FEDERAL & CALIFORNIA TAX & INFORMATION FORMS
FEDERAL & CALIFORNIA TAX & INFORMATION FORMS FOR NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS [E.G. OPTIMIST CLUBS] Revised: November 5, 2014 TO: CALSO Club Treasurers or Secretary-Treasurers FR: Dave Dickson, Optimist Club of Allied Gardens RE: Federal & State Government Reporting Requirements & Documents Your Club Secretary Needs to Keep On Hand NOTE: If you have questions, please email me at dickson789@netzero.net and I will research your question and get back to you within 72 hours unless I am on vacation. GOV'T ENTITY GROSS INCOME END OF YEAR ASSETS OCT 1 - SEP 30 ON SEPTEMBER 30TH GOV'T FORM FEE? LAST FILING Comments DATE CA SOS NA NA SI-100 NONE ASAP CA SOS NA NA SI-100 $20 Varies REQ'D IF ANY CHANGE IN OFFICERS BI-ANNUAL REQ'D FILING* IRS LESS THAN $50,000 NA IRS 990N NONE 15-Feb "POSTCARD" ONLINE FILING IRS MORE THAN $50,000 NA 990EZ OR 990 NONE 15-Feb USE THE 990EZ IF POSSIBLE FTB LESS THAN $50,000 NA 199N NONE 15-Feb "POSTCARD" ONLINE FILING FTB MORE THAN $50,000 NA 199 $10 15-Feb $25 FEE IF FILED LATE CA ATTY GEN. LESS THAN $25,000 LESS THAN $25,000 RRF-1 NONE 15-Feb POSSIBLE ONLINE FILING IF WORKING CA ATTY GEN. MORE THAN 25,000 NA RRF-1 $25 OR MORE 15-Feb INCLUDE IRS 990EZ OR IRS 990 CA ATTY GEN. NA MORE THAN $25,000 RRF-1 $25 OR MORE 15-Feb INCLUDE IRS 990EZ OR IRS 990 CT-NRP-1 $20 CA ATTY GEN DUE 60+ DAYS BEFORE RAFFLE *SECY OF STATE WILL SEND A POSTCARD TO THE LAST KNOW MAILING ADDRESS APPROXIMATELY 45 DAYS BEFORE BIANNUAL DUE DATE October 1or soon thereafter: California Secretary of State If your club is incorporated, the one page Form SI-100 needs to be filed with the California Secretary of State soon after you have a change in officers and/or when you make a change in the “Agent for Service of Process.” If you keep your address current with the California Secretary of State (with the SI-100 filing), then about 45 days before the biannually filing is due the Secretary of State will send you a reminder postcard with instructions for online renewal. The purpose of the form is to notify the California Secretary of State of the list of the new officers of the Corporation and the name and address of the person in California who is the designated “Agent for Service of Process.” The form can be filled in on the web site of the Secretary of State [it is a PDF fill-in form], signed and mailed to the Secretary of State. If you want a certified copy, you can send a check for $1.00 and the Secretary of State will send a copy to you for your files marked “Filed” with the date of filing. There is no charge for amendments to the SI-100 form. You can make as many amendments as you need to keep the information up to date. NOTE: Be sure to put the California Corporate number on the form Box #2 for easy identification and be sure to list the corporate name exactly as listed in the Articles of Incorporation. This is a required form if you change any of your officers or your Agent for Service of Process [e.g. after your new officers take office on October 1 st]. The website for the fill-in PDF SI-100 form is: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/corp/pdf/so/corp_so100.pdf [If your browser will not automatically open when you click on the links, hold the Control <Ctrl> button down on your computer [lower left corner of your keyboard] and click your right mouse on the web link. If that does not work, then copy and paste the site into your browser.] If you keep your SI-100 form up to date, then biannually you will receive a postcard about 45 days before the required filing which will include instructions from the Secretary of State on how to file your biannual SI-100 statement [on your Club’s Corporate Filing Anniversary Date]. You can complete the biannual form online and mail the signed form along with a check for $20 OR you can file online and pay the $20 fee with a credit card. Estimated time to complete the above: Less than 20 Minutes GETTING READY TO FILE: Once you have balanced your Checkbook(s) with the September 30th Bank Statement(s), then you are ready for your income/asset filings. You will need your total income for the Optimist Year (Oct 1 – Sep 30) and the End of Year Total Assets (as of Sep 30th). I say “total” because most Clubs have both a General (Operating) and a Youth & Community Service Checking Account to keep their funds separate. Combine the amounts into one number for filing purposes, i.e. Total Annual Income and a separate number for Total end of year Assets. Now on to the annual filings: February 15 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IRS Form 990 and IRS 990EZ is due if the Corporation has gross receipts of more than $50,000. NOTE: See the IRS Form 990 Instructions if the Corporation has been in business less than 3 years. If you have less than $50,000 in gross receipts (this includes ALL revenue sources), the 990-N “Online Postcard Form” is all that you need to file with the IRS. If your gross income is