Lost your tax-exempt status? Here's the way back

What happened, in plain words

Most tax-exempt groups have to file something with the IRS each year: a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, or the short online 990-N, the e-Postcard. Churches and a few church-related groups don't, so this rule doesn't apply to them. Miss that filing three years in a row and the law ends your federal tax exemption on its own. Nobody at the IRS decides it. It takes effect on the due date of the third missed filing.

Because it happens by law, the IRS can't undo it, and there's no appeal. The IRS mails a letter (a notice called CP-120A) to the last address it has for you and adds your name to a public list. If the IRS still has an old address, say a founder who moved away, that letter may never have reached you. Our post on how nonprofits lose tax-exempt status explains why small groups miss the filing so often.

First, check where you stand

Search your organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. If you're on the automatic revocation list, the result shows these dates. Write them down:

• The effective date of revocation. The day your status ended. If it falls on a weekend or holiday, the real date is the next business day.
• The date you were added to the list. Gifts made after this day aren't tax-deductible.
• A reinstatement date, if one shows. Then you're already back. The list keeps every name, even after a group is reinstated.

Now find your 15-month date. The clock starts on the later of two days: the date on your IRS letter, or the day your name went on the list. Count 15 months from there and put it on a calendar. It decides which ways back are open to you.

Wondering how common this is? Our study of the IRS list counts the nonprofits that lost their status in every state.

If you think the IRS got it wrong

Sometimes a group is listed by mistake. You don't need to apply again in these cases. Send the proof instead:

• You did file in one of the three years. Send the proof, such as an IRS receipt for a filed return, to the Exempt Organizations Account Unit by fax at 855-247-6123, or call Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500.
• The IRS told you in writing that you don't have to file. Send a copy of that letter with a written request to be taken off the list to IRS TEGE, P.O. Box 2508, Cincinnati, OH 45201, or fax it to 855-204-6184.
• You formed later than the IRS thinks. The IRS starts the clock from when you applied for your EIN. If you legally formed later, send a statement with your formation date, signed under this line: "Under penalties of perjury, to the best of my knowledge, the information in this form is correct and complete." Fax it to the Exempt Organizations Entity Unit at 855-214-7520.

If your proof holds up, the IRS takes your name off the list.

The four ways back

Every route starts the same way: a new application for exemption, filed online on Pay.gov with its fee, under the EIN you already have. The IRS lays out the routes in Revenue Procedure 2014-11. What changes from route to route is how far back your status reaches, and what you send with the application. Each one ends the same way when it's approved: a new determination letter, and your group back in Tax Exempt Organization Search at its next update.

1. Streamlined: back to the day you lost it

Who can use it: a group that could have filed the 990-N or the 990-EZ in each of the three missed years, that has never had its status automatically revoked before, and that applies within 15 months.

What you file: Form 1023-EZ or Form 1023 for a 501(c)(3), or Form 1024-A or 1024 for other kinds of groups. Tick the box for section 4 of Rev. Proc. 2014-11. On the 1023-EZ, you're also confirming that missing the filings wasn't intentional and that you now have a way to file on time.

Old returns: for any year you could have filed the e-Postcard, you file nothing for the past. For any year you needed a 990-EZ, mail a paper 990-EZ for that year, marked "Retroactive Reinstatement," to the IRS in Ogden, Utah, and the IRS won't charge a late-filing penalty for it.

2. Within 15 months, with a reason

Who uses it: groups that can't use the streamlined route, such as a group that had to file the full Form 990 or a 990-PF in any of the missed years, or a group that had its status automatically revoked before.

What you file: Form 1023 (not the EZ), 1024-A or 1024, within 15 months, with the box for section 5 ticked. Include a reasonable cause statement for at least one of the three missed years, and a statement that you've filed the missing returns.

Old returns: mail a paper return for each missed year that needed a 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF, plus any later year that was due and not filed, marked "Retroactive Reinstatement," to the IRS in Ogden, Utah. Years when the e-Postcard was enough need nothing. Mail these first, since your application says you've filed them.

3. After 15 months, with a reason for every year

The same as the route above, with one change: your reasonable cause statement has to cover all three missed years, not just one. Tick the box for section 6. If the IRS accepts it, your status still goes back to the day it was lost.

4. Starting fresh from the day you apply

Any group can use this one, at any time. File Form 1023-EZ, 1023, 1024-A or 1024 with the fee and tick the box for section 7. No reasons and no old returns. The catch is the gap: your status starts on the date you apply, so you aren't exempt for the months in between.

Which form, and what it costs

• Form 1023-EZ, $275. The short form for a 501(c)(3). You can use it only for the streamlined route or the fresh start, and only if you pass the eligibility worksheet in its instructions. Among other things, that means gross receipts of $50,000 or less in each of the last three years and expected in each of the next three, and assets of $250,000 or less.
• Form 1023, $600. The full 501(c)(3) application. Required for the two routes that need a reasonable cause statement.
• Form 1024-A, $600. For a 501(c)(4) social welfare group. Even if you never applied before, you apply now to be reinstated.
• Form 1024, $600. For any other kind of 501(c) group, such as a 501(c)(6) or a 501(c)(7).

The fees come from the IRS's 2026 user fee schedule, and you pay them on Pay.gov when you file. Use your old EIN. You don't need a new one. Not sure which 501(c)(3) form fits? See Form 1023 vs. 1023-EZ.

Writing a reasonable cause statement

If your route needs one, this is the part that matters most. The IRS wants to see that you used "ordinary business care and prudence" and still missed the filings. Tell the whole story, plainly:

• Why you missed the filings. The facts, year by year.
• How you found out. The letter, a funder's question, a board member's search.
• What you've done since. The steps you took to fix it, and the safeguards that keep it from happening again.

