"How to Remove Form 990 Late-Filing Penalties for NONPROFIT Organizations"

Write an Effective Reasonable Cause Letter to the IRS

Penalties for Form 990 and 990-EZ start at $20 per day and can be as high as $100 per day. Have you received that dreaded letter from the IRS telling you to pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in penalties for filing your organization's Form 990 late? Pretty scary isn't it? You work hard to do good and help people and this is the reward you get? Don't lose sleep over it! You can be successful in having the penalties waived by following the instructions in my Form 990 Penalty Relief Manual available as a printed desk reference or e-book.

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Click here for pricing or to purchase right now.

Be cautious about advice that tells you that all you have to do is tell the IRS what a great organization you have and how paying penalties will cause you to reduce charitable programs. That does nothing to establish "reasonable cause." Simply dropping buzzwords like "no willful neglect," or "administrative oversight" often do not persuade the IRS that you deserve abatement. While these cliches might work in the most simple cases, placing your reliance on them can lead to dissapointment.

The IRS is serious about collecting penalties. I take penalties seriously and I provide the materials you need to convince the IRS you deserve abatement. I've written or reviewed hundreds of Form 990 late-filing penalty abatement request letters with nearly 100% success.

Don't take the approach that "Well, it's worth a shot!" or "What have we got to lose by sending a letter?"  Asking for penalty abatement is not gambling. It's not a poker game or a crap shoot. Penalty abatement for reasonable cause is a provision in the tax code. Send a letter with a properly structured argument and your chances for abatement are very high if you have reasonable cause.

If you've already written a letter requesting abatement and the IRS has denied your request, the information in this e-book can help you figure out what you did wrong, possibly giving you a second chance at having your penalties abated if you act quickly.

In addition to my proven penalty manual, I'm also offering example letters and a template you can use to structure your letter to the IRS.

Example Letters for Form 990 Penalty Abatement

My materials include the full text of seven letters that were successful in having IRS penalties abated for reasonable cause. See exactly what a successful letter looks like. You might even find some parts of the letters that will apply directly to your situation.

Abatement Letter Template in MS Word

After many requests, I'm offering a reasonable cause letter template you can use to structure your letter. This template is in Microsoft Word format, so you can save it to your computer, open it, and get started on your letter (after you've read the penalty manual, of course!)

One of the successful letters was written by a CPA (using the guidance from my e-book) who missed a filing deadline for one of his nonprofit clients AND the client had a prior history of late filing! $29,000 in penalties abated. He was kind enough to let me share his letter in my materials. It's practically a case study all by itself.

Do NOT Send Money to the IRS!

Before you send that check to the IRS, and before you pick up the phone and call them, you need to read my penalty relief manual on how to get the penalties removed. In this 75 page e-book I show you, step-by-step, how to write a successful "reasonable cause" letter to send to the IRS. If you know what to say, and how to use the IRS guidelines on what constitutes "reasonable cause" for filing late, there is a very high likelihood that the IRS will remove the penalties. They do it all the time for those who know what to say and how to ask for relief.

My Form 990 Penalty Relief Manual

After helping many nonprofits get out of paying ridiculous penalties assessed by the IRS, and after seeing many nonprofits try and fail to have penalties removed on their own, I decided to write this special Penalty Relief Manual to teach you how to do it. You can save hundreds of dollars in CPA fees by doing it yourself. And if you are a CPA, attorney, or other advisor to nonprofits and find yourself in a position of having to write such a letter (even if the late filing is your fault), this ebook is for you, so you can serve your clients better, and keep them happy!

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What's in the Penalty Relief Manual?

	75 pages of explanations, techniques, special language, laws, and sample letters that I've used successfully many times.
	How the IRS calculates late filing penalties.
	What the IRS says about penalty abatement.
	What the Law says about penalty abatement.
	What to do immediately when your organization receives a penalty notice from the IRS because the Form 990 was late.
	What "reasonable cause" is.
	"Mitigating factors" and how they can save you.
	Learn about "events beyond the filer's control.".
	How to successfully blame your CPA or other agent.
	How you can show that you acted in a responsible manner by using the IRS's own language.
	Tips from the IRS Penalty Manual.
	How, exactly, to analyze your situation, structure your letter and develop your argument.
	What to do if you are a CPA, attorney, or other advisor and your actions caused the late filing.
	How to write a reasonable cause explanation to get Retroactive Reinstatement of tax-exempt status.
	Other nonprofit penalties that can be removed (abated) for reasonable cause.   Do You Qualify for Penalty Abatement? Not sure if your situation qualifies for "reasonable cause" abatement? Check out this list of nonprofit organizations I've helped get late-filing penalties removed to get an idea of the amazing variety of facts and circumstances the IRS will accept as "reasonable cause."

