to your formation date once approved, so gifts made in the meantime become tax deductible. Tell donors the application is pending, as some grant makers wait for the IRS letter.
Form 1023-EZ is $299 and the full Form 1023 is $899, each plus the IRS fee at cost, which is $275 for the 1023-EZ and $600 for the full form. Express adds $149 and Attorney Signed adds $249, each paid once.
A licensed U.S. attorney reviews your application and signs off before we file. The attorney checks your purpose and dissolution clauses, your bylaws, your conflict of interest policy and your narrative of activities, so the IRS has no reason to send questions back. One fixed price, no hourly bill.
There is no fixed deadline. Filed within 27 months after the end of the month you were formed, the exemption starts on your formation date. Filed later, it generally starts on the date you file.
The IRS sends a determination letter, which donors and grant makers ask to see. From then on the nonprofit files a return in the Form 990 series every year, and missing three years in a row ends the exemption. We can file that return for you each year.
What else your nonprofit needs, all in one dashboard.
When the nonprofit is not formed yet
A nonprofit corporation formed in any state, with the language the IRS requires in its articles.
EIN
Every 501(c)(3) application needs one. We get it for you, with or without an SSN.
Every year once you are exempt
Your yearly Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-N or 990-PF, prepared and filed with the IRS.
Guides written from real filings, for founders starting a nonprofit.
The right form, prepared and filed, with the IRS fee at cost.
