CHAR500: New York Charity Annual Filing, Due Dates and Fees

Important note: This article is general educational information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Confirm any requirement with the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau or a qualified professional before you rely on it.

You searched “CHAR500” because a deadline is coming, or because a funder asked whether your New York filing is current, and the answers you found assume you already know which rules apply to you.

That assumption is the problem. CHAR500 is the annual filing that registered charities send to the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, and the same filing answers to two different laws. Which one your organization is registered under decides when the filing is due, whether you can claim an exemption, what the fee is, and what happens if it is late.

If you are the person who has to get this filed, start with your registration category. Everything below follows from it.

On this page

• One CHAR500, two New York laws
• Who registers and files CHAR500
• Exempt organizations still file
• CPA review or audit: the Article 7-A revenue tiers
• CHAR500 fees
• When CHAR500 is due, and the 180-day extension
• Filing CHAR500 online
• What happens if CHAR500 is not filed
• What to settle before the due date
• Getting help with annual filings
• Sources reviewed
• Frequently asked questions
• Related NPO Resources guides

One CHAR500, two New York laws

New York registers charities under two statutes, and the Charities Bureau’s instructions spell them out. Article 7-A of the Executive Law covers organizations that solicit contributions from New York, “including residents, foundations, corporations, government agencies and other entities.” Section 8-1.4 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, the EPTL, covers charitable organizations that are incorporated, formed, or otherwise conduct activity in New York.

That gives three registration types: Article 7-A only, EPTL only, and dual, meaning both. The Bureau’s instructions for CHAR500-C, the combined version of the form, put the consequence plainly: “You must know under which statutes your organizations (parent and each affiliate) are registered with the Charities Bureau to determine which parts of these instructions apply to each organization.”

A driver’s license works a little like this. One card can carry more than one class, and each class comes with its own conditions. Your registration is the card, and the category on it is the class. It decides which conditions apply when you file CHAR500.

To find your category, search for the organization in the Charities Registry. The Bureau’s extension notice points there too: visit the Charities Registry “to confirm your registration category.”

Who registers and files CHAR500

The Attorney General’s annual filing page states the rule broadly: “All charitable organizations operating in New York are required by law to register and file annual financial reports with the Office of the New York State Attorney General.” That covers an organization that conducts charitable activities, holds property used for charitable purposes, or solicits contributions.

Two details catch organizations that think they do not solicit:

• Grants count. The FAQ on the annual filing page describes soliciting charitable contributions as “including grants from foundations and government grants.” An organization that raises money mainly through grant applications is still soliciting.
• The $25,000 exemption has a condition and a clock. Under Executive Law section 172-a, an organization that receives less than $25,000 in gross contributions in a fiscal year does not have to register under Article 7-A, provided none of its fundraising is carried on by professional fundraisers or fundraising counsel. Once contributions go over $25,000, it registers within 30 days.

Some organizations are outside these rules entirely. Religious organizations, and organizations operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with one, are excluded from Article 7-A and from the EPTL reporting requirements. Both statutes list other exemptions, including certain educational institutions, and the registration page lets you claim one during the online registration. If the organization has never registered, that comes first: registration is filed online with form CHAR410. Our guide to charitable solicitation registration covers what triggers it in other states.

Exempt organizations still file

Qualifying for an exemption under the annual reporting rules does not remove the annual filing. It changes what the filing says.

A jury summons is a fair comparison. You may have a good reason to be excused, but you are excused by answering the summons, not by setting it aside.

• Article 7-A. For a year in which a registered organization would have been exempt, or did not solicit or receive contributions, Executive Law section 172-b(3) requires a report stating the nature of the exemption and the facts it rests on, instead of the financial report.
• EPTL. Under EPTL section 8-1.4(q), an organization is exempt from annual reporting when its gross receipts were less than $25,000 and its total assets did not exceed $25,000 at any time during the year. The exemption is claimed “by filing each year” a verified statement.

In the online filing, the exemption questions sit inside CHAR500 itself. The user guide describes a section that establishes whether your organization qualifies for an exemption and another that determines the category under which you are required to file this year.

CPA review or audit: the Article 7-A revenue tiers

For organizations registered under Article 7-A, Executive Law section 172-b ties the financial statements that go with CHAR500 to gross revenue and support for the year:

From Executive Law section 172-b, read 21 September 2026. The statute measures “gross revenue and support.” If your total sits close to a line, check the statute’s wording with your CPA.

A review is not always the end of it. The statute lets the Attorney General look at a review report and decide that the organization should obtain an audit, which is then due within 120 days of the request.

You do not pick the tier yourself in the portal. The CHAR500 user guide says that, depending on the financial numbers you enter, you may be asked to upload a CPA’s audit report or financial review, and the form tells you what to upload. If you are unsure which federal return feeds those numbers, our guide to Form 990 filing requirements covers the thresholds.

For a CPA review or audit, 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 New York.

CHAR500 fees

The fee follows the registration category.

