If your volunteer fire department has failed to satisfy the Internal Revenue Service’s annual filing requirement for tax-exempt status, you could be throwing money away.

The deadline to file for one-time filing relief is Oct. 15. The one-time relief allows small organizations to come back into compliance and retain their tax-exempt status even though they failed to file for three consecutive years. Any organization that loses its tax-exempt status will need to reapply to regain its tax-exempt status. Any income received between the revocation date and renewal exemption may be taxable.

The list of organizations by state at risk of losing their tax-exempt status includes many volunteer fire departments across the country.

The one-time-relief-only benefits Form 990-N(e-Postcard) and Form 990-EZ filers only. Organizations required to file Form 990 or Form 990-PPF are not eligible and are automatically revoked if they fail to file for three consecutive years. Form 990-N filers must file as required by October 15th.
Refer to the IRS website for further details including Ten Things Tax-Exempt Organizations Need to Know about the Oct. 15 Due Date. [http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228439,00.html]