EZ under 250k not required to file even if the EZ is a 990 EZ?

Hi

A Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you in advance for any insights on this.

1.  If there are only $76,000 IN ASSETS, in a veba plan. that has not had a contribution for at least 15 years , and all participants in the plan were terminated 10 years ago at least, still required to file a 990-EZ, since assets for all plans for this entity are under 250K? Also, in general is a 990 still required to be filed for Veba plans or a 5500 SF is sufficient? 

2.IF YES, must the 990 be e-filed, and mailing it in is not allowed anymore?

3. Can this Veba plsn merged with a mp plan of the same entity...(with of course properly allocating, ie prorating, the assets for each of the 2 plans annually)?

Thank you, as always, for any insights

For distinctions between Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-N, there are two dividing lines about an amount:

“Form 990 must be filed by an organization exempt from income tax under section 501(a) . . . if it has EITHER (1) gross receipts greater than or equal to $200,000, OR (2) total assets greater than or equal to $500,000 at the end of the [organization’s] tax year[.]”
. . . .
“If an organization has gross receipts less than $200,000 AND total assets at the end of the tax year less than $500,000, it can choose to file Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, instead of Form 990. See the Instructions for Form 990-EZ for more information.”

Instead of Form 990 or Form 990-EZ, a tax-exempt organization may file Form 990-N if it is “[a]n organization whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less.”

2024 Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (released January 8, 2025) https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990.pdf, at pages 2, 3, 4.

Other rules apply if the organization has income from an unrelated trade or business.

Despite circumstances that permit an organization to choose Form 990-EZ or Form 990-N, one must file Form 990 to change an accounting period.

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.) § 6033(n) generally requires electronic filing. For some practical details, see E-file for charities and nonprofits https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/e-file-for-charities-and-nonprofits.

This is not advice to anyone.
 

Thank you very much Peter. Your vast knowledge is always appreciated. 

1. This entity appears to have to file only the 990N (postcard) as receipts are less than 50k...as NOT in business for  10 years already...(just have not paid out all the veba  participants so plan has been kept going all these years...)

2. Or maybe not required to file even the 990 N since out of business for so many years?

3. What if they have not filed the 990N postcard for at least 3 yesrs alrwdfy...is there a DFVCP for this...

4. I did notice a source that 990 N has no late filing penalties...HOWEVER,  if not filed for 3 years, then loses it's tax excempt status.

5. If this company that sponsors the VEBA (out of business 10 years) also has a DC plan ..(most of participants are the same for both veba abd DV plan)...can the veba be rolled and merged into the DC plan...With of course, accountinh each year to keep the assets of the veba as a rollover. Amount...ie separate from the DC plan assets...but will be one DC plan? Is this allowed? Thank you very much.

If a trust its creator intended as a VEBA has provisions of the kinds the Internal Revenue Service looks for when deciding whether a trust is tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(9), the trust might have one or more provisions that preclude, or make impractical, a merger of the trust’s remaining assets and liabilities into a retirement plan. See, for example, 26 C.F.R. § 1.501(c)(9)-4(d) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/part-1/section-1.501(c)(9)-4#p-1.501(c)(9)-4(d).

If a failure to file Form 990-something has resulted in a revocation of tax-exempt status, the trustees might seek their lawyer’s advice about the IRS’s ways for an organization to restore its status. (This would not be a procedure regarding a failure to file a Form 5500 report.)

Also, a trustee might want one’s lawyer’s advice about whether the trustee breached her responsibility under the applicable law of trusts and other fiduciary relationships.

This is not advice to anyone.