Lost Your Tax-Exempt Status? How to Get It Back After Missing Three e-Postcards
Reviewed · First published · 6 min read
It usually happens quietly. A PTA, booster club or Little League changes treasurers, the new treasurer doesn't know about the e-Postcard, and three years go by. Then a letter from the IRS arrives, or a donor's company asks why your organization no longer shows up as tax-exempt.
If your group missed three Form 990-N e-Postcards in a row, its federal tax-exempt status was revoked automatically. The good news for small groups is that the IRS has a streamlined way back that was written for organizations like yours. Apply in time and your exemption is restored back to the date it was revoked, as if it had never lapsed.
This guide walks through what happened, how to confirm it, and what to do this month.
What happened, in IRS terms
The rule is in the tax code (section 6033(j)) and the IRS states it plainly: an organization that does not file a required Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-N for three consecutive years loses its tax-exempt status automatically. The revocation is effective on the original filing due date of the third missing return.
For example, a calendar-year group that filed nothing for 2021, 2022 and 2023 lost its exemption on May 15, 2024, the due date of its 2023 e-Postcard. There is no hearing, and the law gives no appeal, and filing the missing e-Postcards afterwards does not undo it.
There is no penalty for a late 990-N, which is part of why this catches people out. The IRS says it may send a reminder notice, but the first real consequence of not filing is losing the exemption.
Step 1: Confirm the revocation
You will usually know from one of two places:
- The letter. The IRS mails a revocation letter, numbered CP-120A, to the last address it has. If your mailing address was a past treasurer's home, the letter may never have reached you.
- The public list. The IRS publishes every automatically revoked organization, with its EIN and the revocation date, and updates the list monthly. Search your EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and look for an automatic revocation entry.
Write down two dates: the date on the CP-120A letter, if you have it, and the date your organization was added to the revocation list. Your deadline for the streamlined process runs from the later of the two.
Step 2: Understand what changed
Until you are reinstated, the IRS treats your group as a taxable organization:
- Donations are not tax-deductible. The IRS says a revoked organization is not eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. Gifts made before your name appeared on the revocation list stay deductible for the donor.
- Income tax returns may be due. The IRS says a revoked organization may have to file Form 1120 (corporations) or Form 1041 (trusts) for the period it is not exempt.
- Anyone who checks IRS records sees it. The revocation shows in Tax Exempt Organization Search until you are reinstated.
If you are reinstated retroactively, the gap disappears: your exemption runs back to the revocation date. That is why the deadline in step 3 matters.
Step 3: Check whether you qualify for streamlined reinstatement
Revenue Procedure 2014-11 sets out four ways to apply for reinstatement. The streamlined one is the simplest, and a group that only ever needed to file e-Postcards usually fits it. You qualify if:
- Your organization was eligible to file Form 990-N or 990-EZ for each of the three years that caused the revocation. If your gross receipts were normally $50,000 or less, you were 990-N eligible.
- Your organization has never been automatically revoked before.
- You apply within 15 months of the later of the CP-120A date or the date you appeared on the revocation list.
If you qualify, the IRS says your exemption is reinstated retroactively to the date of revocation. You do not need a reasonable cause statement explaining why the returns were missed.
If you miss the 15-month window, retroactive reinstatement is still possible, but you must show reasonable cause for all three missed years. Otherwise reinstatement starts only from the date you apply. Our overview of all four reinstatement options covers those routes.
Step 4: Apply
Streamlined reinstatement is a new exemption application, filed with the IRS user fee:
- Form 1023 or the shorter Form 1023-EZ for a 501(c)(3) charity. Form 1023-EZ has an eligibility worksheet in its instructions; if you don't qualify for it, use Form 1023.
- Form 1024-A for a 501(c)(4) organization, or Form 1024 for other types of exempt organizations.
On the application you tell the IRS you are applying under the streamlined process. On Form 1023 that is Schedule E, Section 4; on Form 1023-EZ, Part V; on Forms 1024 and 1024-A, Part VI. The IRS lists the current amounts on its user fee page.
What about the missing e-Postcards? The IRS says that for any year in which you were eligible to file Form 990-N, you do not need to file that prior-year 990-N (or a 990-EZ in its place) to avoid penalties. Groups that were 990-EZ filers in any of the three years file paper 990-EZs for those years, marked "Retroactive Reinstatement", as the IRS page describes.
Step 5: If you were part of a group exemption
Many PTAs, booster clubs, scout units and leagues are covered by a group exemption held by a state or national organization. A group exemption does not file your e-Postcard for you, so a subordinate can still be revoked for not filing.
If that's your situation, contact your central organization (your state PTA, council or national office) before you apply. The IRS keeps a separate FAQ for revoked subordinates of a group exemption, including how a subordinate gets back on its parent's roster.
Step 6: Don't let it happen twice
Reinstatement restarts the count. The IRS says an organization can be revoked again if it misses three consecutive years beginning with the year the IRS approves the reinstatement. A group that is revoked a second time cannot use the streamlined process again.
A few habits keep a volunteer group filed:
- Put the due date where the next treasurer will see it. The e-Postcard is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after your year ends: November 15 for a July–June school year, May 15 for a calendar year.
- Update the IRS mailing address whenever officers change, so letters reach someone.
- File as soon as the books close. You can't file a 990-N until your tax year has ended, but you can file the day after.
- Hand over the logins for your filing account with the bank signature card.
Before revocation: one or two missed years
If you are reading this because you missed one or two years and haven't been revoked yet, file the missing e-Postcards now. That stops the three-year count, and there is no IRS penalty for filing a 990-N late.
The IRS website only takes the latest year's e-Postcard. The IRS says earlier years have to go through an approved e-file provider. 990.tax is one: as of October 2026 it e-files Form 990-N and Form 990-EZ for tax years 2023 and 2024. See how to file a past-due 990-N.
File this year's e-Postcard with 990.tax
Once you are reinstated, or if you are just catching up, 990.tax files your Form 990-N online: you answer the eight IRS questions, sign online, and the IRS acceptance appears in your account. There is one price per filing and no subscription (pricing). California groups can add FTB Form 199 to the same filing.
990.tax does not prepare reinstatement applications. If your situation is more complicated, for example if you were a 990 filer in one of the three years, or it has been more than 15 months, talk to a tax professional.
This post is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Sources
- IRS: Automatic revocation of exemption
- IRS: Automatic revocation - how to have your tax-exempt status reinstated
- IRS: Revenue Procedure 2014-11
- IRS: Form 990-N FAQs - When to file
- IRS: Annual electronic filing requirement for small exempt organizations (Form 990-N)
- IRS: Automatic revocation FAQs - group exemption subordinates
- IRS: Tax Exempt Organization Search
- IRS: User fees for Tax Exempt and Government Entities
