IRS to Roll Out New Electronic Form for Tax-Exempt Applicants

The IRS plans to introduce a new electronic version of the form public charities and other organizations use to seek agency approval of their tax-exempt status.

The IRS is hoping to make the electronic form available to taxpayers in January, said Tamera Ripperda, commissioner at the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities division.

Groups must file Form 1023 with the IRS to receive official approval of their tax-exempt status as a charitable organization under tax code Section 501(c)(3). The change will create a more user-friendly and tailored experience, Ripperda said Oct. 16 on a call with reporters.

“If you’re applying for exemption as a hospital, it will jump you to the section for hospitals as opposed to making you leaf through pages of the application that are not applicable to you,” she said on the call, which coincided with the release of TEGE’s fiscal year 2020 program letter.

The IRS also plans to make some minor changes to Form 1023. For example, the agency will take out lines that are no longer necessary because those questions were incorporated into other questions within the document, Ripperda said.

The agency will eventually stop accepting paper versions of the tax-exempt application but hasn’t yet determined a timeline for that, she said.