To check your IRS 1023-EZ status, start with the agency’s “Where’s My Application?” page, which posts the submission date of applications currently under review. If your filing date is on or before that cutoff, your application is in the queue. If the posted window has already passed your submission date and you still have no answer, call IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500. Most applicants hear back within about three weeks.
How to Check Where Your Application Stands
The IRS does not offer a real-time tracker for pending 1023-EZ filings. Three tools, used in order, will tell you what you can know.
First, the “Where’s My Application?” page. The IRS publishes the submission-date cutoff for applications currently being reviewed. If your filing date is on or before that cutoff, processing is underway. If your date is after the cutoff, the application hasn’t been assigned, and the IRS asks that you not call, because representatives won’t have anything to tell you.1Internal Revenue Service. Where’s My Application for Tax-Exempt Status?
Second, the phone line. Call 877-829-5500 if the posted window has elapsed since you filed. Representatives work Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific). Have your organization’s legal name, Employer Identification Number, and submission date ready before you dial.2Internal Revenue Service. Contact IRS Exempt Organizations
Third, the Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS). Approved organizations are added to this database, and you can sometimes find yours listed there before the paper determination letter reaches your mailbox. Appearing in TEOS is an early sign of approval.3Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
How Long Processing Takes
The IRS issues 80% of Form 1023-EZ determinations within 22 days of receipt. The full Form 1023, by comparison, takes about 191 days for the same share of decisions. The streamlined form moves faster because it leans on the applicant’s self-certification rather than a line-by-line review of supporting documents.1Internal Revenue Service. Where’s My Application for Tax-Exempt Status?
Applications flagged for additional review take longer. Eighty percent of those decisions come within 120 days.4Internal Revenue Service. Top Ten Reasons for Delays in Processing Exempt Organization Applications
What Typically Causes a Delay
The IRS publishes a list of common hold-ups. Several come up repeatedly on 1023-EZ filings:
- Incorrect user fee. The 1023-EZ filing fee is $275, paid through Pay.gov at submission. The wrong amount is the single most common cause of delay.5Internal Revenue Service. Form 1023 and 1023-EZ – Amount of User Fee
- Missing or incomplete officer information. Names, mailing addresses, and titles are required for all principal officers and board members.
- An unsigned application. An authorized officer or trustee must sign electronically on Pay.gov. A representative or attorney cannot sign for the organization.
- A mismatched accounting period. The annual accounting period on the application has to match your bylaws and any returns already filed.
If the IRS needs more from you, it will reach out by phone or mail. Answering quickly keeps your file from drifting to the bottom of the stack.4Internal Revenue Service. Top Ten Reasons for Delays in Processing Exempt Organization Applications
You Cannot Request Expedited Processing
The IRS allows expedited handling of some exempt-organization applications when there is a compelling reason, such as a pending grant that would be lost otherwise. That option is explicitly closed to Form 1023-EZ. The agency will not accept requests to speed up a streamlined application under any circumstances.6Internal Revenue Service. Applying for Exemption – Expediting Application Processing
Fixing a Mistake After You Submit
Once Form 1023-EZ is submitted through Pay.gov, you cannot edit it electronically. Corrections have to go in by mail. Send a cover letter and a correction letter that includes the organization’s name, EIN, and the specific changes to the EO Correspondence Unit:7Internal Revenue Service. Form 1023 – Making Corrections or Changes to a Submitted Application
- Regular mail: Internal Revenue Service, Attn: Correspondence Unit, P.O. Box 2508, Room 6-403, Cincinnati, OH 45201
- Overnight delivery: Internal Revenue Service, Attn: Correspondence Unit, 550 Main Street, Room 6-403, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Catching the error early is worth the trouble. If a mistake forces the IRS to reject the application rather than approve it, you’ll start over with another 1023-EZ or the full Form 1023, which costs more time and potentially a higher fee.
Accepting Donations While You Wait
Donors do not have advance assurance of deductibility while a 1023-EZ is pending. The IRS ties deductibility to the outcome. If the application is approved, contributions made during the pending period become retroactively deductible. If it is denied, they are not deductible at all.8Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organizations General Issues – Deductibility of Contributions While Application Pending
You can still accept donations, but tell donors where things stand. Small gifts often come in anyway; a major donor or a grant-making foundation may want to wait for the actual determination letter.
If a filing deadline for an annual information return hits before your determination arrives, file the appropriate 990-series return anyway and check the “application pending” box on the first page.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 557 – Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization
When Approval Arrives
Approval comes as an official determination letter mailed to the address on file. That letter is your proof of 501(c)(3) status, and donors, grant makers, and state agencies will ask to see it because it confirms that contributions qualify for the federal charitable deduction.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
The effective date of your exemption depends on when you filed. If you filed within 27 months from the end of the month your organization was legally formed, exempt status reaches back to the formation date. File later than that, and the exemption runs only from the date the IRS received the application.11Internal Revenue Service. Form 1023 – Purpose of Questions About Organization Applying More Than 27 Months After Date of Formation Donations received before the effective date would not be deductible, and the organization would owe income tax on revenue earned in that non-exempt period.
If the IRS Rejects Your Application
A rejected 1023-EZ does not close the door on 501(c)(3) status. Common reasons for rejection include an incorrect EIN or failure to meet the financial thresholds for the streamlined form: projected annual gross receipts under $50,000 and total assets under $250,000. The rejection letter will tell you why.1Internal Revenue Service. Where’s My Application for Tax-Exempt Status?
From there, two paths are available.
- File the full Form 1023. If you were ineligible for the streamlined process because your revenue or assets exceeded the thresholds, or because your organization type does not qualify, the standard Form 1023 is open to organizations of any size and complexity. The fee is higher and the review much longer.12Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1023-EZ, Streamlined Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- Protest the determination. If you think the IRS got it wrong, submit a written protest within 30 days of the date on the proposed adverse determination letter. The protest needs a statement of the facts, the law, and your arguments, and should say whether you want a conference with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. Mail or fax it to the office identified in your rejection letter.13Internal Revenue Service. How to Appeal an IRS Determination on Tax-Exempt Status
The distinction matters. A straightforward rejection for ineligibility, meaning the wrong form for your organization type, is not the same as a proposed adverse determination on the merits, where the IRS has reviewed your purpose and activities and concluded you do not qualify. The 30-day protest window applies to the second. If you filed the wrong form, submitting the correct one is faster than fighting the rejection.