The IRS has issued a one-time relief program for small nonprofit organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status. Thousands of small nonprofits failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009, likely because they did not fully understand the change in law regarding tax filing. These organizations can preserve their status by filing returns by Oct. 15, 2010.

The names and addresses of organizations at risk for losing their tax-exempt status are posted on the IRS website, along with guidance about how to come back into compliance. The organizations on the list have return due dates between May 17 and Oct. 15, 2010, but the IRS has no record that they filed the required returns for any of the past three years.

Two types of relief are available for small exempt organizations -- a filing extension for the smallest organizations required to file Form 990-N, Electronic Notice (e-Postcard), and a voluntary compliance program for small organizations eligible to file Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax.

Small organizations required to file Form 990-N simply need to go the the IRS website, supply the eight information items called for on the form, and electronically file it by Oct. 15. That will bring them back into compliance. Tax-exempt organizations eligible to file Form 990-EZ must file their delinquent annual information returns by Oct. 15 and pay a compliance fee.

The relief is not available to larger organizations required to file the Form 990 or to private foundations that file Form 990-PF. Organizations that have not filed the required information returns by Oct. 15, 2010, will have their tax-exempt status revoked, and the IRS will publish a list of these revoked organizations in early 2011. Donors who contribute to at-risk organizations are protected until the final revocation list is published.