Rev. Proc. 2014-11 lists what helps your case, with no single one required: you relied in good faith on wrong written information from the IRS; something outside your control made filing impossible; you acted quickly once you knew and put safeguards in place; and you have a history of filing on time. An officer, director or trustee signs the statement under penalties of perjury, using the wording in section 8 of the revenue procedure. If you're on this route, it's worth having a CPA or tax lawyer read your statement before you send it.

How long it takes

On 9 October 2026, the IRS's processing page said it decides 80% of Form 1023-EZ applications within 22 days, or within 120 days when one needs a closer look. For Form 1023 it was 80% within 191 days, for Form 1024 within 210 days, and for Form 1024-A within 229 days. The same page said it was reviewing Form 1023-EZ applications sent before 24 February 2026 and Form 1023 applications sent by 12 January 2026, and later ones were not yet assigned, so plan on a wait of months, not weeks. The IRS doesn't speed up reinstatement applications on its own. You can ask for faster handling on a 1023, 1024 or 1024-A if you meet its usual criteria, but never on a 1023-EZ. Check the IRS's current times before you plan around them, and look yourself up in Tax Exempt Organization Search too: an approval can show there before the letter arrives.

What happens while you wait

• Gifts. Gifts made before your name appeared on the list stay deductible. Gifts made after it aren't, unless your status is later restored for that time. Once you're reinstated, donors can rely on your new determination letter from the date it says, which for a retroactive route is the day you lost your status. Tell donors and funders plainly where things stand. Some funders can only give to exempt groups, so they may have to pause.
• Federal income tax. Without the exemption, the IRS says you may need to file a corporate or trust income tax return (Form 1120 or Form 1041) and pay any tax due. If you're later reinstated for that period, send the IRS a letter asking it to remove the tax or penalty, with a copy of your new determination letter. If you already paid, file an amended return to ask for a refund.
• Your yearly filings. If you're small enough for the e-Postcard, you don't file it again until your reinstatement is approved. Everyone else files a 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF for each year that ends while the application is pending, with the "application pending" box ticked. See Form 990 deadline for the dates.
• Your state. The IRS doesn't speak for the states, and it says some states may end property, sales or other tax exemptions when the federal one ends, or ask you to report the change. In Texas, for example, the Comptroller says a state exemption that rests on your federal one ends automatically with it, and only an exempt group can buy tax-free with an exemption certificate. Ask your state's tax office and its charity regulator what applies to you, and how to restore it once you're reinstated. Our guide to charity registration by state covers many states, and NASCO's list has every state's charity office.

A calm step-by-step

1. Find the letter and your EIN

   Look for the IRS notice, CP-120A. Check the stack of mail nobody wanted to open. If you can't find it, your EIN is on old bank papers, past filings or your original IRS letter.

2. Look yourself up

   Search Tax Exempt Organization Search. Write down the revocation date and the date you were listed, then mark your 15-month date on a calendar.

3. Rule out a mistake

   If you did file one of those years, or the IRS told you in writing you didn't have to, send the proof instead of applying.

4. Work out your size in each missed year

   Pull the bank statements or books for those three years. Gross receipts normally $50,000 or less meant the e-Postcard, except for private foundations, which always file the 990-PF, and supporting organizations, which can't use the e-Postcard. Not sure? See which Form 990 you file.

5. Pick your route and your form

   Small, first time and within 15 months: the streamlined route, often on the 1023-EZ. Anyone else: Form 1023 (or 1024-A or 1024) with a reasonable cause statement, or a fresh start from the day you apply.

6. Gather your papers

   Your articles of incorporation, your bylaws, recent financials, and the board's sign-off to apply. Set up a Pay.gov account.

7. Mail old returns, then file and pay

   If your route needs paper returns, mail them to Ogden first. Then submit the form on Pay.gov with the fee, and tick the box for your route.

8. Tell the people who count on you

   Your board, your donors, your funders, and your state's tax and charity offices. A short, honest note now saves a harder conversation later.

9. Keep filing while you wait

   Put every yearly due date on a calendar with one named owner, so this never happens twice.

Make sure it doesn't happen again

Once you're reinstated, the three-year clock starts over from the year your application is approved. Miss three years again and you lose your status again, and this time the streamlined route is closed to you. The fix is simple and it lasts: know your form and your due date, give the filing one owner, and set a reminder a month ahead.

Then the filing is one small job on one person's calendar, and your group gets back to the work that matters.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Each fact was checked against the IRS or state source on 9 October 2026. Fees, forms and processing times change, so check the current page before you file, and ask a CPA or tax lawyer how it applies to your organization.

Where Ember fits

Keep the 990 on someone's calendar

Ember's Compliance app builds your filing calendar from a few answers about your organization, including your 990. The person who owns a filing gets an email 30 days before it's due, a week before, and on the day. It's free if your budget is under $50K a year.

Sources: IRS: Automatic revocation, how to have your tax-exempt status reinstated (updated 6 Jul 2026), IRS: Revenue Procedure 2014-11, IRS: Automatic revocation of exemption (28 Jun 2026), IRS: Automatic revocation FAQs, consequences of revocation, IRS: Automatic revocation FAQs, applying for reinstatement, IRS: Automatic revocation FAQs, the basics, IRS: Automatic revocation FAQs, erroneously listed, IRS: Revenue Procedure 2026-5, Appendix A (user fees), IRS: Form 1023 and 1023-EZ user fee (9 Oct 2026), IRS: Instructions for Form 1023-EZ (30 Apr 2026), IRS: About Form 1024-A (5 Aug 2026), IRS: About Form 1024 (19 Jul 2026), IRS: Where's my application for tax-exempt status?, IRS: Tax Exempt Organization Search, Texas Comptroller: Exempt organizations FAQs, NASCO: State charity offices. All read 9 October 2026.