On July 1, 2019, the President signed into law H.R. 3151, the “Taxpayer First Act.” The new law mandates the electronic filing of Forms 990, the federal information returns filed by tax-exempt organizations, and the release of those forms to the public in a machine-readable format. The mandatory e-filing provisions will apply to taxable years beginning after July 1, 2019.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide transitional relief for small organizations and organizations that file Form 990-T, and requires the IRS to notify an exempt organization before revoking its tax-exempt status for failure to file a return.