AUTOMATIC REVOCATION

What if your organization believes its tax-exempt status may have been revoked because it failed to file for three consecutive years? If the IRS has your correct address, you will receive a notice informing you of the revocation. The IRS says that an organization can have its tax-exempt status reinstated retroactively to the date of revocation if it can show that there was "reasonable cause" for the failures to file. Is this the same "reasonable cause" definition that I use in my book? Will the method I show in this e-book for penalty relief also work for retroactive reinstatement of exempt status?  Maybe, but probably not. 

The IRS has released guidance with Notice 2011-44 on what it will accept as reasonable cause for retroactive reinstatment. It is the same concept that I use in this e-book, and I have expanded the e-book to specifically deal with making a request for retroactive reinstatement of tax-exempt status. However, the IRS is approving very few requests for retroactive reinstatement.  Your best chance of success is if you have written documentation from the IRS stating (in error) that the organization was not required to file Form 990. Possibly, having written documentation showing that the organization paid a CPA firm to determine that there was no requirement to file might be accepted as reasonable cause.

This isn't a book of "tricks" known only to me, or special magic secret tactics or any of that hype. It is simply an organized and effective approach using the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and other written guidance from the IRS. It works.

My ebook will help you write a strong argument that will make it easy for the IRS to see how your circumstances qualify for penalty relief under the law (or retroactive reinstatement, if applicable). One of the biggest problems I see in penalty abatement letters is that the organization fills the letter with information about what a wonderful organization it is and how many people it helps every year. The IRS does not care. Such a letter has a low chance of success.

Once I had a call from a private, nonprofit school in another state. They had received a $20,000 penalty from the IRS for late filing. The school president immediately responded to the IRS saying that the CPA they had hired to do the annual audit was supposed to have filed the 990, but didn't. The IRS, as usual, denied their request for penalty relief by saying that it was the organization's responsiblity to file, not the CPA's. In desperation they searched the internet and found me. I wrote a reasonable cause letter on their behalf, using the language and approach in this book, and the penalties were abated. The entire $20,000 penalty was removed. Like I said, it works.

I've been writing penalty abatement letters for my nonprofit clients with great success for over 12 years. It helps to know how to speak the specialized IRS language. With this special manual, I teach you the approach I've learned over the last decade.

It's an INCREDIBLE RELIEF to get that letter from the IRS saying you now owe ZERO!

Just read a few of the unsolicited emails below that I've received from people who have used my Form 990 Penalty Manual or for whom I've written letters (yes, they are real):

Received August 30, 2012 from a CPA who purchased my materials:

"Your web site, materials and work on this topic is absolutely amazing and I am super impressed. It is far better than Thomson Reuters or any of the national resource services that I consulted. I found you through a Google search and I am very impressed with your work." --from Mike, a CPA

Received August 7, 2012 regarding a letter I wrote on the client's behalf requesting retroactive reinstatement of tax-exempt status:

"Hi David, I just finished reading the attachment, and what a brilliantly written letter! You laid the argumeent out perfectly and I understand now what you meant about establishing a timeline. This letter flows so much better [than the one our CPA wrote]. I can really see the time and effort that you put into writing this letter, and I feel that my money was well spent. Regardless of the outcome, I will know that my best effort was put forth. I thank you again for your advice and expertise and I am cautiously optimistic! ... " from T.S., Exec. Dir. of a health clinic.

Received December 19, 2011

"Dear David,
I was devastated when one of our nonprofit clients received a $30,000 late filing penalty. I did not know how to handle such penalties and did not know that they can be abated. With the help of your Form 990 Penalty Abatement e-book I was able to get the entire amount abated. This ebook is full of great and useful information for nonprofits. Due to the special circumstances of our case, our first abatement attempt was rejected by the IRS. We contacted you via email and with your help and guidance the second letter completely abated this huge $30,000 penalty. This book is for anybody who deals with IRS penalties as it has basic and detailed information that is necessary to be successful in removing penalties." ---from L.I., CPA, West Virginia.

Received March 8, 2011

I purchased your publication titled “Form 990 Penalty Relief Manual” a few months ago, and with the help of your publication, we were able to get $46,600 in failure to file penalties waived! This entity was formed about 15 years ago and had never filed a 990. We filed the last three years, one on time and 2 late. This was the penalty on 2 years filed late. (The entity went over the $1mil revenue mark in the second late year, so the penalty max was higher.) Thanks for your guidance! ---from M.H., a professional advisor.

