The return is due 5 1/2 months from the end of your fiscal year. Ours FY ends June 30, so our taxes are due Nov 15. Yours ought to be due Dec 15. Your new accountant should know this!
You probably cannot use TurboTax to do it; that's for individual tax returns. However, the forms are fillable PDFs; you can type stuff in on your computer and print when you're done.
I'm pretty well versed in it -- I've done 4 recently (yes, 3 were filed late). Depending on how well organized your financial information is, $300 might be a bargain. If you can file 990EZ (gross revenue less than $100,000) and you're pretty good with numbers, then review the one from your group from last year and see what you think. (Since the IRS requires that it be public information, your accountant should be able provide a copy.)
In our case, I had to clean up 3 years of Quicken before I could start; previous treasurers hadn't always separated expenses and income properly for IRS purposes. (Eg, money withdrawn for the cash box isn't an expense, you count it against income.)
I have more of a question than an answer to yours. If our school year runs August thru June, what is the usual deadline to submit the form 990 to the IRS? Our board is brand new this year (with the exception of the Treasurer (me)) and the former President is not very helpful in this department. I found our last years taxes and the dates show August 1, 2006-July 31,2007. These were prepared and mailed in December of 2007. We were notified by the accountant who is preparing our taxes this year (different than last years) that the cutoff is normally 7/31 and asked if we filed an extension. i'm so confused right now and frustrated because the former president is basically forcing us to figure this out ourselves rather than be a sort of mentor to ease everyone in to their new positions. Is there anyone out here who is versed in the 990 filings and the deadlines associated with them? Also, are they pretty basic to fill out? If so, then it seems like a waste to spend $300-$400 to have them prepared if they can be done thru Turbotax for a fraction of that cost.
Indeed, Schedule A shows "historical support" of your organization, so you'll put 2003-06 in Schedule A.
Current data (FY 2007-08, which for most PTOs would likely have ended this summer) goes on 990EZ, and you should keep a record of the public support data for next year's schedule A.
I'm trying to fill out the 990EZ and have gotten through it finally! I have a question regarding the dates in Part IV-A of the Schedule A. The form says it's for 2007, which is the beginning of the fiscal year I am reporting for, however the columns listed are for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, not 2007. I have searched for a 2008 form, but the only thing that came us said draft on it and do not file. I guess I'm wondering what to do at this point.
I have called the IRS, but that department was apparantly busy and they asked that I call back later.
