For US nonprofits that hold an IRS group exemption letter
Your group exemption must meet the new IRS rules by January 22, 2027.
Rev. Proc. 2026-8 replaced the 1980 rules for group exemptions. A parent organization with an existing letter has until January 22, 2027 to put its chapter roster in order: at least one chapter, one letter, every chapter affiliated and under its general supervision or control, and every chapter in the same 501(c) paragraph. The changes go to the IRS on Form 15644, by fax.
We prepare the filing package for a fixed price. A licensed reviewer checks it. Your officer signs and your organization faxes it.
Send your organization's name. Within 2 business days you get a one-page sheet built from the IRS master file. No cost, no obligation.
What is due
Rev. Proc. 2026-8Annual Form 15644 window for groups whose fiscal year ends December 31.
Last day to send the 30-day notice a chapter must get before you remove it.
- Transition period ends.
Roster changes for existing letters must be filed by then.
Annual Form 15644, 30 to 90 days before your fiscal year ends.
Rule text: Rev. Proc. 2026-8 s. 7.01, 8.02(3) and 12.02(2). Fax filing: IRS EO Update, July 14, 2026.
Group exemptions today, from the IRS master file
- 3,957
parent organizations hold an active group exemption letter.
- 321
of them show chapters under more than one 501(c) paragraph.
- 555
show no chapters at all, so they must add one or end the letter.
- Fax only
Form 15644 has no online filing. The IRS takes it at 833-312-5228.
Source: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, files eo1 to eo4, downloaded October 13, 2026. Parents are central organizations (affiliation codes 6 and 8); chapters are the subordinates listed under each group number. The file can lag a group's own records.
The rule
What Rev. Proc. 2026-8 asks of a parent with an existing letter
The IRS published Rev. Proc. 2026-8 on January 20, 2026. It applies now, but four of its requirements give existing letters a transition period that ends January 22, 2027. Before that date, each parent must do the following.
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Have at least one chapter, or end the letter
A parent whose letter covers no chapters must add one or terminate the letter.
Rule text: s. 12.02(2)(b)
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Keep only one group letter
A parent with more than one letter chooses one to keep, sends the IRS copies of all of them, and terminates the rest.
Rule text: s. 12.02(2)(c)
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Confirm every chapter is affiliated and under your general supervision or control
General supervision means that each year you collect and keep each chapter's finances, activities and filing status, and send chapters written information on keeping their exemption. Control means, for example, that you appoint a majority of its board or officers, or hold a written agreement. A chapter you cannot confirm must be removed.
Rule text: s. 12.02(2)(d) and s. 4.02(2) to (4)
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Remove chapters outside your group's 501(c) paragraph
Every chapter must be described in the 501(c) paragraph named in your group application. Chapters in any other paragraph must be removed.
Rule text: s. 12.02(2)(e)
Already in line? Nothing changes.
If you have at least one chapter, one letter, every chapter in the same paragraph, and supervision or control that meets s. 4.02, the rule asks for no roster change. The annual Form 15644 is still due.
Rule text: s. 12.03, Example 4
How it is filed
All of these changes are made through supplemental group ruling information (SGRI) submissions. Since July 14, 2026 the IRS takes SGRI only on Form 15644, sent by fax to 833-312-5228. You may send an update at any time, not only in your annual window.
s. 12.02(2)(f) and 7.01; IRS EO Update, July 14, 2026
Removing a chapter takes 30 days
A chapter must get at least 30 days' notice before the filing that removes it. To finish by January 22, notices go out by about December 23. Read the date math
Rule text: s. 8.02(2) and (3)
What is at stake
If the roster is not in order, every chapter's status is exposed
Your letter is the tax exemption of each chapter on it. The revenue procedure says what the IRS may do when a group does not meet the rules.
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The IRS can end the whole letter
Grounds include having no chapters, failing to exercise general supervision or control over one or more chapters, and not sending timely and complete SGRI.
Rule text: s. 8.01(1)(d), (e), (f) and (i)
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Or remove chapters one by one
The IRS will remove a chapter it finds in a different 501(c) paragraph from the one your group application named.
Rule text: s. 8.02(1)(a)(iv)
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A dropped chapter stands alone
After a removal or termination, the IRS no longer recognizes that chapter's exemption until it gets recognition another way, such as its own application with its own user fee and wait.
Rule text: s. 9.02, 9.03 and 9.05
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No extension so far
Commenters asked for a three-year transition and the IRS declined. As of October 13, 2026 we found no IRS notice moving the January 22, 2027 date.
Notice 2026-8, section on the transition period
What we prepare
The filing package, ready for your officer to sign
Built from your chapter list and the IRS master file. Everything is drafted for your organization to review, decide on, sign and send.
Roster check against the IRS file
Your chapter list matched line by line to the IRS master file: names, EINs and 501(c) paragraphs, plus any chapter on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Form 15644, filled in from your facts
The update for any change due by January 22, and your next annual filing. Each list the rule asks for carries every chapter's name, mailing address and EIN.
