Form RRF-1: California Charity Annual Registration Renewal

Important note: This article is general educational information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Confirm any requirement with the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charities and Fundraisers or a qualified professional before you rely on it.

You filed the federal return. You made the deadline, and as far as the IRS is concerned, the year is closed.

If your organization holds charitable assets or does business in California, there is a second filing that month, to a different agency, with its own form and its own fee: Form RRF-1, the Annual Registration Renewal Fee Report, which registered charities file every year with the California Registry of Charities and Fundraisers. It is easy to miss, because the document it carries is the one you just finished.

If you are the one who just got the federal return out the door, this guide is for you. It walks through who files Form RRF-1, what goes with it, what it costs, and what happens to an organization that skips it.

On this page

• Filing your 990 is not California’s charity registration renewal
• Who has to file Form RRF-1
• What goes with Form RRF-1: Form 990 or CT-TR-1
• The RRF-1 renewal fee, by total revenue
• When Form RRF-1 is due, and how an IRS extension carries over
• What happens when RRF-1 is late
• The nine Part B questions
• The $2 million audit requirement
• Filing through the Online Filing Service
• What to settle before the due date
• Getting help with annual filings
• Sources reviewed
• Frequently asked questions
• Related NPO Resources guides

Filing your 990 is not California’s charity registration renewal

The IRS and the California Attorney General do not share a mailbox. The Registry of Charities and Fundraisers supervises charitable assets in California under its own law, and it asks for its own annual report. Form RRF-1 is that report, and a copy of your federal return is one of its attachments. The Registry says it directly: “Filing any version of IRS Form 990 with the IRS does not mean that filing requirements have been met with the Registry.”

Think of a car’s insurance and its registration. Both have to be kept current, they can come due around the same time, and keeping one current does not keep the other current. Letting the registration lapse can stop you from driving legally, however good your coverage is. The Registry’s delinquency page makes the parallel point: an organization that is not in good standing because of delinquency, suspension, or revocation “may not operate or solicit donations in California.”

For an organization on a calendar year, the IRS due date for Form 990 and the Registry’s due date for Form RRF-1 are both May 15. Same date, different agency, two filings.

Who has to file Form RRF-1

The Form RRF-1 instructions say every charitable nonprofit corporation, unincorporated association or trustee holding assets for charitable purposes that is required to register with the Attorney General also files Form RRF-1 each year, “even if the corporation does not file Form 990s annually” with the IRS.

The Registry’s renewal FAQ fills in who that reaches. It is not limited to California corporations or to 501(c)(3) organizations: organizations formed in another state, organizations exempt under other parts of section 501(c), and unincorporated groups are covered when they solicit, do business, or hold charitable assets in or from California.

Two points about the order of things:

• Registration comes first. The FAQ says an organization registers within 30 days after it first receives property — our guide to charitable solicitation registration covers what starts that clock — and that a Form RRF-1 from an organization that never registered is typically returned with a Notice to Register.
• Size does not remove the requirement. “Regardless of the amount of the assets or revenue,” a registered organization files Form RRF-1 annually.

The instructions list the entities exempt from filing: government agencies, a religious corporation sole, regulated cemetery corporations, certain political committees, a charitable corporation organized and operated primarily as a religious organization, educational institution or hospital, licensed health care service plans that report to the Department of Managed Health Care, and certain corporate trustees. If your organization may fit one of these, check the exact wording in the Form RRF-1 instructions before relying on it.

What goes with Form RRF-1: Form 990 or CT-TR-1

Form RRF-1 never travels alone. What goes with it depends on which federal return the organization filed:

One rule turns on what was filed, not what could have been filed. If the organization was eligible for Form 990-N but filed a Form 990 or 990-EZ with the IRS anyway, the Registry wants that return, and Form CT-TR-1 is not required. An organization that files no Form 990-series return at all because its revenue is under the federal threshold also sends Form CT-TR-1. Private foundations send Form 990-PF rather than Form CT-TR-1.

If you are unsure which federal return your organization should be filing, our guides to Form 990 filing requirements and Form 990-N cover the thresholds.

