Tax-Exempt Organization Reference Chart

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Tax-Exempt Organization Reference Chart

Derived from "IRS Publication 557: Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization (1997)"

Note: This table may not include every type of organization that qualifies for some form of federal tax-exemption. It should not be considered legal advice or otherwise used to determine matters of law, and is provided for educational purposes only. Please use official IRS materials to insure your information is completely up-to-date and accurate.

Section of 1986 Tax Code Description of organization General nature of activities Application Form Annual return required to be filed Contributions allowable

501(c)(1) Corporations Organized Under Act of Congress (including Federal Credit Unions) Instrumentalities of the United States No Form None Yes, if made for exclusively public purposes

501(c)(2) Title Holding Corporation For Exempt Organization Holding title to property of an exempt organization 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(3) Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations Activities of nature implied by description of class of organization 1023 990 ¹, 990EZ ⁸, or 990-PF Yes, generally

All 501(c)(3) organizations are further categorized as one of five types under IRC 509(a):

Sub-class Section Description

Private foundations
All 501(c)(3) organizations that don't qualify as public charities. Some private foundations are additionally subclassified as private operating foundations or private non-operating foundations, which receive some of the advantages of public charities.

Public charities
509(a)(1) Publicly-supported charities.

509(a)(2) Exempt purpose activity-supported charities.

509(a)(3) Supporting organizations for 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2) charities.

509(a)(4) Public safety charities.

501(c)(4) Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees Promotion of community welfare; charitable, educational or recreational 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No, generally ²^,³

501(c)(5) Labor, Agricultural, and Horticultural Organizations Educational or instructive, the purpose being to improve conditions of work, and to improve products and efficiency 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(6) Business Leagues, Chambers of Commerce, Real Estate Boards, Etc. Improvement of business conditions of one or more lines of business 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(7) Social and Recreation Clubs Pleasure, recreation, social activities 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(8) Fraternal Beneficiary Societies and Associations Lodge providing for payment of life, sickness, accident, or other benefits to members 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes, if for certain Sec. 501(c)(3) purposes

501(c)(9) Voluntary Employees� Beneficiary Associations Providing for payment of life, sickness, accident or other benefits to members 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(10) Domestic Fraternal Societies and Associations Lodge devoting its net earnings to charitable, fraternal, and other specified purposes. No life, sickness, or accident benefits to members 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes, if for certain Sec. 501(c)(3) purposes

501(c)(11) Teachers� Retirement Fund Associations Teachers� association for payment of retirement benefits No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(12) Benevolent Life Insurance Associations, Mutual Ditch or Irrigation Companies, Mutual or Cooperative Telephone Companies, Etc. Activities of a mutually beneficial nature similar to those implied by the description of class of organization 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(13) Cemetery Companies Burials and incidental activities 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes, generally

501(c)(14) State Chartered Credit Unions, Mutual Reserve Funds Loans to members No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(15) Mutual Insurance Companies or Associations Providing insurance to members substantially at cost 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(16) Cooperative Organizations to Finance Crop Operations Financing crop operations in conjunction with activities of a marketing or purchasing association No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(17) Supplemental Unemployment Benefit Trusts Provides for payment of supplemental unemployment compensation benefits 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(18) Employee Funded Pension Trust (created before June 25, 1959) Payment of benefits under a pension plan funded by employees No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No²

501(c)(19) Post or Organization of Past or Present Members of the Armed Forces Activities implied by nature of organization 1024 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No, generally⁷

501(c)(20) Group Legal Services Plan Organizations n/a n/a n/a n/a

501(c)(21) Black Lung Benefit Trusts Funded by coal mine operators to satisfy their liability for disability or death due to black lung diseases No Form⁶ 990-BL No⁴

501(c)(22) Withdrawal Liability Payment Fund To provide funds to meet the liability of employers withdrawing from a multi-employer pension fund No Form⁶ 990 or 990EZ ⁸ No⁵

501(c)(23) Veterans Organization (created before 1880) To provide insurance and other benefits to veterans No Form⁶ 990 or 990EZ ⁸ No, generally⁷

501(c)(25) Title Holding Corporations or Trusts with Multiple Parents Holding title and paying income from property to 35 or fewer parents or beneficiaries 1024 990 or 990EZ No

501(c)(26) State-Sponsored Organization Providing Health Coverage for High-Risk Individuals Provides health care coverage to high-risk
individuals No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No

501(c)(27) State-Sponsored Workers� Compensation Reinsurance Organization Reimburses members for losses under workers� compensation acts No Form⁶ 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ No

501(d) Religious and Apostolic Associations Regular business activities. Communal religious community No Form 1065 ⁹ No²

501(e) Cooperative Hospital Service Organizations Performs cooperative services for hospitals 1023 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes

501(f) Cooperative Service Organizations of Operating Educational Organizations Performs collective investment services for educational organizations 1023 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes

501(k) Child Care Organization Provides care for children 1023 990 or 990EZ ⁸ Yes

501(n) Charitable Risk Pools Pools certain insurance risks of 501(c)(3) 1023 990 ¹ or 990EZ ⁸ Yes

521(a) Farmers� Cooperative Associations Cooperative marketing and purchasing for agricultural producers 1028 990-C No

¹ For exceptions to the filing requirement, see Chapter 2 and the Form instructions.

² An organization exempt under a Subsection of Code section 501 other than (c)(3), may establish a charitable fund, contributions to which are deductible. Such a fund must itself meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3) and the related notice requirements of section 508(a).

³ Contributions to volunteer fire companies and similar organizations are deductible, but only if made for exclusively public purposes.

⁴ Deductible as a business expense to the extent allowed by Code section 192.

⁵ Deductible as a business expense to the extent allowed by Code section 194A.

⁶ Application is by letter to the address shown on Form 8718. A copy of the organizing document should be attached and the letter should be signed by an officer.

⁷ Contributions to these organizations are deductible only if 90% or more of the organization's members are war veterans.

⁸ For limits on the use of Form 990EZ, see Chapter 2 and the general instructions for Form 990EZ (or Form 990).

⁹ Although the organization files a partnership return, all distributions are deemed dividends. The members are not entitled to ��pass-through'' treatment of the organization's income or expenses.

Selected IRS Forms

Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax [Instructions]
Form 990EZ: Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax [Instructions]
Form 990 Schedule A: Organization Exempt Under Section 501(c)(3) [Instructions]
Form 990BL: Information and Initial Excise Tax Return for Black Lung Benefit Trusts and Certain Related Persons [Instructions]
Form 990C: Farmers' Cooperative Association Income Tax Return [Instructions]
Form 990 PF: Return of Private Foundation or Section 4947(a)(1) Nonexempt Charitable Trust Treated as a Private Foundation [Instructions]
Form 1065: U.S. Partnership Return of Income [Instructions]
Form 1023: Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
Form 1024: Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(a) for Determination Under Section 120 of the Internal Revenue Code
Form 1028: Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code [Instructions]
Form 8718: User Fee for Exempt Organization Determination Letter Request
Publication 557: Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization [also in Web/HTML format]