I thank you for all the info I am gonna get with our pres. and tell her about this site and hopefully we can search all this together and we most likely be back with more questions
thanks again
Now that I think of it, we really do need clarification on WHAT tax forms. If you are already a 501(c)(3), your annual informational return may be due (called a 990 or 990EZ). Once again - many of us fill that out ourselves. It just takes someone detailed oriented.
You are probably talking about filing the application to become a 501(c)(3)recognized non-profit at the federal (i.e., IRS) level.
That process requires some attention to detail and paying a filing fee. (Either $500 or $150 depending on what you qualify for.) So I'm guessing the professional is proposing to charge you $300 on top of the filing costs.
If you have a volunteer who doesn't mind digging in and spending a few hours on this, you can do it yourselves. Membership in NPN (see link on the left sidebar menu) will get you access to some good step-by-step reference material for this process as well as other benefits.
There's also been a lot of discussion and past help with this process here in the Forum. If you do a search using the term "501", you'll get several hits. A few years ago, I posted the way we filled out the form line by line. Others have also posted information and tips. If you get stuck, you can always post a question.
Note - there is also the process of becoming exempt at the state level from sales tax. But this is generally much simpler, just looking up the rules in your state and filing a simple form or letter. Often states require you be a 501(c)(3) organization before you file for state exemption.
Caution - if you plan to incorporate (which is an excellent idea), you need to do that FIRST, before these other steps.
Our PTO needs to fill out the tax forms and they talked about paying someone $300 to fill them out is there an easy way to fill these papers out without paying an outsider please help :confused: :confused:
