To do an IRS 990 lookup, start with the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search at irs.gov, which hosts electronically filed Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, and 990-T returns the agency received in 2017 or later.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4506-A, Request for Copy of Exempt or Political Organization IRS Form For older filings or a cleaner interface, use a third-party database like ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer or Candid (formerly GuideStar). Every 990 is a public document by law, so if a nonprofit is registered with the IRS, its recent return should be findable in one of these places.
Start With the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, known as TEOS, is the official source. You can search by the organization’s legal name, Employer Identification Number (EIN), or location, and pull up its filing history, current exempt status, and IRS determination letter.2Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Returns download as PDFs.
The 2017 cutoff exists for a reason. The Taxpayer First Act, signed in July 2019, made electronic filing mandatory for nearly all 990-series returns: Forms 990 and 990-PF for tax years ending July 31, 2020, or later, and Form 990-EZ for tax years ending July 31, 2021, or later.3Internal Revenue Service. E-File for Charities and Nonprofits Before that, many nonprofits filed on paper, and those returns were never digitized. So if the organization you’re researching is small or you need something from before 2017, TEOS may come up empty even when the return was filed on time.
Third-Party Databases Fill In the History
Two independent platforms receive the same raw data from the IRS and present it more usefully than the government portal: ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer and Candid, which absorbed GuideStar. Both carry historical returns going back many years, often further than TEOS.
What they add is organization. Rather than making you scroll through a 30-page PDF, they pull the numbers out for you: revenue trends over time, the share of expenses going to programs versus overhead, executive pay, and board makeup. That turns side-by-side comparisons between charities into something you can do in minutes.
Build in a delay. There’s a gap between when a return is filed and when it appears on any of these platforms, including TEOS itself. ProPublica syncs to the IRS’s annual release of the tax-exempt organization financial data extract, so the newest returns can lag by months. Combined with the six-month extensions many nonprofits routinely take, it’s normal for the most recent 990 available online to describe a fiscal year that ended 18 months ago. That’s a processing lag, not a sign the organization missed a filing.
What You Can Actually Learn From a 990
Once you have the return, the useful information sits in a handful of sections.
Part I gives you the top-line snapshot: total revenue, total expenses, and net assets for the year. Parts VIII through X drill down. Part VIII breaks revenue out by source, Part IX itemizes expenses by function (program services, management, fundraising), and Part X is a balance sheet.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (2025)
Part III describes the programs the organization actually ran during the year, and the IRS asks for measurable results: clients served, events held, publications issued.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (2025) Vague answers with no numbers are worth noticing.
Part VII lists officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and the five highest-compensated non-officer employees earning more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Key employees with reportable compensation above $150,000 are also listed, up to 20.5Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Form 990, Part VII and Schedule J: Whose Compensation Must Be Reported in Part VII, Form 990 This is where you see what executives are paid.
For donors, Schedule G is often the most revealing section. It shows what outside fundraisers grossed, what they were paid, and what the charity kept after their cut. Column (iv) is gross receipts from each fundraiser, column (v) is the fees the fundraiser was paid, and column (vi) is the net to the organization.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule G (Form 990) A charity that keeps ninety cents on the dollar reads very differently from one that keeps thirty.
Part VI covers governance: conflict-of-interest, document retention, and whistleblower policies. It won’t tell you whether those policies are followed, only whether they exist.
What You Won’t See: Donor Names
Schedule B lists major contributors, but for most organizations the names and addresses are redacted from the public copy. You’ll see the dollar amounts, not who gave them. Two categories of filer must disclose donor identities: private foundations, and political organizations under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.7Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications: Contributors’ Identities Not Subject to Disclosure Everyone else keeps that information private.
Why a 990 Might Not Turn Up
A blank search isn’t automatically a red flag. Several legitimate explanations account for a missing return.
The Organization Files a Shorter Form
Nonprofits with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less can file Form 990-N, the electronic “e-Postcard,” which contains almost no financial detail.8Internal Revenue Service. Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations – Form 990-N (e-Postcard) Mid-sized organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 can file the shorter Form 990-EZ.9Internal Revenue Service. Form 990 Series Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File Filing Phase In TEOS will still show these; you’ll just find less on them.
The Organization Doesn’t Have To File
Some tax-exempt organizations file no annual return at all. Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, conventions or associations of churches, and the exclusively religious activities of religious orders are exempt from the filing requirement. So are certain small religious, educational, and charitable organizations with gross receipts normally $5,000 or less, and government corporations wholly owned by the United States.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6033 – Returns by Exempt Organizations If you’re looking for a church’s 990, you won’t find one.
The Organization Lost Its Exempt Status
This is the case where a missing return really matters. If a nonprofit fails to file any required annual return for three consecutive years, the IRS automatically revokes its exempt status. No warning, no hearing. Revocation takes effect on the original due date of the third missed return.11Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption The IRS publishes a searchable list of revoked organizations and updates it monthly. If you can’t find recent filings anywhere, that list is the next thing to check.
Requesting a Return You Can’t Find Online
For returns the IRS received before 2017, or for anything else missing from the online databases, you have two routes.
You can file Form 4506-A to request a copy directly from the IRS. The form can be completed and submitted electronically using Adobe Acrobat Reader.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4506-A, Request for Copy of Exempt or Political Organization IRS Form Processing times aren’t published, so plan on a wait.
You can also ask the organization directly. Federal law under 26 U.S.C. § 6104 requires every tax-exempt organization to make its three most recent annual returns and its original exemption application (Form 1023 or Form 1024) available for public inspection.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts Walk into the office during business hours and ask, and they must hand you a copy the same day, with a narrow exception that extends the deadline by up to five business days when circumstances genuinely prevent same-day fulfillment.13eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6104(d)-1 – Public Inspection and Distribution of Applications for Tax Exemption and Annual Information Returns of Tax-Exempt Organizations Written requests must be answered within 30 days. An organization can skip the on-demand copy requirement only by posting the return online in a form that exactly reproduces what was filed; a link to its Candid or ProPublica page will often satisfy this.
If a nonprofit refuses to comply, you can report it to the IRS on Form 13909, the Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form. You can email it to eoclass@irs.gov or mail it to the TEGE Referrals Group in Dallas.14Internal Revenue Service. IRS Complaint Process – Tax-Exempt Organizations Include your name and address to get an acknowledgment; your identity stays confidential. The IRS also suggests sending a copy to your state charity regulator, since many states run their own oversight programs.