Nonprofit Tax Help/Video-Based Course: How to Prepare IRS Form 1023-EZ Tax-Exempt Application

  • Free

Video-Based Course: How to Prepare IRS Form 1023-EZ Tax-Exempt Application

  • Course
  • 8 Lessons

IRS Form 1023-EZ looks simple enough for a do-it-yourself project. But it isn't, unless you learn how to do it properly. Using video, I'll teach you how to prepare and file the 1023-EZ properly so you can avoid costly mistakes.

Contents

Introduction and Review Form Instructions

What to expect from this course and what's important in the IRS Form 1023-EZ instructions.

Video Lesson: Introduction & Review of Form Instructions (Updated August 2026)
PDF: Form 1023-EZ Instructions (January 2025) & Eligibility Worksheet

Understand and Complete the Eligibility Checklist

The IRS wants to make sure you don't try to use Form 1023-EZ to apply for tax-exempt status unless your organization is eligible to use the form. So it is necessary to complete the very helpful eligibility checklist provided by the IRS. In this video lesson I go over the entire checklist and explain what everything means so you don't have to look everything up.

Video Lesson: Understand and Complete the Eligibility Worksheet (Revised Jan 2025)

Critical Notice for Organizations Making Grants to Individuals

Course‑takers should understand that answering “Yes” to the Form 1023‑EZ question about donating funds to or paying expenses for individuals has extra consequences if the organization is a private foundation making grants for travel, study, or similar purposes. Public charities may conduct scholarship or aid programs without section 4945(g) advance approval, but private foundations must either seek advance approval of their procedures or face their grants being treated as taxable expenditures.

Critical Notice for Organizations Making Grants to Individuals.pdf

Detailed Walk-Through of Form 1023-EZ

In this video lesson I explain how to get a PDF copy of the 1023-EZ so you can print it and fill it out by hand before you log in to the Pay.gov website and prepare the real thing. The next lesson after this is where I actually log into pay.gov and fill out the 1023-EZ online. Both lessons are very similar, but this lesson has more detail

Video Lesson: Walk-through Form 1023-EZ PDF line-by-line (Updated August 2026)

Access and Fill Out the Online IRS Form 1023-EZ

In this video lesson I walk you through filling out the online Form 1023-EZ at the Pay.gov website. This lesson is not quite as detailed as the previous walk-through of the PDF form, but it shows you how the online form works. Still lots of detail and tips.

Video lesson: Filling out the 1023-EZ online step-by-step

Understanding IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11 for Revoked Nonprofits Seeking Reinstatements

Here I give a fairly brief explanation of this critical Revenue Procedure published by the IRS to explain the reinstatement procedures available to nonprofits whose tax-exempt status was revoked for failure to file an annual return or notice for three consecutive years. I explain which procedures can be used with Form 1023-EZ.

Video Lesson: What 1023-EZ Filers Need to Know about Rev Proc 2014-11
PDF: IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11.pdf