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Free guide for Texas nonprofits · checked 12 October 2026
Texas nonprofits: file your 990-N and keep your tax-exempt status
Updated October 2026
If your group takes in $50,000 a year or less, staying tax-exempt comes down to one free online form a year. Here's the rule behind it, how to see where you stand, and how to file it, one step at a time.
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If your group usually takes in $50,000 a year or less, the IRS asks for one short online form each year: the Form 990-N, also called the e-Postcard. It's free and filed at IRS.gov, and it's due by the 15th day of the fifth month after your year ends (May 15 if your year ends December 31). Miss it three years in a row and your group loses its federal tax-exempt status automatically. Behind? File your most recent year now. There's no penalty for filing late, and one filing breaks a run of missed years before it reaches three.
What is the three-year rule?
Most tax-exempt groups have to file something with the IRS every year. If a group doesn't file for three years in a row, a federal law, section 6033(j) of the tax code, ends its tax-exempt status on its own. Nobody at the IRS decides it, and it takes effect on the original due date of the third missed filing, the IRS says on its automatic revocation page.
Churches and some church-related groups don't have to file, so the rule doesn't touch them. For everyone else, the fix is easy while there's still time: any one filing in the three years stops the count. The IRS puts it plainly in its 990-N questions and answers: "It is critical that you file within the three-year period."
Already lost your status? It can be won back. Our guide to getting tax-exempt status reinstated walks through the four ways, and what happens when a nonprofit loses its status covers the meantime.
Does our group file the 990-N?
You can file the e-Postcard if your gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less, according to the IRS Form 990-N page. "Normally" means a three-year average for a group that's been around a while, and a newer group gets its own test on the same page. A few kinds of groups file a different form whatever their size:
- Private foundations file Form 990-PF.
- Most supporting organizations (the 509(a)(3) kind) file Form 990 or 990-EZ.
- Bigger groups, with gross receipts normally over $50,000, file Form 990-EZ or Form 990.
The IRS lists every exception on its who must file page. Not sure which one is yours? Our guide to which Form 990 you file sorts it out in a few questions.
How do we check where we stand?
Two free ways:
- Our tax-exempt status check. Type your group's name and pick Texas, or enter your EIN. It reads the IRS's own public lists and shows whether your status was revoked, the last annual return on record, and what to do next. What you type never leaves your browser.
- The IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search. Search your name or EIN. It shows the e-Postcards you've filed and whether your group is on the automatic revocation list, which the IRS updates monthly.
Just filed? Give it time. The IRS says to allow up to four weeks for a new filing to show up in its search.
When is the 990-N due?
By the 15th day of the fifth month after your tax year ends. If that day falls on a weekend or a legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. You can't file until your year is over. For the most common year ends:
| Your tax year ends | Your e-Postcard is due |
|---|---|
| December 31 | May 15 |
| March 31 | August 15 |
| June 30 | November 15 |
| September 30 | February 15 |
Our Form 990 deadline guide has every other year end and the dates for the bigger forms.
How do we file the 990-N, step by step?
Gather what you'll need
Your EIN, your tax year, your group's legal name and mailing address (and any other name you go by), the name and address of a principal officer such as the president or treasurer, your website if you have one, and the answer to one question: were your gross receipts $50,000 or less? If your group has closed, you'll say so on the form too.
Sit down at a computer
The IRS asks you not to file on a phone or tablet. Use a laptop or desktop, and close any other browser windows first, since the IRS says they can cause errors.
Sign in to the IRS
Open the IRS Form 990-N page and click "Submit Form 990-N (e-Postcard)". You'll sign in with a Login.gov or ID.me account. No account yet? Setting one up means proving who you are, so give yourself extra time. If you already have an IRS account, use the same email address.
Add your group
The first time, choose "Manage e-Postcard Profile", pick "Exempt Organization" as your user type, enter your EIN and click "Add EIN". Then click "Create New Filing" and choose your EIN.
Fill in two short pages
"Organization Details", then "Contact Information". The question mark beside each line explains it. Type only letters, numbers and hyphens (no periods or slashes), and enter a website as www.yoursite.org. Click "Submit Filing" when you're done, or "Save Filing" to finish later. There's no fee and nothing to mail.
Print the confirmation
The confirmation page shows your filing as "Pending". Click Print before you leave, because the IRS says you can't print it once you've left the page.
Check that it was accepted
The IRS doesn't send a confirmation email. On the "Manage Form 990-N Submission" page, wait about seven minutes, refresh, and click "Get Updated Status". It should change to "Accepted". If it says "Rejected", click the submission ID to see why.
The steps follow the IRS's own user guide, Publication 5248, and the 990-N page. The IRS updates its screens from time to time, so a button may read a little differently.
If the system can't find your EIN, the IRS may not have your group set up to file. An officer can call IRS Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500, and the IRS says to allow six weeks for its records to update after that call (IRS how-to-file questions).
What if we've missed more than one year?
File the most recent year first, on IRS.gov, the free way above. The IRS site only takes the latest year that has ended. Older years can still be filed through one of the IRS-approved e-file providers, and some of them charge a fee. There's no late penalty for the e-Postcard, so a late one is much better than none.
What matters most is that a third year in a row doesn't go by without a filing. If your records show two missed years, filing now is the step that counts.
What does losing federal status mean in Texas?
A 501(c)(3) in Texas can be exempt from state franchise tax and sales tax, and it gets that exemption by sending the Comptroller its IRS letter (the Comptroller's 501(c) exemption page). If the federal exemption is lost, the Comptroller says the state exemption based on it ends automatically, and it asks you to tell its office in writing straight away if your group no longer qualifies (exempt organization questions). So one missed online form can reach your state taxes too, which is one more reason to file the free one now.
Curious how often it happens here? Our study of Texas nonprofits that lost their status counts how many lose it each year, from the IRS's own list.
How do we make sure it never happens again?
Give the e-Postcard one owner, write the due date where the next treasurer will find it, and set a reminder a month ahead. When the job changes hands, pass on the EIN and the sign-in along with the checkbook. That's the whole system, and it keeps the filing one small job on one person's calendar instead of a surprise three years later.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Each fact was checked against the IRS or Texas Comptroller page on 12 October 2026. Rules and sign-in steps change, so check the IRS page before you file.
Where Ember fitsKeep 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: Form 990-N (e-Postcard), annual filing requirement (updated 9 Oct 2026), IRS: Form 990-N FAQs, when to file (28 Jun 2026), IRS: Form 990-N FAQs, how to file (6 Jul 2026), IRS: Form 990-N FAQs, after you file (9 Oct 2026), IRS: Form 990-N FAQs, who must file (28 Jun 2026), IRS: Automatic revocation of exemption (28 Jun 2026), IRS: Publication 5248, Form 990-N electronic filing system user guide (Rev. 8-2023), IRS: Tax Exempt Organization Search, Texas Comptroller: 501(c)(3), (4), (8), (10) or (19) exemptions, Texas Comptroller: Exempt organizations FAQs. All read 12 October 2026.