501c3 Filings Confuse Even Established Nonprofits

“I use Fidelity Charitable and haven't had problems or complaints. My church and the other NFPs we support get a check unless they sign up for eft deposits. IME, many NFPs don't understand not to send a tax receipt to me. I politely educate where I see a way to give gentle feedback. I also love it for anonymous giving sometimes, especially for the orgs that send a ton of mail I don't want. [re: Is it hard to use your DAF? We are planning on setting one up this year!]”

“Hi Reddit! I’m on the board of my local PTA and we’d like to legally add a dba so we don’t have to go by the lengthy name as tied to our state PTA. We are NOT currently incorporated. Yes, we should be, but that’s another topic entirely. Anyway, I can’t seem to figure out how to add a dba without being incorporated. I’m in NJ and the online portal as well as paper form ask for the organization status and business entity ID, but there’s no option for an unincorporated non profit association with n”

“Most consumer sw (TT, H&R Block, FreeTaxUSA) doesn't support 5471. Fastest route today: do 1040 + 8938 + 8949 in TT/HRB, print it, fill 5471 + Sch O on the IRS fillable PDF, attach, paper file. Postmark today, cert mail w/ receipt. 5471 dormant: pg 1 only + Sch O, write "Filed pursuant to Rev Proc 92 70 for Dormant Foreign Corporations" at top. 8949: still report the sale even if gain is ~0, just show proceeds/basis. Also FBAR (FinCEN 114) is due today too if accts were >$10”

“No, the IRS is simply sending instructions to the bank/union. If they don't match, the amount is sent back. Then, the IRS may send a letter to have you update information or, after a long time, send a check. They are not going to look around for any other accounts with the same taxpayer ID# on them. But, your narrative is confusing. How do you owe and still get a "return"? (aka "refund") [re: Navy federal account holders please help]”

“Why are you doing that outside TurboTax? [re: Form 8949 question: Mailing form into IRS]”

“No. [re: Do I need a new ein when going from a multi member llc to a single member llc?]”

“Usually it's one of a few things. The online EIN tool only runs during set weekday hours (roughly 7am to 10pm Eastern), so outside that window it just errors out. It also allows one EIN per responsible party per day, so if an earlier attempt actually went through, a retry can fail. If the error mentions a name or SSN mismatch, enter your name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card. The session also times out after about 15 minutes of inactivity, so have everything ready before yo”

“rent isnt 1099 reportable so its not like some accountant needs your EIN for that. shes almost certainly in a rental assistance pipeline, county or state program or one of the church ones, and those all want the landlord W9 before they cut the check to you. some want the lease too. so you may have just parked the one payment thats actually coming from somewhere behind your own question, and for what. your EIN is on your LLC registration paperwork in half the states, and she already has your name”

“Only if you get audited. Same as with the charitable deduction. [re: Will proof be required for the $1,000 charitable contribution deduction for 2026?]”

“You are always supposed to have receipts to support your claims on your return, both income and deductions. The organizations you donate to should provide you with a receipt with the amount, dates, and with their EIN and status. [re: Will proof be required for the $1,000 charitable contribution deduction for 2026?]”

“If you donate to a non profit or a church they'll issue you a receipt for your taxes. [re: Will proof be required for the $1,000 charitable contribution deduction for 2026?]”

“Yes you always need receipts for your deductions. You’re going to attach it to your return but you need to have it in case the IRS asks for it. [re: Will proof be required for the $1,000 charitable contribution deduction for 2026?]”

“You always need receipts in case the IRS asks. [re: Will proof be required for the $1,000 charitable contribution deduction for 2026?]”

“The controlled group rules are going to be the biggest hurdle here. Even if you open a separate consulting business, the IRS may still consider your other businesses when determining whether you qualify for a solo 401k. I’d also be careful about moving income from the existing business into the new one. All in all, I would definitely discuss everything with a CPA before setting up anything. [re: Opening a new business for solo 401k]”

“Hi! Recently got an internship from an acquaintance. It's for accounting. He told me it will be 1099 and paid. After some discussion and research I've done myself, he switched it to a temporary W2, but now is asking for unpaid. He switches bc he said that he wanted to hire a bookkeeper with experience, but will let me learn on the side. I'm still undecided on that. On another hand, he offered me a sales and marketing position. On the email, he said it will be a paid w2. After I give”

“That's what I was wondering. The friend may be trying to claim the payment as a business expense. Or the friend just uses the business account for personal expenses. That's allowed, as long as the expenses aren't reported as business expenses.”

“A year of that with TT will help your resume, for sure. I would definitely look into volunteering with the VITA program. Call 211, say you want to volunteer with the income tax preparation program for senior citizens, and they can direct you the nearest one. :)”

“I've used IRS TDS a zillion times but this is the first time I'm seeing this. For a certain taxpayer I couldn't get account transcripts for a couple years due to "NAP Check failed." But I could get other years, and I could also get wage and income transcripts for the same years than the account transcripts failed. Any idea what this is about? I tried it several times. submitted by /u/MJather [link] [comments]”

“Thank you! The nonprofit hasn’t dealt with this before. I’ll look into SPEs.”