more than $50,000, many non profits can use the IRS Form 990EZ which is shorter and easier (pun intended) to complete so don’t do the regular long IRS Form 990 unless you have to! Read the Form Instructions. IRS: Form 990 & IRS Form 990EZ – www.irs.gov – go to the side menu ‘forms & publications’, and then search for 990 or 990EZ to pull up the blank form. OR IRS: Form 990N (Postcard Form). If gross receipts are less than $50,000, you can file e-postcard which only asks for gross receipts and a few other questions. The IRS website for the “Postcard Form” is: http://epostcard.form990.org/ Your Club is a subordinate organization [e.g. an Optimist Club chartered by OI] so be sure to use your own employer identification number (EIN). Do NOT use the EIN of your parent organization [i.e. Optimist International] or another subordinate organization. AGAIN: Use your Club’s EIN, not Optimist International’s EIN. Use your Club’s legal name (as filed with the California Secretary of State as the DBA name on subsequent pages) because the IRS gets very upset if the name on the tax return does not match the EIN. When you file the 990N [“postcard”] on line, the IRS will send you an email about 30 minutes after you press the “Submit” button informing you that your submission has been accepted (or not). Print this email as a receipt of your filing. Time required to complete this form if you gross income is less than $50,000: Probably less than 20 minutes. February 15 California Franchise Tax Board: Click on forms tab and then the prior year to get the appropriate FTB 199 form IF you need to file this form (i.e. Gross Receipts are more than $50,000) for tax years 2012 and later. Here are the instructions for form 199 (both the 199N and the regular 199). https://www.ftb.ca.gov/businesses/Exempt_organizations/Filing_Requir ements_Form_199.shtml https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2012/12_199.pdf Be sure you are filing the form for the correct year! The above [2012] form is for the year Oct 2012 thru Sept 2013. If your gross receipts are less than $50,000, then you can use the 199N “postcard” form. Here is the link to filing this “postcard” form. https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/199N_ePostcard/index.asp?WT.mc_id=B usiness_Online_199N HINT: Do not use anything throughout the form except letters and numbers. (i.e. no - _ , . * $ etc). Otherwise you will get an error message and you will have to go back and remove the offending punctuation. Print the form when you are finished for your receipt. February 15 CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL Form RRF-1 needs to be filed with the Attorney General of California. For small organizations (Gross income and end of year assets less than $25,000), this is a one page information form relating the activities of the organization with a few checkboxes. The form can be filled in and submitted on the web site of the Attorney General. [Not currently working as of November 1, 2014]. This is a required annual form EXCEPT a few Clubs who are exempt from this filing (because they have received a waiver from the Attorney General). If you want to make sure that past RRF-1 forms have been filed and to check on the status of your Optimist Club (or any other non-profit [non-religious] organization) ,you can go to the following site on the CA Attorney General’s Website and insert a few pieces of information to get the Charities’ Status with the Attorney General’s Office. http://rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/Search.aspx?facility=Y Attorney General for California Forms Website http://ag.ca.gov/charities/forms.php If you have NOT previously registered with the CA Attorney General’s Office, click on the CT-1 form instructions first and print them out. Complete the form online [it is a PDF fill-in] form, print, sign and mail it in to the Office of the California Attorney General. Once your Club is registered (or re-registered if your FTB Registration was revoked), complete the RRF-1 form. If your Club’s gross income AND/OR YEAR END ASSETS is $25,000 or more, then you have include a check for the appropriate filing fee amount and mail in the RRF-1 form plus include a copy of the IRS form 990 [or 990-EZ]. Question: The IRS doesn’t require a Form IRS 990 or 990EZ if your gross income is less than $50,000. Why does the Attorney General of the State of California make you complete and file an IRS Form 990 when you don’t have to for the IRS. Answer: This is California. Read the instructions that go with the RRF-1. Enough said. Time required to complete this form if you gross income and/or assets are less than $25,000: Probably less than 20 minutes. Time to complete the above if your income or yearend assets are more than $25,000 – probably an hour or two because you have to complete the RRF-1 Form AND the IRS 990 or IRS 990EZ. Good luck. Remember, you only have to complete these forms once a year unless you change officers and/or addresses during the Optimist Year in which case you will have to re-file [no fee due] the SI-100 with the CA Secretary of State with the updated information. