Form 990 is public. One missed UBIT line and your gift shop revenue costs the org 21%. We keep the exemption clean, the donor receipts compliant, and the board out of liability.
The IRS revokes 50,000+ exemptions a year for failure to file 990s. Half of those orgs didn't know the 990-N postcard counted. We don't let that be you.
Form 990 due 5 months 15 days after fiscal year-end (May 15 calendar). Three automatic 6-month extensions available on Form 8868. Three consecutive missed years = automatic revocation of exempt status §6033(j). We file every cycle on time, all schedules attached.
IRC §6033; §6033(j); Form 990 instructionsGift shop, parking lot rentals, ad sales in your newsletter, debt-financed property income, all potentially UBI at 21% corporate rate on Form 990-T. Each unrelated trade is siloed since TCJA. We engineer activity inside vs. outside the exempt purpose and document the "substantially related" test.
IRC §511; §512(a)(6) silo rule; §514 debt-financedDonor needs a contemporaneous written acknowledgment for any gift $250+. Quid-pro-quo over $75 requires good-faith FMV estimate of benefit. Non-cash gifts $500+ trigger Form 8283; $5,000+ triggers qualified appraisal. We template all four classes so your donors actually get the deduction.
IRC §170(f)(8); §170(f)(11); Treas. Reg. §1.170A-13Excess benefit transactions to insiders trigger 25% excise tax on the insider and 10% on board members who approved it (up to 200% second-tier). We build the rebuttable-presumption process: independent comp study, board minutes, conflict-of-interest policy.
IRC §4958; Treas. Reg. §53.4958-6Public charity status requires passing the 33⅓% public support test over a 5-year rolling window. One big donor can tip you into private-foundation status, which means 1.39% net-investment-income excise tax, mandatory 5% payout, and self-dealing prohibitions. We monitor the running total quarterly.
IRC §509(a); §4940; §494240+ states require charitable solicitation registration before you can fundraise there. Online giving = nationwide solicitation. Renewal calendars vary state to state. We run the multi-state filing calendar so your "Donate" button isn't quietly illegal in 17 states.
Uniform Registration Statement; state AG charity bureaus$120K of gallery gift-shop and event-rental revenue was being lumped into exempt income. We re-segregated, claimed allowed COGS and direct expenses against UBI, and used the §512(b)(12) $1,000 specific deduction.
$11,400 UBIT eliminated · year onePlus public-support test rebuilt to keep 509(a)(2) status (was sliding toward private-foundation classification).
All required schedules: A, B, C, D, F, G, J, K, L, M, O, R. Public-inspection version separate from donor list.
Activity-by-activity UBI determination, §512(a)(6) silo computation, NOL tracking per silo.
$250+, quid-pro-quo, non-cash, vehicle (1098-C), appraisal coordination for $5K+.
Multi-state URS filings, annual renewals, exemption confirmations for new states.
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