To request a nonprofit audit, you have three practical routes depending on your relationship to the organization and what you suspect: if you are a voting member, demand an internal audit or records inspection under the bylaws and your state’s nonprofit corporation act; anyone can file a complaint with the IRS using Form 13909; and anyone can report the organization to their state attorney general’s charitable trust division. If federal grant money is involved, the False Claims Act opens a fourth path. Each route has different evidence requirements, different timelines, and different rules about whether you will ever learn the outcome.
Gather the Public Filings First
Before you file anything, pull the organization’s tax returns. Every tax-exempt organization must file an annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, and federal law requires those returns to be available for public inspection.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool lets you download returns and check whether an organization’s exemption has been automatically revoked.2Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
Form 990 reports revenue, expenses, executive compensation, related-party transactions, and changes in net assets. Read several consecutive years side by side. Look for officer salaries that seem outsized for the organization, payments to companies controlled by board members, and program spending that shrinks as administrative costs grow. Specific dollar figures and dates from these filings will do more for your complaint than any general accusation.
Demand an Audit or Records Inspection as a Member
If you are a voting member, you have leverage an outside complainant does not. Start with the articles of incorporation and bylaws. They often grant members the right to inspect financial records and sometimes require an independent audit when spending crosses a threshold or when a minimum number of members formally demand one.
Most states also give nonprofit members a statutory right to inspect accounting books and meeting minutes. A common condition is that your request serve a “proper purpose,” meaning one reasonably related to your interest as a member. Investigating suspected financial mismanagement qualifies. A personal grudge against a director does not. The more specific your request, the harder it is for the board to stall.
Submit a formal written request to the board. Cite the bylaw section or state statute you are relying on, identify the exact records you want, and propose a reasonable time and place for the inspection. Give the board a clear deadline to respond. If the board refuses or ignores you without justification, most state nonprofit corporation acts let you petition a court for an order compelling access. Courts granting these petitions sometimes require the organization to cover the member’s legal costs. Filing fees for the petition itself commonly run $100 to $400 depending on the jurisdiction.
File a Complaint With the IRS
Anyone can report a tax-exempt organization to the IRS, whether or not you are a member or donor. The standard vehicle is Form 13909, the Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Complaint Process – Tax-Exempt Organizations A plain letter containing the same information is also accepted.
What to Include
Form 13909 asks for the organization’s name and its nine-digit Employer Identification Number, which appears on any Form 990 and in the Tax Exempt Organization Search results.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 13909 (Rev. 11-2023) – Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) It then asks you to describe the violation. Recognized categories include political campaign activity, private benefit to insiders, excessive unrelated business income, and diversion of charitable assets.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 501 – Exemption From Tax on Corporations, Certain Trusts, Etc.
Keep your narrative factual and specific. Dates, dollar amounts, and names carry the weight. Attach copies of Form 990 returns, financial statements, internal memos, or any other documents that back up your allegations. The IRS compares what you describe against what the organization has reported.
Where to Send It
You can submit Form 13909 and supporting documents three ways:3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Complaint Process – Tax-Exempt Organizations
- Email: eoclass@irs.gov
- Fax: 214-413-5415
- Mail: TEGE Referrals Group, 1100 Commerce Street, MC 4910 DAL, Dallas, TX 75242
The IRS will send an acknowledgment letter.4Internal Revenue Service. Form 13909 (Rev. 11-2023) – Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) After that, federal law prohibits the agency from telling you whether it opened an investigation, what it found, or what action it took. Keep your own copies of everything, because the IRS will not return originals.
There is one indirect way to see the outcome. If the IRS revokes the organization’s tax-exempt status, the revocation appears on the Automatic Revocation of Exemption List, which is publicly searchable through the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool.2Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
Report to the State Attorney General
State attorneys general have their own authority over charities and enforce fiduciary duties under state law. This route is particularly useful when the problem involves breach of donor restrictions, self-dealing by directors, or conversion of a charity to for-profit status. These offices generally look for reliable evidence of diverted assets or gross mismanagement causing real financial harm.
