Reclassification of Foundation Status Q & A​

Every year thousands of 501(c)(3) applicants that could qualify as public charities end up as private foundations.  If you believe your organization has been misclassified, it is up to you to be proactive and seek the IRS public charity status your organization is entitled to.  This Q & A is designed to help you do that.  Note that these instructions may not help in situations where an organization is more than five years old, or when there has been an IRS automatic revocation.

Preliminary Questions
     Question 1 - Is there a way to confirm our foundation status?
     Question 2 - How can we fix a mistake in our foundation status?

Filling Out the Forms
     Question 3 - How do we fill out the electronic Form 8940?
                Includes:  Form 8940, Part I (page 1) Identification of Applicant
                                  Form 8940, Part II (page2) Type of Request
                                  Form 8940, Part III (page 2) Explanation of Request
                                  Form 8940 Part IV, (page 2) Signature
                                  Upload checklist (page 3)
                                  Schedule G (page 25)
                                  Supplemental Response Page
                                  PDF Attachment
     Question 4 - (Schedule A) How do we decide which type public charity status to ask for?
                  Includes: Completing Form 990, Schedule A, Part II
                                   Completing Form 990, Schedule A, Part III

   After Submitting Form 8940
     Question 5 - How long does it take for the IRS to process Form 8940?
     Question 6 - Can we expedite our Form 8940?
     Question 7 - What if the IRS does not respond by the due date of our annual IRS return?
​
Miscellaneous Questions
     Question 8 - Why did this happen?
     Question 9 - Are there any alternatives to filing Form 8940?
     Question 10 - We were told we need to go through a "private foundation termination."

If you would like all the information in this Q & A in a free Microsoft Word document,

please send an email request to easandc3book@gmail.com.

This information is not available in the 2020 revision of Prepare Your Own​​​​​