As of February 2004, the IRS has started accepting nonprofit tax documents electronically. For more information, see the IRS's e-file for Charities & Nonprofits page.
At the state level, only Pennsylvania and Colorado currently allows electronic filing of the IRS Form 990. However, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) Web site on "Electronic Filing for Nonprofits," e-filing will soon be coming to 10 other states, including California, Washington, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Tennessee.
In order to e-file, nonprofits will need to use software with e-filing capability that has been approved for use by the state, federal or local government agency. Pennsylvania and Colorado currently use a freely available software program called Desktop 990. Desktop 990 will enable nonprofits to file Form 990, Form 990-EZ, Form 990 Schedules A & B, and Unified Registration System (URS) for state charity registration (in Pennsylvania and Colorado). Other state charity registration and annual reporting forms will be available in future versions. Whether or not a particular state or federal agency accepts e-filing, these forms can be printed out and mailed into the appropriate agency.
For more information on e-filing, including links to a downloadable copy of the Desktop 990 software, instructions for installation, and to request a Log-in ID and start the e-filing process, please see the NCCS site, "E-File Form 990."
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