Yes — nonprofit tax returns are public record. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 6104, tax-exempt organizations must make their annual information returns and their original exemption application available to anyone who asks, with no need to explain why you want them.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts That covers most charities, social welfare groups, trade associations, and private foundations. A few pieces stay confidential, and a small set of organizations (notably churches) don’t file at all.
What Documents You Can See
Two categories of records are open to the public.
The first is the annual information return. Most mid-sized and large nonprofits file Form 990, smaller organizations file Form 990-EZ, and private foundations file Form 990-PF. Organizations recognized under Section 501(c)(3) must also disclose Form 990-T (the return for unrelated business income) if it was filed after August 17, 2006.2Internal Revenue Service. Public Inspection and Disclosure of Form 990-T Each annual return must stay available for three years from its due date (including extensions) or actual filing date, whichever is later.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts
The second is the exemption application file. That means the original Form 1023 or Form 1024, supporting documents submitted with it, and the IRS determination letter granting tax-exempt status. These have no expiration for public access; they stay open indefinitely. Applications filed before July 15, 1987 are an exception — an organization only has to share one if it still had a copy on that date.3Internal Revenue Service. Copies of Exempt Organizations Tax Documents
What You Can Learn From a Form 990
A full Form 990 is a fairly detailed picture of the organization. It typically shows:
- The mission statement and a description of the year’s main program accomplishments.
- Total revenue broken out by source (contributions, program service revenue, investment income) and expenses split into program services, management, and fundraising.
- All current officers, directors, and trustees, whether paid or not. It also reports up to 20 key employees with reportable compensation above $150,000 and the five highest-paid non-officer employees earning at least $100,000.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 990 Part VII and Schedule J Reporting Executive Compensation Individuals Included
- Which board members the organization considers independent from management.
- Grants paid to other organizations or individuals.
Business dealings with insiders show up too. Schedule L requires disclosure of contracts, leases, joint ventures, and similar transactions involving current or former officers, directors, trustees, and key employees, plus certain management companies where a former leader (within the past five years) holds at least a 35 percent ownership stake.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule L (Form 990) That’s where potential self-dealing tends to become visible.
What You Won’t See
The biggest carve-out is donor identity. For public charities and most other 501(c) organizations, the names and addresses of contributors listed on Schedule B are removed from the version made available to the public. The regulations define disclosable documents to exclude that contributor information, so the organization simply strips it from the copy it hands over.6Internal Revenue Service. Contributors’ Identities Not Subject to Disclosure
Two types of organizations don’t get that protection. Private foundations and political organizations exempt under Section 527 must disclose their contributors’ names and addresses.6Internal Revenue Service. Contributors’ Identities Not Subject to Disclosure The Form 990-PF instructions require foundations to attach a schedule listing everyone who became a substantial contributor during the year.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990-PF
Social Security numbers are never supposed to be on any of these forms. The IRS specifically warns organizations not to put SSNs on Form 990, Form 990-EZ, exemption applications, or attachments, because everything becomes public.8Internal Revenue Service. Protect Your SSN – Do Not Include It on Publicly Disclosed Forms
On an exemption application, an organization can ask the IRS to withhold specific trade secrets, patents, or proprietary processes if release would cause harm. The IRS has to approve the request, and the applicant must clearly mark the information as not subject to public inspection.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1023
How to Get the Records
You have several ways in, and most are free.
The IRS’s Own Search Tool
Tax Exempt Organization Search is the IRS’s free lookup. You can pull up an organization and download its filed Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, or 990-T directly.10Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Form 990-N filings from very small organizations are viewable there too.11Internal Revenue Service. Copies of EO Returns Available If a return you want isn’t online, you can request it in writing from the IRS using Form 4506-A.
Third-Party Databases
Candid’s GuideStar and ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer collect years of nonprofit filings and make them searchable in ways the IRS tool doesn’t. You can compare organizations, follow financial trends across years, and filter by location, revenue, or mission.
Asking the Nonprofit Directly
Federal law gives you the right to request records straight from the organization. Walk into the principal office during regular business hours and it must let you inspect the documents and provide copies on the spot. Regional offices with three or more employees have to do the same.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts
A written request — by mail, fax, email, or courier — also works. The organization has 30 days to respond.12Internal Revenue Service. Questions About Requirements for Exempt Organizations to Disclose IRS Filings to the General Public It can charge a reasonable fee for copies and postage, generally capped at the IRS Freedom of Information Act rate of $0.20 per page.13Internal Revenue Service. Costs for Providing Copies of Documents Unlike a FOIA request to the IRS itself, there is no free-page allowance; the nonprofit can charge for every page.
One exception: a nonprofit that posts its returns on a widely available website (its own or a database like GuideStar) in a downloadable, printable format doesn’t have to fulfill individual copy requests. It still has to allow in-person inspection at its offices, and it has to tell requesters where to find the documents online.14Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure Overview
Nonprofits Whose Returns You Won’t Find
Some tax-exempt organizations don’t file a full Form 990. Churches, conventions or associations of churches, and their integrated auxiliaries are entirely exempt from the annual filing requirement, so there’s usually no return to inspect.15Internal Revenue Service. Annual Exempt Organization Return – Who Must File
Small tax-exempt organizations with annual gross receipts of $50,000 or less can meet their reporting duty by filing the Form 990-N e-Postcard.16Internal Revenue Service. Filing Requirements for Churches and Religious Organizations The 990-N is public but sparse: name, address, employer identification number, and confirmation that receipts fell below the threshold. Expect much less detail than a full Form 990.
When a Nonprofit Can Turn You Down
The disclosure right has limits at the edges. An organization can disregard copy requests from the same person or address beyond the first two in any 30-day period, or the first four in any one-year period.17Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (2025)
A nonprofit can also refuse requests it reasonably believes are part of a harassment campaign, but it has to apply to the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel for a formal determination. The IRS weighs factors like sudden spikes in requests, large volumes of form letters, hostile communications, evidence of bad faith, and whether the documents have already been provided to the same group. While the determination is pending, the organization can suspend compliance with the requests it believes are harassing.17Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (2025) Outside those narrow cases, if you ask for a covered document, the organization has to hand it over.