Chapter notice letters
Drafts of the 30-day notice before a removal and the notice after it, which must tell the chapter how to get its own recognition. Your officer adapts, signs and sends them.
Supervision records
A yearly request to each chapter for its finances, activities and filing status, a tracker for the answers, and a yearly letter on keeping its exemption: the two things s. 4.02(3) names.
Fax-ready packet and filing record
The signature page marked for your officer, a fax cover sheet, and a dated record of what was sent, for your group exemption file.
Licensed review before you see it
A licensed reviewer, an enrolled agent or exempt-organization attorney, checks every package before it reaches your officer.
Your officers decide
Which chapters stay, which go, and whether your tie to a chapter counts as supervision or control are your organization's decisions. We set out the facts from your records and the IRS file. For a legal opinion on a hard case, ask your own counsel.
Fixed prices, published
From US$2,500 for a group with under 10 chapters to US$8,000 for 50 to 200. Ending a group letter only: US$750 to 1,500.
Who does what
We prepare. A licensed reviewer checks. Your officer signs.
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Group Exemption Desk
We prepare the filing package
- Match your roster to the IRS file
- Draft Form 15644, the chapter notices and the supervision records
- Put it all in a fax-ready packet
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Licensed reviewer
An enrolled agent or exempt-organization attorney checks every job
- Reviews the package before your officer signs
- Included in every price
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Your organization
Your officer signs Form 15644 and your organization faxes it
- Decides which chapters stay
- Signs under penalties of perjury, as the form requires
- Faxes to 833-312-5228 and sends the chapter notices
We never contact the IRS for you and we give no legal advice. We do not sign, file or speak for your organization.
Free
Start with a free readiness sheet
Email us your organization's name, and your group exemption number if you have it handy. Within 2 business days we send one page, read from your record in the IRS master file.
Counts come from the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File and may lag your own records. No cost, no obligation.
- Your chapter countHow many chapters the IRS lists under your group number.
- One paragraph or more?Whether those chapters span more than one 501(c) paragraph.
- Zero chaptersIf none are listed: you must add one or end the letter.
- The step that applies to youWhich part of the rule your group has to act on, with dates.
- Your annual windowWhen your yearly Form 15644 is due, from the fiscal year end on file.
Questions
Questions executive directors and treasurers ask
We think we already meet the rules. Do we file anything?
If you have at least one chapter, one letter, every chapter in the same 501(c) paragraph, and supervision or control that meets the rule, no roster change is needed by January 22. Your annual Form 15644 is still due each year. A roster check is the quickest way to be sure the IRS file agrees with yours.
Rule text: s. 12.03, Example 4; s. 7.01
Can we file online?
Not today. The IRS announced on July 14, 2026 that Form 15644 must be sent by fax to 833-312-5228. It covers annual filings, updates at any time, and ending a group.
Is this legal advice? Who signs?
No, it is not legal advice. We prepare the filing package from your facts. Your officer signs Form 15644, which carries a penalties of perjury declaration, and your organization faxes it. If you need an opinion on a hard case, such as whether a chapter is under your control, ask your own counsel.
Who is the licensed reviewer?
An enrolled agent or an exempt-organization attorney checks every job before your officer signs. The review is included in the price. The reviewer does not contact the IRS for you and neither do we.
Some of our chapters are missing from the IRS file. Why?
The master file lists the chapters the IRS has on record under your group number. New chapters, name changes and removals can take time to show up, and some chapters may never have been added. Matching your list to the IRS file is the first thing we do.
We are a church or a convention of churches.
The rule still applies to your letter, but a church central organization does not have to send the annual Form 15644, and a church chapter's exempt status is not affected by a removal or termination. Our packages are built for other groups. Ask us if you want one anyway.
Rule text: s. 7.05 and 9.04
How long does it take?
Most of the time goes into gathering your chapter list and supervision records. We agree a delivery date in writing when you order. If chapters must be removed, we draft the notice letters first, so they can go out well before December 23.
Why is the supplier a Canadian company?
Group Exemption Desk is run by 1414618 B.C. Ltd. in British Columbia and works with US organizations by email. We invoice in US dollars and give US payers IRS Form W-8BEN-E, the form for foreign entities, instead of a W-9.
Insights
Short notes to forward to your board
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What Rev. Proc. 2026-8 asks of your group by January 22, 2027
The four checks, how they are filed, what happens if you are already in line, and what happens if you are not.
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December 23 is the real cutoff for removing a chapter
The 30-day notice rule, counted back from January 22, and why an earlier date is safer.
Know where your group stands well before December 23.
Send your organization's name. Within 2 business days you get a one-page readiness sheet: your chapter count, your 501(c) paragraphs, the step of the rule that applies and your annual window. Free, no obligation.
Questions? We work by email, so you have everything in writing.
hello@groupexemptiondesk.comA private company. Not part of, approved by or endorsed by the IRS.