• Article 7-A: a fee of $25 accompanies the financial report, under section 172-b.
• EPTL: a fee set by the net worth of the property held for charitable purposes, under EPTL section 8-1.4(p):

From EPTL section 8-1.4, read 21 September 2026. Fees change; check the source.

A dual registrant files one report, and each statute sets its own fee for the financial report. In the online portal, payment is the last step: once the required people have signed, the organization receives an email with the amount due and pays through the portal.

When CHAR500 is due, and the 180-day extension

For a calendar year, CHAR500 is due May 15 for Article 7-A and dual registrants and June 30 for EPTL-only registrants, or November 15 and December 31 with the automatic 180-day extension. The Charities Bureau publishes the full table by fiscal year end; for a December 31 year end:

• Article 7-A or dual: May 15, the 15th day of the fifth month after the year ends. Extended: November 15.
• EPTL only: June 30. Extended: December 31.

The extension does not have to be requested. Since a notice dated March 17, 2015, the Bureau grants an automatic 180-day extension of time to file: “A written request is not required.” The same notice adds two conditions worth knowing. It does not change what the IRS requires, and an organization required to file an extension request with the IRS keeps it with its records for at least three years, available to the Bureau on request. The Bureau may also deny an extension in its discretion, even where the IRS approved one.

For a 7-A or dual registrant on a calendar year, the CHAR500 date lines up with the federal one: the IRS due date for Form 990 is also May 15, with an automatic six-month extension on Form 8868. For an EPTL-only registrant, the state date comes later than the federal one.

Filing CHAR500 online

CHAR500 is filed through the Bureau’s online filing portal. The CHAR500 instructions (Online User Guide) walks through it in this order:

1. Create an account, or use the one you used for online registration, and activate it from the email.
2. Enter the organization’s six-digit New York registration number and the fiscal year. The number is on the registration approval letter, or in the Charities Registry.
3. Confirm the contact information, registration category, contributions from New York, and any exemption.
4. Enter the financial figures from the organization’s IRS return, and answer the questions on professional fundraisers and government grants.
5. Upload the documents the form lists, as PDFs: the IRS return with Schedule B removed, and any CPA report it asks for.
6. Review, then send the filing by email for electronic signature to the required signers: two, for all organizations except trusts.
7. Pay the fee once they have signed.

Two details in the guide are worth reading closely. First, the filing year follows the fiscal year’s start date: “a 7/1/2020 to 6/30/2021 fiscal year is a 2020 filing.” Second, all organizations except trusts need two different signatories. For an Article 7-A report, section 172-b has it signed by the president or other authorized officer and the chief fiscal officer, who certify it under penalties for perjury. The signature requests come from “NYS OAG Via DocuSign” and can take up to 15 minutes to arrive, so tell both people to watch for it and to check spam.

Most statuses in the portal run on their own time limit, like a parking meter. When one runs out, the filing expires. The guide says you can resume it, and the information you entered is saved.

What happens if CHAR500 is not filed

The consequences follow the registration category, and a dual registrant faces both sets.

The third one can go unnoticed until a funder looks the organization up.

What to settle before the due date

Start with these, and add to them as the organization grows. A short list you actually run each year beats a perfect one you avoid.

1. Look up the organization in the Charities Registry and write down the registration category and the six-digit registration number.
2. Put the right date on the calendar: May 15 or June 30 for a calendar year, depending on the category — our nonprofit compliance calendar checklist is a place to keep it next to the federal date.
3. Check the revenue tier with your accountant early, if gross revenue and support is near $250,000 or $1 million, so a review or audit report is ready in time.
4. Confirm the required signers (two, unless the organization is a trust) and the email addresses they will actually check.
5. Prepare the IRS return as a PDF with Schedule B removed, with all pages included.

If the organization is exempt from annual reporting, the list is shorter but not empty: confirm the category, file CHAR500 to claim the exemption, and get it signed.

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 21 September 2026. Fees, forms and procedures change; check the source before relying on any figure here.

• NY Attorney General — Charities annual filing (CHAR500) — who registers and files, grants as contributions.
• CHAR500 Online User Guide (Charities Bureau, 9/12/2023) — the filing steps, signatures, statuses and time limits.
• Extension Request Procedure Change: 180 Day Extension of Time to File is Granted — the automatic extension and due dates by category.
• Instructions for Form CHAR500-C — registration types and Article 7-A penalties.
• Executive Law section 172-a — exemptions from Article 7-A registration.
• Executive Law section 172-b — annual reports, CPA review and audit tiers, the fee, cancellation.
• EPTL section 8-1.4 — EPTL reporting, the net-worth fee, the annual reporting exemption, fines.
• Charities Registry search — registration category, number and filing status.
• IRS — Annual exempt organization return due date — the federal May 15 due date and Form 8868.

Frequently asked questions

Related NPO Resources guides

• Form RRF-1: California charity registration renewal — California’s annual filing, due the same day as a calendar-year 990.
• AG990-IL: Illinois charity annual report — the Illinois equivalent, where who raises the money sets the audit line.
• 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.
• Charitable solicitation registration — what triggers registration, and how states differ.
• Form 990 filing requirements — the federal return whose figures feed CHAR500.
• 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.