“If an entity is making a grant it will not be tax deductible for them if the check is not made out to a 501c3 or in-process 501c3 entity. So if they're not a nonprofit the grantor will not get their wish. Its not a big deal to set up a small nonprofit.”

“These people have to decide if they plan to operate as a business or a non-profit. It is unclear to me since I don't have enough information of this organization which type of entity makes the most sense. Are they ever planning on making an income from this entity? Are their intentions to do charitable work only? Even as a 501(c)(3) entity, individuals involved can still take a paycheck as a director, program manager or other employee. Your friends needs to meet his partners and decide what”

“I do some work for a nonprofit that serves clients that are immigrants, low-income, undocumented, etc. All the challenges. The egregious s**t I see is both endless and unbelievably bold. Some of the storefront preparers are just grossly incompetent, and some are criminals. The clients show up at our VITA site with the letters from IRS and/or the Franchise Tax Board. Most have gone back to the preparers, but the preparers cannot or will not help them. Could you imagine making a mistake on a clien”

Ok thank you!

“Not necessarily. Review carefully, starting from slide 4 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/Interaction_of_Scholarships_and_Tax_Credits.pdf”

Thanks! Appreciate your response!

“We had a large capital project that was completed in our fiscal year I am currently preparing for an audit. I have a multiyear pledge committed for that project, is recorded as restricted revenue and when we have the expenses I release from restriction. My question is, I have one more year we will be receiving of this pledge but the project is already completed. We did use a large amount of reserves to cover expenses. Can I release a restriction before receiving the actual $? Do I need to ask th”

It's a question for your lawyer, not your accountant.

“In before this gets locked. First you can't really do this via DAF to the best of my knowledge except if you find a 501(c)3 that does this and put it in the notes field and hope they follow it. As for a private foundation it's possible but the paperwork for compliance could exceed the value and you may be better off just doing it out of pocket unless you do it frequently or for a lot of donations. One area where I think it's possible (for a foundation) w/o a bunch of paper work might”

“I am an executive for a nonprofit run by high school students. The previous executives, who ran the club for the last two years and have since graduated, did not file Form 990-N for the tax years 2023 and 2024. I am filing for the tax year 2025, and Form 990-N is due by October 15 since our tax year ends on May 30. Do I also need to file Form 990-N for 2023 and 2024, or is one filing enough to stop us from losing nonprofit status? submitted by /u/ohnomyusernameiscuto [link] [co”

“You can’t really eat the taxes… the best you can do is “gross up” the taxes for your employees but it’s gonna impact their gross taxable income; if each suit is roughly $2k, it’s gonna cost you the 30k + cost of taxes… if they are attorneys, the extra $2k or whatever probably isn’t that big of a deal. Now, I think it’s absolutely wonderful that you are looking to pay for suits for your employees. May I recommend before you move forward, that you slow down just a bit and get together a small grou”

“I host an annual fundraiser that raises money for a charity bike ride. In prior years I have accepted donations for entry and raffle tickets and then held it to donate when the bike ride has match days and to double the donation via my employer match. Because of this structure, my donors have not been able to get receipts for their often quite generous donations. Is it ethical and or smart to create a new non profit to use for this annual event? I am approaching $100,000 funds raised for the par”

“Hi, we're a small California 501(c)3, in need of a recommendation for an accountant to do our 990EZ and CA state filings, before Nov. 15.​ Remote preferred. We want someone who's comfortable filing for nonprofits. TIA. submitted by /u/okletstryit26 [link] [comments]”

“Yep, they all also only have physical copies of everything and dont know how scanners work. Its easier for me just to have the PO box open.”

Thank u so much, will read it and come back with questions

“Is there any advantages of using this vs like a normal PO box. Im a bit old school, if I can go to the post office in person and sign up for a physical one id rather do that”

“Did you read the instructions? Everything you need to know is right there on the form. The worksheet for calculating allowances in in the middle of the first page. The instructions for "exempt" are on page 2. You almost certainly will not be itemizing deductions. You probably won't have any adjustments to income. And you already said you don't have any other income. So the result of the allowances worksheet is almost certainly zero. In any case, the point of allowances is to re”

“Sort of. The base is the same- follow the schedule C, and adapt as needed. Obviously a non profit is going to have vastly different needs compared to a pizza shop”

Thank you, bad on me for not thoroughly reading before responding.

“How does the new limit of 1% of AGI on the deductibility of charitable deduction on Schedule A work? Is it in total, per donee or a deduction of amounts in excess? The last time I looked at it I came away convinced it was per donee.”

“Have you spoken to any other musician who has been the recipient of this kind of arrangement, or a CPA specializing in performing arts? Very frequently the item is given to a non-profit (tax deductible) which then loans it to the musician with full paperwork and good lord don't forget the insurance. I'm pretty sure there are Stradivarii wandering the world under this arrangement. Please don't re-invent the wheel, do as much research as you can.”

“I ask because a charity is donating a vehicle to itself. I wonder if the IRS prohibits this. The owner on the pink slip is the charity organization. This also is in CA. submitted by /u/blue2lips [link] [comments]”

“Yes I’ve done a lot of reading up on what counts as qualified and what does. With the information I have read, I am 100% certain that our tips fall under the category of qualified.”