Each state has its own form and process, usually handled by the attorney general’s charitable trust division or the secretary of state’s office. Many states accept complaints through online portals. The evidence they want overlaps heavily with what the IRS wants: financial records, names, dates, dollar figures.
A state filing complements the federal one rather than replacing it. The IRS asks whether the organization violated the conditions of its federal exemption. State regulators ask whether directors breached their fiduciary duties. An organization can face both at once. Many states also impose their own audit requirements on nonprofits above certain revenue thresholds, and failing to meet those requirements is itself something the attorney general can investigate.
The Whistleblower Track for Larger Cases
If the tax at stake is large, you may qualify for a financial award and better visibility into the case. The IRS Whistleblower Office pays awards of 15 to 30 percent of the total the government collects (taxes, penalties, and interest) when your information leads to a successful action.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7623 – Expenses of Detection of Underpayments and Fraud, Etc. The mandatory award track requires that the tax, penalties, and interest in dispute exceed $2 million.7Internal Revenue Service. Submit a Whistleblower Claim for Award Smaller claims can still qualify for a discretionary award, though payouts are typically smaller.
Whistleblower submissions use Form 211, not Form 13909, and go through a separate process. Unlike ordinary complainants, whistleblowers receive limited status updates, including notice when the case is referred for audit and when the taxpayer pays.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6103 – Confidentiality and Disclosure of Returns and Return Information
Federal law also protects employees who report tax fraud. An employer cannot fire, demote, suspend, or harass a worker for providing information to the IRS or cooperating with an investigation.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 7623 – Expenses of Detection of Underpayments and Fraud, Etc. If retaliation happens, the employee can file with the Department of Labor or bring a federal lawsuit. Remedies include reinstatement, 200 percent of back pay, and attorney fees. Employment agreements and forced-arbitration clauses cannot waive these protections.
Federal Grant Fraud and the False Claims Act
Nonprofits receiving federal grant money that submit false claims for those funds fall under the federal False Claims Act. The statute lets any private citizen file suit on behalf of the United States, a mechanism called a qui tam action.10GovInfo. 31 USC 3730 – Civil Actions for False Claims The complaint is filed under seal in federal court and served on the Attorney General and the local U.S. Attorney, who then decide whether to take over the case.
If the government intervenes and recovers money, the person who brought the suit receives 15 to 25 percent of the proceeds. If the government declines and you proceed alone, the share is 25 to 30 percent. These cases usually require an attorney experienced in False Claims Act litigation, and many work on contingency because recoveries can be large. This path is limited to fraud involving government funds. It does not reach a nonprofit that misuses private donations without touching federal grant money.
What to Expect After You File
Neither the IRS nor most state attorneys general publish firm timelines. Complex cases spanning several years of records and many transactions can take well over a year. The IRS receives thousands of referrals each year and does not audit every one. Specificity, dollar amounts, and documents that corroborate your claims all raise the odds that a complaint moves forward.
When the IRS finds a violation, consequences run from corrective action to full revocation of exempt status. A common tool against public charities is the excise tax on excess benefit transactions under 26 U.S.C. ยง 4958, which taxes both the insider who received the benefit and, separately, managers who knowingly participated.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4958 – Taxes on Excess Benefit Transactions Failure to correct the transaction within the taxable period triggers a further tax of 200 percent of the excess benefit. Revocation of tax-exempt status is reserved for the most serious cases and effectively ends the organization’s ability to receive tax-deductible contributions.
If you filed on Form 13909, calibrate your expectations. You set the process in motion, but the IRS treats it as its own matter, not a dispute you are a party to. You will not receive updates, and the organization may never learn who reported it. If you filed as a whistleblower on Form 211, you get the limited visibility described above, but the timing still belongs to the government. Either way, keep an organized file of everything you sent and every acknowledgment you received, especially if you plan to file a parallel complaint with a state attorney general.