Received November 16, 2010

"Dear Mr. McRee,
When I nervously opened the IRS envelope today, I could not believe my eyes! In the amount owed box, this word appeared in capital letters: NONE!
We owe nothing! Thanks to you and your e-book, the IRS adjusted our penalty of $2156.95 to nothing!

Thank you for your clear, practical and accurate advice. I had previously written the IRS about the penalty.Their response was the penalty would stand. In researching what in the world to do in the face of their response and dreading the severe impact the loss of a large amount of money would have on our little non-profit charity, I came across your website and e-book. I wasn't too sure if a second letter to the IRS about the same penalty would do any good, but your encouragement gave me a little sliver of hope. I pieced together a letter based on your examples and verbiage and miracle of all miracles- it worked!

This was the best money I have spent in a long, long time and I highly recommend to others- do not hesitate; buy this book, follow the advice and I believe you will have a greater opportunity for a successful penalty abatement too.
Thank you again, Cindy."

Received October 29, 2010

"The IRS dropped all $22,000 in fines! Thank you so much for writing this informative and well-written book, and thanks for all of your assistance with writing the penalty abatement request letter -- we could not have done it without you. You really know your stuff, and it's clear that you really care about helping non-profits. Thanks, David!" - Patrick, Austin TX

Received August 2, 2010

I purchased your book by downloading it. It is a great investment! I used it to draft a letter for my client who had received a penalty in the amount of $6,000 for not filing their 2007 990 on time. ...Well it worked. They received a waiver for the $6,000 penalty and they are thrilled. So this really helped them, and I am now the hero...Thank you so much for your invaluable help. Monica

Received June 28, 2010

I am just following up with you on the outcome of the penalty abatement letter. We received a notice (CP210) abating all penalties! Thank you again for your guidance and assistance in reviewing my letter. Have a great day! Cindy

Received April 16, 2010

Just wanted to let you know that you can add [our organization] to your list of satisfied customers who received abatement from the IRS. We just received two letters notifying us that both penalties have been waived. Can't tell you how much we appreciate your assistance with this. You were a huge life saver. From Mike K., Treasurer of a youth sports organization.

Received July 16, 2009

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I received penalty abatements for both clients. Before reading your book, I was about to give up and just pay the penalties. The oversight that gave rise to the penalty was mine. There was no one else to blame. I couldn't even blame the stress of the tax season. Your book changed my outlook on the situation and provided me with everything I needed to write 2 effective penalty removal requests.

One last thank you for the personal advise and email response to my questions. Believe it or not, that alone was worth the price of the book. From Al.
 
Received April 2, 2009

Just wanted to let you know I received two letters from the IRS today abating over $10,000 in penalties. Thanks for your help, the information I received to write the letter requesting the abatement was extremely valuable. Thanks again. From Mark in NY.

Received August 25, 2008:

" Mr. McRee, thanks to you and your treatise on Form 990 penalty abatement, I've been successful in getting $37,400 in penalties abated! I seem short on words, but it's a tremendous feeling opening up the letter from the IRS, searching for the Amount You Owe box and seeing NONE. Let's see $37,400 divided by $$$ is about a 1,000 time return on the cost of your book. It's a great service you've provided for charities like ours. Have a great day. I know I will."  from John J.

Received March 12, 2008:

"Your site was a life saver! I worked for cpa firms before and have written these letters before for corp/individuals, but your info was so much more comprehensive. I have done so many 990s but never had this penalty assessed before as they were always on time, and was shocked at the amount. Wow, you learn something new every day…"
from the Treasurer of a Parent Teacher Association

Received October 29, 2008:

"Before I purchased your "IRS Form 990 Penalty Abatement" I wrote what I believed was a reasonable letter to have the penalty abated. It was rejected. I incorporated some of the language you spell out and it was abated. My client is very happy with the results and I am both very happy and impressed. This is my most cost effective purchase EVER!  Thanks, Donald V., CPA NYC

Received February 20, 2009:

First of all I want to thank you. I just talked to the IRS today and they have abated penalties for 2005 and 2006!!!!!!!!!! 2007 is under review and should also be abated. Your book was wonderful and really helped me with the correct language. It was the best $$$ our organization has ever spent.

Thank you very much for your advice. You have been very helpful to our organization. You really do provide a useful service to people who need it very much. I hope you understand what that means to organizations like us. From Steve, a professional advisor involved with a tax-exempt organization.

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