What Does a 501(c)(3) Form Look Like? Form 1023 and 1023-EZ

The 501(c)(3) application is a digital form filed through Pay.gov, and it comes in two versions. The standard version, Form 1023, runs ten parts and asks for narratives, financial tables, and uploaded organizing documents. The shorter version, Form 1023-EZ, runs six parts and relies mostly on checkbox attestations. Which one your organization uses depends on its size and type. If you’re wondering what a 501(c)(3) form looks like before you sit down to fill it out, this is a walk-through of what appears on the screen and what each section expects from you.

What Form 1023 Looks Like

Form 1023 is completed entirely online through Pay.gov and is organized into ten parts labeled Part I through Part X.¹ The interface mixes checkboxes, drop-down menus, and open-ended text fields, so some sections take a sentence and others take several paragraphs.

Here is what each part collects:

Part I — Identification. Your organization’s legal name, mailing address, Employer Identification Number, and the month your tax year ends.
Part II — Organizational Structure. Whether you are a corporation, trust, limited liability company, or unincorporated association, along with an upload of your organizing documents.
Part III — Required Provisions. Confirmation that your organizing documents contain the required purpose clause and dissolution clause.
Part IV — Activities. Narrative descriptions of your mission, your programs, and how you will fund the work.
Part V — Compensation and Financial Arrangements. Officer and employee pay, potential conflicts of interest, and any transactions with insiders such as contracts, leases, or loans.
Part VI — Financial Data. Tables for revenue, expenses, and balance sheet information covering multiple years.
Part VII — Foundation Classification. Whether you will operate as a public charity or a private foundation.
Part VIII — Effective Date. The date you want tax-exempt status to begin.
Part IX — Annual Filing Requirements. Acknowledgment that you understand your ongoing Form 990 obligations.
Part X — Signature. An electronic signature from an authorized officer.

Part V asks whether you have adopted a conflict-of-interest policy. Adopting one is not required to receive tax-exempt status, but the IRS recommends it and provides sample language in the Form 1023 instructions.² The same part asks you to confirm that officer and director pay is reasonable compared to what similar organizations pay.

Part VII matters because every 501(c)(3) is automatically classified as a private foundation unless it qualifies for an exception as a public charity.³ Public charities generally draw a substantial portion of their funding from the general public or from government grants; private foundations are typically funded by a single source such as an individual or family. Private foundations face stricter rules on self-dealing, minimum distributions, and investment activities, so Part VII is not a throwaway question.

Schedules A Through H

Form 1023 also includes specialized Schedules, labeled A through H, that appear only when they apply to you.⁴ A church triggers Schedule A, a school triggers Schedule B, and a hospital triggers Schedule C. The Pay.gov interface hides the schedules that do not apply, so you only see the ones your organization needs.

What Form 1023-EZ Looks Like

Form 1023-EZ is a streamlined version of the application with six parts, Part I through Part VI, also filed through Pay.gov.⁵ Before you can even open the form, you have to complete a separate Eligibility Worksheet to confirm your organization qualifies.

The look on screen is very different from the full form. Most of Form 1023-EZ is checkbox attestations rather than written narratives. You check boxes to confirm that your organizing documents contain the required clauses, that your activities fall within 501(c)(3) purposes, and that you meet the financial limits. You do not upload your articles of incorporation, and you do not fill in the multi-year financial tables that appear on the full form. The specialized schedules for schools, hospitals, and churches are not part of Form 1023-EZ at all.

Who Qualifies for Form 1023-EZ

To use Form 1023-EZ, your organization must meet both of these thresholds:

Gross receipts of no more than $50,000 in any of the past three years, and no projected year exceeding $50,000 in the next three years.
Total assets with a fair market value of $250,000 or less.

Even if you meet the financial limits, some organizations must file the full Form 1023 anyway. Schools, hospitals, and churches are the main examples, because their applications require the specialized schedules that Form 1023-EZ does not include.

What You Need Before You Open the Form

Both forms assume you have already put certain pieces in place. Trying to work through them without these ready will stall you partway through:

An Employer Identification Number. This nine-digit number identifies the organization for all federal tax purposes. If you don’t have one, apply through Form SS-4 first.⁶
Finalized organizing documents. For Form 1023, your articles of incorporation (or equivalent) need to be converted to a single PDF for upload. Bylaws should be included if you have adopted them.⁷
Financial records or projections, in the format the form expects.
Written narratives describing your mission, the people your programs serve, where the work happens, and how you fund it.

The Two Clauses Your Documents Must Contain

The IRS will reject or delay your application if your organizing documents are missing two specific provisions. A purpose clause must limit the organization’s activities to exempt purposes described in Section 501(c)(3). A dissolution clause must state that if the organization shuts down, its remaining assets will go to another 501(c)(3) organization, to the federal government, or to a state or local government for a public purpose.⁸ Many states offer boilerplate language for both clauses in their nonprofit incorporation forms, but check that the wording actually satisfies IRS requirements before submitting.

How Much Financial Data Part VI Wants

The financial tables in Part VI of Form 1023 vary by how long your organization has existed:²

Less than one year old: projections for the current year and the next two years, so three projected years total.
Between one and five years old: actual figures for each completed year plus projections through a fourth year.
Five years or older: actual figures for the five most recently completed tax years.

Revenue, expenses, and a breakdown of officer compensation all appear in these tables. The numbers should line up with the narratives you wrote in Part IV; the form is designed to be read as a whole.

Submitting the Form and Paying the Fee

Both Form 1023 and Form 1023-EZ must be filed electronically through Pay.gov. Paper submissions are not accepted.¹ A non-refundable user fee is due at the time of submission:

Form 1023 (standard): $600
Form 1023-EZ: $275

The IRS sets these amounts and can change them from year to year.⁹ You cannot submit without paying, and the fee is not refunded if your application is denied. Once you pay, Pay.gov generates a confirmation receipt with a tracking number.

When You Don’t Have to File Either Form

Not every 501(c)(3) organization has to file an application. Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches are automatically treated as 501(c)(3) organizations without filing. The same is true for non-private-foundation organizations with annual gross receipts normally at or below $5,000.¹⁰ Many of these organizations still file anyway, because a determination letter from the IRS is what donors and grantmakers usually want to see.

1
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1023 (Rev. December 2024)
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Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organization Types
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Pay.gov. Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1023-EZ (Rev. January 2025)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 1023 – Required Attachment to Form 1023
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Internal Revenue Service. Charity – Required Provisions for Organizing Documents
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 1023 and 1023-EZ – Amount of User Fee
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 508 – Special Rules With Respect to Section 501(c)(3) Organizations