New York Nonprofit Charity Compliance Checklist

About This Checklist

This checklist contains the requirements to continue operating in a charity or nonprofit in New York State.

Record-Keeping

• Do you have copies of board meeting minutes?
  • New York requires organizations to have a least one meeting per year.
  • Organizations in New York must maintain at least three board members; they are not required to reside in New York.
• Did the organization file all required state tax and financial documents?
  • See below for a list of state requirements.
  • Note that a certified public accountant is required to do some of these if revenue or support exceeds $500,000.
• Have you reviewed the federal compliance checklist?
  • Federal requirements include a 990 tax form to the IRS.

Annual Filing

Note that many of these items must be done by a certified public accountant. Therefore, any organization in New York State should use a CPA knowledgeable in New York nonprofit regulations.

NYS Attorney General’s Charities Bureau

• Form CHAR500
  • NYS Annual Filing for Charitable Organizations
• Financial Report
  • Less than $250,000 in revenue and support
    • Unaudited Financial Report
  • More than $250,000 but not more than $1 million
    • Financial Report with independent CPA’s review
  • In excess of $1 million
    • Financial report with CPA audited financial statement

NYS Department of State

• Form CHAR500 (NYS Annual Filing for Charitable Organizations)
  • Required for nonprofits with at least $250,000 in annual support and revenue
• Funding Disclosure Report and Financial Disclosure Report
  • Required by "Any covered entity that makes an in-kind donation of staff, staff time, personnel, or any other human resources, offices or office supplies with a value in excess of $10,000 to a recipient entity during a relevant reporting period..."
  • Required to be done by a certified public accountant if funds exceed $750,000 per Subsection (9) of Section 172-b of the New York Executive Law

NYS Department of Taxation

• Form NYS-45 (Quarterly Combined Withholding, Wage Reporting and Unemployment Insurance Return)
• Form NYS-1 (Return of Tax Withheld)