Form 990-EZ: Schedules and Attachments
Schedules are a vital part of the Form 990-EZ. They allow the tax-exempt organization to go into further detail on sections of the form that would otherwise prove difficult in supporting its reason for being tax-exempt. In other words, schedules are the megaphone of the organization with regard to the 990-EZ. The IRS stresses that the 990 series isn’t simply a bunch of tax forms, it’s also a chance for the organization to “sell” itself to potential donors. Each schedule is designed to provide specific information on certain activities. The narrow scope of each one allows the organization to go into deeper detail instead of trying to paint a broad image in a limited space.
The applicable schedules for Form 990-EZ are as follows:
- A (Public Charity Status and Public Support)
- B (Schedule of Contributors)
- C (Political Campaign and Lobbying Activities)
- E (Schools)
- G (Supplemental Information Regarding Fundraising or Gaming Activities)
- L (Transactions with Interested Persons)
- N (Liquidation, Termination, Dissolution, or Significant Disposition of Assets)
- O (Supplemental Information to Form 990 or 990-EZ).
Attachments can be name change amendments to organizing documents, reasonable cause explanations for late-filed returns, and articles of merger or dissolution, resolutions, and plans of liquidation or merger.
Please keep in mind that schedules, just like the 990-EZ itself, are available to the general public. This means to be very careful about the information put on them. The IRS estimates that around 20% of organizations still place sensitive information, like the Social Security numbers of their principal officers, on these schedules. Doing so could prove disastrous for both your employees and your organization.
