Tool
When the 990 is due, and when a third miss revokes you
Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF are due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends. Form 8868 buys an automatic six months, if it is filed by the original due date. The 990-N shares the original date and cannot be extended at all.
Three consecutive years without a required return or notice revokes the exemption by operation of law, effective on the due date of the third missed return. The calculator shows both dates.
- Original due date
May 15, 2027
15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends. Moves to the next business day if it lands on a weekend or holiday.
- With Form 8868
November 15, 2027
Automatic six months, but only if Form 8868 is filed by the original due date. Not available for Form 990-N.
- Revocation if three consecutive years are missed
May 15, 2029
Effective on the due date of the third missed return. Assumes this fiscal year is the first of the three.
Dates are unadjusted for weekends and federal holidays, matching how the IRS records the effective date on the Auto-Revocation List.
Every fiscal year end, mapped
| Fiscal year ends | Original due date | With Form 8868 |
|---|---|---|
| January 31, 2026 | June 15, 2026 | December 15, 2026 |
| February 28, 2026 | July 15, 2026 | January 15, 2027 |
| March 31, 2026 | August 15, 2026 | February 15, 2027 |
| April 30, 2026 | September 15, 2026 | March 15, 2027 |
| May 31, 2026 | October 15, 2026 | April 15, 2027 |
| June 30, 2026 | November 15, 2026 | May 15, 2027 |
| July 31, 2026 | December 15, 2026 | June 15, 2027 |
| August 31, 2026 | January 15, 2027 | July 15, 2027 |
| September 30, 2026 | February 15, 2027 | August 15, 2027 |
| October 31, 2026 | March 15, 2027 | September 15, 2027 |
| November 30, 2026 | April 15, 2027 | October 15, 2027 |
| December 31, 2026 | May 15, 2027 | November 15, 2027 |
Which form, roughly
- 990-N if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. Electronic only, no extension, no late penalty, and the easiest filing to forget.
- 990-EZ if gross receipts are under $200,000 and total assets are under $500,000.
- 990 for everything larger, and 990-PF for private foundations regardless of size.
Thresholds and eligibility rules are the IRS's, not ours. Check the current instructions before relying on this summary.
The date is not the risk. The three-year stack is.
Missing one deadline produces a penalty or nothing at all. Missing three in a row produces a revocation that the IRS cannot undo and cannot be appealed. The organizations that hit it are rarely the ones with a controller; they are the ones where the filing moved to a volunteer and nobody wrote it down.
If you hold many EINs, the deadline is not the thing to track. The filing history is: which organizations have an open gap, and how many years deep it is.
Questions
Can Form 990-N be extended?
No. Form 8868 grants an automatic six-month extension for Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF, and it does not apply to the 990-N. The postcard is due on the same date as the full return, with no extension mechanism.
Is there a penalty for filing the 990-N late?
The IRS does not charge a late-filing penalty for the 990-N. That is exactly why it gets forgotten: there is no invoice to remind anyone, but the filing still counts toward the three consecutive years that trigger automatic revocation.
Does the 15th falling on a weekend change the revocation date?
For filing, the due date moves to the next business day. The Auto-Revocation List records the unadjusted due date because of a system limitation, so the date on the list can be one or two days earlier than the real deadline. Do not plan against the weekend.