“ah yes thanks, I worded #3 imprecisely! And indeed, if there are more complex questions about educational expenses, taxable scholarship income, etc. for purposes of the AOC or if things are potentially on the bubble about whether the student provided more than half their own support or not, or whether the parents have straightforwardly maxed out educational expenses for the AOC or not with payment by cash or student loan, that kind of student-parent info-sharing would be helpful to get clarity.”

“This is more of a venting session. I’m attempting to open a bank account for my son’s school’s volunteer group (PTO) to raise funds and cover event expenses. I’ve already created the EIN, by laws, meeting minutes, but I made an error in printing the correct form. Consequently, I’m currently stuck in a limbo situation because the EIN hasn’t been populated by the IRS yet, preventing me from accessing the website. On the other hand, the IRS is not responding to phone. 😕 submitted by /u”

“the 1099 is the income that is taxable. You have to match that number on schedule 1. If the FMV is lower, that would then be a negative adjustment on schedule 1 as well. Depending on the difference it may not be worth the audit risk”

“I work for a non-for-profit and we have a scholarship fund that goes to cover the cost of one of the areas for our business. Money is donated and recorded under that scholarship income account. I just learn that our accountant was making an end of year journal entry to move funds from our income account to that expense account. So, lets call the income account 1500 and the expense account 4000. The accountant debit account 1500 and credited account 4000, simultaneously reducing income and expens”

“I agree though as someone who had a career while uncredentialed, the reason i didn't get one was because i had too much work and didn't want more. Now that i left tax i am getting it because i have the capacity and it definitely ads credibility.”

“The $40k number may or may not be right, but I definitely wouldn’t treat a QuickBooks estimate like it’s a tax bill and just send the money without having someone actually model this. You really need somebody to look at how the LLC is taxed, how the Kickstarter funds should be recognized, what you’ve already spent and what you expect to spend developing the game this year. That’s especially important for a videogame because the tax treatment of domestic software development expenses changed pret”

“Good Morning, could someone let me know the process of filing this form? Do I submit it online with the new evidence or do I have to submit online and do something else with the new evidence? We were denied but recently found some new evidence to support our case; our options are refilling for a new card or reopening; was weighing options and figured it’s best to just reopen as one thing was missing. submitted by /u/Horse-Peepee [link] [comments]”

“Are accounts who will work with a small non-profit all terrible, or have we just had bad luck? Or maybe we haven't been looking / choosing in the right way.... Any advice on how to find a good accountant who will be responsive to our messages would be extremely helpful. I know there must be more lucrative clients out there than a small non-profit, but still... there have to be some people or firms out there who will still do quality work! For context, I'm looking for a help for a 501c3 n”

“The issue I am having though is if i hire someone its likely going to cost me more than if I just had to pay the NCDOR, so that is where I am at. I can prove 90% of everything that they are requesting. After this is resolved I am literally closing the business as with my health I can no longer do it. I was ironically going to close the LLC this month and then i got this in the mail yesterday. My question is am i better off just paying them for the 10% i cant prove if they make me since the busin”

“Cant you opt out of that? Not that id ever recommend that.”

“I'm fully in agreement and this will be the approach I will be implementing in this situation. Thank you, you've done a great job breaking this down and I greatly appreciate your response!”

“Missing the Wyoming annual report is fixable and cheap if you move now; it is not fixable cheaply if you wait for the state to dissolve the entity. Wyoming's report is due on the first day of your anniversary month, with a $60 minimum license tax (as of 2026-09-01), and having no income does not change that; the tax is on in-state assets, not revenue. File the overdue report on the Wyoming Secretary of State site today and pay the $60 plus whatever late amount the portal shows. Then set a re”

“Honestly I don’t know. I’m trying to help someone else and we’re looking at these bits and pieces of information and it’s just very confusing.”

“This was asked 6 years ago, but I wondered if there is any new software or online sites. We are a small non-profit; last year we filed online via IRS, but now we are having problems. In talking with IRS, they are saying we have to use a preferred provider (?). When I googled one of the providers, it had very low trustworthy numbers. I know this is not always indicative of the site, but I wanted to see if anyone had personal experience with a site or software so I can efile. submitted by &#”

I just received this email from them, and I wasn't clear on what it meant.

“Not sure what to do with this information or if I can post this here.. the non profit sports organization I am affiliated with is showing that its charitable organization status has been revoked citing past due. The entity status letter shows they are not in good standing with the franchise tax board. I’m seeing form 990 was last filed roughly 5 years ago. Nothing since. There was no board turnover. It was the same treasurer throughout this period of time. It still says on their website that spo”

“Here’s some guidance on classifying it as advertising vs charitable contributions. It’s unlikely that your contribution is an advertising expense https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2017/oct/charitable-contributions-businesses/ For the expense to be classified as an advertising expense, the business needs to substantiate that it received something in return (a direct benefit), so the cost can be classified as an “ordinary and necessary business expense.” If the business just has its name and lo”