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL - PROFESSIONAL FUNDRASING ORGANIZATIONS AND/OR RAFFLES PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION: If you hire a professional fundraiser, you need to register with the California Attorney General’s office before your solicitation begins. CLUB RAFFLES (E.G. 50-50 RAFFLES, OPPORTUNITY DRAWINGS, ETC). Raffle Application Form: If you plan to have a Club Raffle, then you need to file Form CT-NRP-1 application form with the California Secretary of State at least 60 days in advance of the event and pay the $20 application fee in order to have a raffle. The total costs of the raffle must be less than 10% of the money raised, i.e. if your gross sales are $1,000 you need to show a profit of $900+. Obviously a 50-50 raffle would not qualify since your profit is only 50% of the gross proceeds. Annual Report Form: You also will need to file an annual financial report of the results of all of your approved raffles with the California Attorney General in September which will cover the period September 1 – August 31. Mark your calendar for mid-September of each year to file the CT-NRP-2 annual reporting form. All the information you will ever need on California raffles can be found at the California Attorney General’s website at: http://oag.ca.gov/charities/raffles Regarding Raffles: In my opinion the best way to run a raffle is to get the prizes (goods or services – e.g. 50% off on a restaurant meal or a permanent wave) donated. That way your only expenses are for the raffle tickets and the $20 Attorney General’s Raffle application fee (which you can pay for out of your General Account if you wish). That way you should have no problem meeting the 90+% profit margin to run a legal raffle. The California Attorney General is cracking down on raffles and he/she has the right to close down your corporation if you are in violation of the law! Time to complete the CT-NRP-1: About 10 minutes. Time to complete the CT-NRP-2 before September 30th: About 10 minutes %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% DOCUMENTS: The Secretary of the Club should have the following documents [photocopies are ok] available. I suggest you scan them into your computer for future reference: 1) Articles of Incorporation and any amendments as filed with the California Secretary of State. These documents should be passed on from Secretary to Secretary each year. If you don’t have all of the documents, you can order the documents for your Club from the Secretary of State at the following website: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/pdf/be_ircform.pdf Just order Plain Copies at $1.00 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional page. The total cost should be less than $20 (and Probably less than $10). NOTE: If you were one of the Clubs who moved from a 501(c)4 corporation to a 501(c)3 corporation as requested by OI in 2007 and you are not absolutely sure that you have file and amendment to your Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State to change back to a 2) 3) 4) 5) 501(c)4 corporation, you should order a copy of your documents from the Secretary of State. IMPORTANT: If you are still registered as a 501(c)3 corporation because of this 2007 change, you need to change back to a 501(c)4 corporation immediately! Copy of your Club’s Bylaws. You can go to the www.optimistleaders.org website and print a copy of your bylaws directly from your Club’s page. Copy of your Rules & Regulations: If you have formal Rules and Regulations (i.e. printed out), then you should have a copy in your files. Some Clubs do not have formal Rules & Regulations: A Copy of the IRS Tax Exempt Letter: When you ask a business for a donation of goods or services, you may be asked for a IRS Tax Exempt Letter. As a subsidiary of Optimist International, you can use the OI Blanket Tax Exempt Letter which can be found at: http://www.optimist.org/Documents/taxexemptletter.pdf You should have a photo copies of this letter with you at all times because you might need to provide it in exchange for a check from a donor. A Copy of the California Franchise Tax Board Exempt Letter: When you ask a business for a donation of goods or services, you may be asked for the California FTB Tax Exempt Letter. The letter may be included in the documents at the California Attorney General’s website at the bottom of the page for your Club’s listing. The website is: http://rct.doj.ca.gov/MyLicenseVerification/Search.aspx?facility=Y OR, if you order a copy of your Corporate Articles of Incorporation from the CA Secretary of State [see above] the FTB letter MAY be included with the documents they send you. Otherwise, I guess you will have to contact the Franchise Tax Board for a copy. Good Luck!
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