New York Nonprofit, Charity, and Legal Entity Setup

  • Updated on Oct 12, 2022
  • Published on Jul 20, 2022
  • 4 minute(s) read
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Who is this article for?

Anyone wanting to start a nonprofit or charity in the state of New York.

Nonprofits operating in New York are subject to the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (the “N-PCL”). There are two types of nonprofits recognized in the state:

  • Religious corporations
  • Non-religious corporations
    • Type A: Non-business purposes: civic, patriotic, political, social, fraternal, athletic, agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry, and for a professional, commercial, industrial, trade or service association.
    • Type B: Non-business purposes: charitable, educational, religious, scientific, literary, cultural or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
    • Type C: A nonprofit formed for public or quasi-public purposes (those usually performed by a business corporation)
    • Type D: Other purposes

Here are the steps to starting a nonprofit in New York. Some pieces of information are taken from the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc.

New York Nonprofit Incorporation Overview

Items Needed During This Process

New York Department of State

Nonprofits must register as a corporation with the New York Department of State - Division of Corporations, State Records and Uniform Commercial Code.

Here are the requirements to incorporating your nonprofit:

  • Certificate of Incorporation
    • You can find instructions for filling out the form here.
    • Check if you have a duplicate business name here.
  • $75 filing fee (regular processing)
    • Pay via Mastercard, Visa or American Express, money order; checks should be made to Department of State
  • You also have the option to avail of expedited processing. Here are the fees:
    • $25 per document, processing within 24 hours
    • $75 per document, within the same day
    • $150 per document, within 2 hours

New York State Agency

You should also get written consent from the matching New York State agency for your nonprofit. This will be attached to your Certificate of Incorporation.

Identify which purpose your charity corresponds to. You can find the different purposes here.

These are the agencies you’ll be needing written consent from:

NYS Department of Taxation and Finance

As a nonprofit in New York, you must also get NYS-specific Tax Identification Numbers/Accounts from the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. If operating in New York City, you have to register for city taxes with the The City of New York Finance Commissioner.

You can also check out this more detailed New York State tax guide for new businesses for additional information.

Here are the requirements for Corporation Franchise Tax Exemption:

  • Form CT-247
  • IRS determination letter
  • Articles of incorporation
  • Bylaws

You can submit these requirements to:
NYS Tax Department
Corporation Tax Account Resolution
W A Harriman Campus
Albany NY 12227-0852

Here are the requirements for Sales Tax Exemption:

  • Form ST-119.2
  • Articles of incorporation
  • Bylaws
  • IRS determination letter
  • Statement of activities (present and future activities)
  • Statement of receipts and expenditures
  • Statement of assets and liabilities

You can submit these requirements to:
NYS Tax Department
Sales Tax Exempt Organizations Unit
W A Harriman Campus
Albany NY 12227-0852

Here is how you can apply for Real Estate Property Tax Exemption. You can get more information here.

  • The application is two-fold. First, you must fill up a form for the corresponding organization purpose.
    • 420-a: Charitable, Educational, Hospital, Moral or Mental Improvement of Men, Women or Children or Religious
    • 420-b: Benevolent, Bible, Enforcement of Law Relating to Children or Animals, Historical, Infirmary, Library, Literary, Missionary, Patriotic, Public Playground, Scientific, Supervised Youth Sportsmanship or Tract
  • Then, you must fill up a form for specific property use. Fill up this form:
  • Attach the following documents as well:
    • Articles of Incorporation
    • Bylaws
    • Deed of sale of property
    • Certificate of Occupancy

You can submit the requirements to:
New York City Department of Finance
Commercial Exemptions – NFP
59 Maiden Lane, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10038

New York State Office of the Attorney General

You must register for charitable solicitation with the NYS Attorney General Charities Bureau, which is done online. Here’s a comprehensive user guide to signing up on the site.

Here are the requirements:

  • Account with the Office of the Attorney General
  • EIN
  • IRS determination letter
  • Information about the nonprofit's officers, directors, trustees, key employees/key persons
    • Name, email, mailing address
  • Any professional fundraisers hired by the organization
    • Name, address, contract start and end dates
  • At least 100-word description of the organization's charitable purposes
  • Signatures of two authorized officers
    • President or authorized officer/trustee
    • Chief financial officer or treasurer
  • PDF copies of the following:
    • Certificate of Incorporation or other organizing document
    • Bylaws or other rules document
  • Filing fee of $25 (2 to 3 months processing)

Additional Requirements

You can also check other licenses that you need to apply or register for, particularly the county-specific ones. The New York Business Express lets you generate a checklist of licenses that’s relevant to your nonprofit after answering a few questions.

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