Form 990 Filing just got more complicated. The online service where 990s are filed electronically has recently been hacked.
The Urban Institute, which operates the online filing site for the annual returns nonprofits must file, announced that it “recently discovered that an unauthorized party or parties have gained access to the Form 990 Online and e-Postcard filing systems for nonprofit organizations.”
On the FAQ pages of its website, it also noted that: “Based on current information, we believe no information from the filings themselves was compromised. These forms do not contain Social Security numbers or individual tax filer information, so such sensitive information was not available to the hackers.” The Urban Institute states that the information compromised was usernames, first and last names, email addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, and passwords were accessed. Credit card and social security numbers were not obtained by the intruders.
Users of the system will be required to create a new password next time they log on. However, all users are urged to visit the website to create new passwords right away. Form 990 online filers can do so by clicking here. E-Postcard (990-N) filers can click here.
Many Form 990 and 990EZ filers must file online, as must all filers of the Electronic Postcard.