Georgia nonprofits get last chance to save tax-exempt status

By Shelia M. Poole

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thousands of small nonprofits in Georgia are at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they have failed to file tax returns for the past three years.

It's not too late, however.

The IRS is offering a one-time special filing relief program for 8,260 small nonprofits in the state. They have until Oct. 15 to file returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

"We want people to get back into full compliance with the Internal Revenue Service," said Mark Green, a spokesman for the Atlanta office. "If you lose your tax-exempt status you have to reapply and that can be a time-consuming process. "

These small nonprofits generally have gross receipts of $25,000 or less.

Tax-exempt organizations, with the exception of churches and church-related groups, have to file annual returns, Green said.

Small nonprofits required to file Form 990-N can go to the IRS Web site, fill out the form and electronically file it by the deadline. Tax-exempt organizations filing Form 990-EZ must file their delinquent returns by Oct. 15 and pay a compliance fee. Additional details are available on the IRS Web site.

Organizations that have not submitted the required returns by Oct. 15 will have their tax-exempt status revoked. The IRS will publish a list of those revoked nonprofits in early 2011.

Some nonprofits contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution were unaware they were behind.

Sylvia Webb, president and founder of 40 Girls and Some Shoes, a Smyrna-based nonprofit that provides shoes to the needy, said she had already filed her 2007  returns. She said she thought she had filed in 2008, though there isn't a record of it, and an illness prevented her filing last year.

Once notified by the AJC, she said she talked with the IRS and filed the 2009 return Wednesday. "Now he said I'm OK but I have to be consistent every year. I try so hard to keep on top of things. I just didn't know," she said.

Organizations that lose their exemption will have to reapply. Any income received between the revocation date and renewed exemption might be taxable, according to the IRS.