The RRF-1 renewal fee, by total revenue

Every registrant pays a renewal fee with Form RRF-1, set on a sliding scale by total revenue for the year being reported. The Registry lists these fees as of January 1, 2022:

From the Form RRF-1 instructions and the Registry’s renewal page, read 16 September 2026. Fees change; check the source.

“Total revenue” here is broad. The instructions define it to include contributions, noncash contributions, gifts, grants, investment income, membership dues, program service revenue, special event revenue and other revenue — for an IRS filer, the total revenue line on Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF.

If you amend a report, no second fee is due unless the amended report changes the fee, for example because reported total revenue went up.

When Form RRF-1 is due, and how an IRS extension carries over

Form RRF-1 and its attachments are due four months and 15 days after the fiscal year ends. For a calendar year, that is May 15, the same date as the federal return.

The Registry does not describe a separate California extension request. It honors IRS extensions: if the IRS has extended your Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF, your Form RRF-1 is extended too. The Registry’s due-date table puts a calendar-year organization at May 15, or November 15 with an IRS extension.

How to use an extension properly, per the instructions and FAQ:

• File with the IRS first. The Registry asks registrants with an extension not to file with it before filing with the IRS.
• Then file Form RRF-1 and the federal return with the Registry at the same time, with the fee and a copy of the IRS extension request — and, where approval is not automatic, the approved extension.
• You do not need to tell the Registry in advance. The instructions put it in capitals: “IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO SEND A COPY OF THE EXTENSION REQUEST PRIOR TO FILING THE REPORT.”

What happens when RRF-1 is late

The possible consequences add up, and the Registry lists them together: late fees, penalties, a delinquent registration status, suspended or revoked status, other legal action, and loss of tax-exempt status with the California Franchise Tax Board.

Three of those are worth reading closely.

• A monthly late fee, on top of the renewal fee. Government Code section 12586.1 allows a late fee of $25 for each month or part of a month after the report was due, or after the extension period. The Registry adds that “Charitable assets cannot be used to pay late fees.”
• The tax consequence. Form RRF-1 itself warns that failing to file may result in the loss of tax exemption and a minimum tax of $800, plus interest, and/or fines or filing penalties.
• Losing good standing. An organization that is not in good standing because of delinquency, suspension, or revocation may not operate or solicit donations in California.

An incomplete filing is its own problem. The Registry says a filing without all the forms and fees can move an organization’s status from Current to “Current – Reporting Incomplete.”

If your organization has fallen behind, the Registry runs a Delinquency Program, with FAQs and a call line on its delinquency page. Ahead of launching its new Online Filing Service, the Registry also gave deadline relief: renewal filings due between January 7, 2025 and August 31, 2026 could be filed by August 31, 2026, without a request. That date has passed, so the relief no longer covers a filing that is still outstanding.

The nine Part B questions

Part A of Form RRF-1 asks for five figures from your records: total revenue, noncash contributions, total assets, program expenses and total expenses. Part B asks nine yes-or-no questions, and every one must be answered. A “yes” needs a separate page explaining it. Part B works like a home inspector’s checklist: short yes-or-no questions, where each “yes” opens a follow-up.

The first question asks the most of a “yes.” The instructions ask for the name and position of the person involved, the nature of the transaction, and a copy of the board minutes that authorized it, plus terms and amounts where they apply. Minutes recorded when the board approves a transaction are the document this question asks for later; a written conflict of interest policy can set out how the board handles those approvals.

The Registry explains the purpose of the form plainly: it is meant to help with early detection of charity fiscal mismanagement and unlawful diversion of charitable assets. That purpose explains why several of the questions focus on insiders, losses and outside fundraisers.

The $2 million audit requirement

Question 8 connects to a separate rule. Under Government Code section 12586(e), a charity required to report to the Attorney General that receives or accrues gross revenue of $2,000,000 or more in a fiscal year must prepare financial statements audited by an independent certified public accountant.

The threshold leaves out grants from, and contracts for services with, government entities when the government entity requires an accounting of the funds received. For example, if an organization had $2.4 million in gross revenue and $600,000 of it came from a contract for services with a government agency that requires an accounting of those funds, the statute says that contract revenue is not counted toward the threshold. Whether a particular grant or contract qualifies depends on its terms, so confirm with your CPA or counsel before concluding the audit requirement does not apply.

