I form a lot of Arizona nonprofit corporations.  Some are tax exempt charities and some are not.  A nonprofit corporation formed under Arizona law does not automatically qualify as a charity that is exempt from federal income tax.  Nonprofit corporations that want to be tax exempt organizations must file an IRS form 1023 and receive approval from the IRS.

IRS form 1023 is not for the faint of heart.  For those who want to prepare the form 1023 themselves rather than hire a professional, I recommend an excellent how-to book called “Prepare Your Own 501(c)(3) Application” by former IRS agent Sandy Deja.  Sandy’s resume is impressive:

  • She has worked with form 1023 almost daily since 1974
  • She reviewed about three thousand exemption applications during her 12 years as an IRS Exempt Organizations Specialist
  • She has prepared over one thousand forms 1023, and reviewed almost that many prepared by others since leaving the IRS

If you want a professional to assist in preparing IRS form 1023, call me, Arizona nonprofit and charitable organization attorney Richard Keyt at 602-906-4953, ext. 1 or call Richard C. Keyt, CPA, at 602-906-4963, ext. 3.  We do not charge to answer questions about forming nonprofit corporations or applying for tax exempt status with the IRS.  See my article called “Hire Us to Get an IRS Tax Exemption for a Charitable Organization.”  We can prepare and file an IRS Form 1023 for a charity formed in any of the fifty states.

For more about nonprofits and charities go to my website called Nonprofit Corporations.