990-T Overview

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Per the IRS, the purpose of Form 990-T is to:

  • Report unrelated business income (including additions to unrelated business taxable income under section 512(a)(7);
  • Figure and report unrelated business income tax liability;
    Report proxy tax liability;
  • Claim a refund of income tax paid by a regulated investment company (RIC) or a real estate investment trust (REIT), on undistributed long-term capital gain;
  • Request a credit for certain federal excise taxes paid or for small employer health insurance premiums paid; and
  • Report unrelated business income tax on reinsurance entities.

Calculating Form 990-T

Data entry

If you want to calculate Form 990-T:

  1. On the ActivT screen in the 990-T Activities folder, enter an unrelated business code on at least one activity.
  2. Select an unrelated business activity code for at least one income item: 
    • Either go to the Income or IncomePF screen and select the unrelated business code in the statement box for the income item;
    • Or go to the Event, EvenPF, or Rent screen and select the code in the Unrelated business activity field for the activity.

Once you complete those steps, the form will calculate if the sum of all unrelated income amounts (Form 990-T, Page 2, Line 33) is greater than or equal to $1,000; or the current-year overpayment (Form 990-T, Part V, line 54) is at least $1.

If the income amount or overpayment amount requirements above are not met, the form will not calculate. If you need the form to print, you can force it. 

Other scenarios 

The form will also calculate in the following situations:

  • Proxy tax is due on Form 990-T, Part IV related to lobbying activities (section 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), or 501(c)(6) organizations).
  • A claim of refund due to backup withholding is erroneously withheld and the amount of withholding is entered on Screen 990T.
  • For employee provided fringe benefits subject to tax (per TCJA legislation, December 2017) Line 34 will complete based on Screen 990T and prints Form 990-T.

Review the 990-T instructions for more information.

Printing Form 990-T

Forcing to print

  • With Form 990: On the OthInfo screen in the General folder, mark Print Form 990-T (Force).
  • With Form 990-PF: On the 990-PF screen in the General folder, mark Print Form 990-T (Force).

Printing From 990-T without Form 990 or 990-EZ

To print only Form 990-T, access Screen OthInfo, located under the General folder, and mark the Suppress Form 990 / 990-EZ field.

Note: This option is not available for Form 990-PF.

E-filing

Form 990-T can't be e-filed, per the IRS Exempt Organizations e-File - Eligibility and Availability page.

Unrelated business activities

Unrelated business activities are to be grouped and taxed in separate streams, when applicable. In 990 returns, all income and expense amounts print on Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, but only amounts classified as unrelated business activity income print on Form 990-T. This is a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). 

Screens Income and IncomePF 

To enter unrelated business income on the Income and IncomePF screens, open the applicable statement dialogs and select a code in the Unrelated Business column. This is reported on Form 990-T and Form 990, Part VIII or Form 990-PF, Part XVI-A as applicable.

Screens Event, EvenPF, and Rent

To assign unrelated business activities to the Event, EvenPF, and Rent screens, select a code in the Unrelated business activity field. At that point, all income and expenses entered on the screen are considered unrelated business income. This is reported on Form 990-T and Form 990, Part VIII or Form 990-PF, Part XVI-A.

Sales and like-kind exchanges

To classify sales or like-kind exchanges as unrelated business income:

  • For dispositions entered in the asset screen, mark the sale as Unrelated Business Activity in the Income Classifications dialog in the disposal tab.
  • For sales entered on the SchD screen, open the Detail schedule statement and select an unrelated business activity in the UBIT column.

Sale information is calculated on Form 4797 or Form 8824 before printing on Form 990-T.

Troubleshooting

NOL carryover amount does not appear on Form 990-T, line 31

The application limits the pre-2018 NOL deduction to the amount of the current-year income plus any taxable fringe benefits. This is in accordance with Form 990-T instructions. Amounts not used carry over on the pre-2018 NOL Worksheet. If there is a loss in the current year, the application uses zero for the NOL deduction on Form 990-T, line 35.

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