Form 990 due date calculator (with Form 8868 extension)

Most missed Form 990 deadlines happen because nobody knew the date, not because the return was hard. The rule is simple once you know it, but weekends and holidays move the real deadline more often than you might expect.

Choose the month your tax year ends and the year it ends in. The calculator shows the original due date and the extended due date with Form 8868, each moved to the next business day where needed.

How this calculator works

1. The base rule. Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF and 990-N are due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's tax year ends. The calculator assumes the year ends on the last day of the month you choose, then counts forward five months. A calendar year ending December 31 gives May 15; a June 30 year end gives November 15.

2. The extension. Form 8868, Application for Extension of Time To File an Exempt Organization Return, gives one automatic six-month extension for Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF if it is filed by the original due date. The calculator adds six months to the unadjusted original date, which lands on the 15th day of the 11th month after year end, then applies the weekend and holiday rule to that date separately.

3. Weekends and legal holidays. Under Internal Revenue Code section 7503, when the last day to file falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, a return filed on the next business day is on time. A business day is any day that isn't a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. Legal holidays here are the legal holidays in the District of Columbia. The calculator counts:

• The federal holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas
• District of Columbia Emancipation Day, April 16

When a holiday falls on a Saturday it is observed on the Friday before, and when it falls on a Sunday it is observed on the Monday after. The calculator uses the observed day. In practice, the holidays that most often move a 990 deadline are Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, Washington's Birthday in February and Emancipation Day in April.

4. The 990-N. The e-Postcard has no extension. Its deadline is the original due date only.

What it doesn't cover

• 52–53 week years. An organization whose year ends on a set weekday (for example, the last Saturday of June) has its own dates.
• Short-period and final returns. A return for a short year after a change of accounting period, or a final return after the organization liquidates, dissolves or terminates (due the 15th day of the 5th month after that event), isn't modeled. See changing your fiscal year and closing a nonprofit.
• Form 990-T for certain trusts. Exempt corporations file the 990-T on the same date as the 990, but IRAs and section 401(a) employees' trusts file by the 15th day of the 4th month. See Form 990-T.
• Disaster relief. The IRS sometimes postpones deadlines for organizations in federally declared disaster areas. Check irs.gov for current relief.
• State deadlines. State charity registration renewals follow their own calendars. See state charity filings.

Related guides

• Form 990 due dates and the Form 8868 extension explains the rules behind this calculator.
• Late-filing penalties shows what a missed date costs, and the late penalty calculator estimates it.
• Automatic revocation explains what happens after three missed years.
• We can file the extension for you: see Form 8868 extension filing.

990IRS.com is a private company, not the IRS. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice for your organization. Example organizations and figures are hypothetical.