If your organization crosses the $2 million line, our list of nonprofit audit firms shows CPA firms that work only or mostly with nonprofits. Confirm that the firm you hire can practice in California.

Filing through the Online Filing Service

The Registry now directs annual renewals to its Online Filing Service, where you complete Form RRF-1, upload the supporting documents and pay the fee.

Getting in includes a step that is new with this system: linking the organization’s record to your account.

1. Create an account with an email address and a verification code.
2. Link the organization using its registration code and an identifying number such as the FEIN. The Registry says linking may take hours. It is like setting up online access to a utility account: you need a code from the organization’s paperwork before the portal shows you its record.
3. Choose “File a Form RRF-1” from the Charities/Trustees section.

The registration code is in the Confirmation of Registration the organization received when it first registered. The Registry also says an Online Filing Service registration code letter was mailed to each organization’s address on record in August 2026. If nobody can find it, the portal has a support request for access, and codes are provided only to people authorized to manage the organization’s record.

The public side works too: anyone can look up an organization’s registration status through the Registry’s search tool. Donors, funders and board members are among the people who check it.

What to settle before the due date

Start with these, and add to them as the organization grows:

1. Look up your status in the Registry’s search tool, so you know whether you are filing a routine renewal or catching up.
2. Find the registration code, including the August 2026 letter, and link the organization in the Online Filing Service before the deadline month.
3. Decide the attachment: the federal return as filed, without Schedule B, or Form CT-TR-1 if you filed Form 990-N.
4. Answer Part B with the board, especially related-party transactions. Gather the board minutes for a “yes” on question 1, and the attachments the instructions list for any other “yes.”
5. Put May 15, or your fiscal-year equivalent, on the calendar next to the federal date — our nonprofit compliance calendar checklist is a starting point.

If your organization files Form 990-N and every Part B answer is “no,” the list stays short: check your status, link the account, send Form CT-TR-1 with Form RRF-1, answer the nine questions, and set the date.

Getting help with annual filings

To work from the official sources directly, our compliance resource finder lists federal and state pages with the date each was last checked.

Sources reviewed

Every fact above was read on the pages below on 16 September 2026. Fees, forms and procedures change; check the source before relying on any figure here.

• Registry of Charities and Fundraisers — Annual Registration Renewal — required filings, due dates, IRS extensions, fees, the Online Filing Service, and the 2026 deadline relief.
• Form RRF-1 and instructions (Rev. 01/2024) — who files, exemptions, extensions, total revenue, Part B.
• Form CT-TR-1 and instructions (Rev. 01/2024) — the Annual Treasurer’s Report.
• Registry of Charities and Fundraisers — Delinquency — status changes and good standing.
• California Government Code section 12586 — the $2 million audit requirement and audit committee.
• California Government Code section 12586.1 — the monthly late fee.
• Registry Search Tool — public registration status.
• IRS — Annual exempt organization return due date — the federal May 15 due date and Form 8868.

Frequently asked questions

Related NPO Resources guides

• Charitable solicitation registration — what triggers registration, and how states differ.
• AG990-IL: Illinois charity annual report — the Illinois equivalent, where who raises the money sets the audit line.
• CHAR500: New York charity annual filing — the New York equivalent, where the registration category sets the due date.
• BCO-10: Pennsylvania charity registration — Pennsylvania’s registration and renewal, where fees and audit levels follow national contributions.
• North Carolina charitable solicitation license — North Carolina’s license, where paying an officer can remove the small-organization exemption.
• New Jersey charity registration — New Jersey’s registration, where the audit line counts only monetary donations.
• Form 990 filing requirements — the federal return that goes with Form RRF-1.
• Form 990-N (e-Postcard) — the IRS filing that sends small organizations to Form CT-TR-1 instead.
• Nonprofit compliance calendar checklist — putting state and federal deadlines on one calendar.
• Compliance resource finder — official federal and state sources, each with the date last checked.