Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

🧾 Form 990-EZ: Part V/VI Questions 47–49b Not Displaying

In the 990 Tracker application, Questions 47 through 49b of Form 990-EZ (Part V/VI) may not appear by default. This behavior is intentional and follows IRS conditional display rules for Form 990-EZ. The visibility of these questions depends on the answers provided to earlier questions in Part V.

Conditional Display Logic

To make Questions 47–49b visible, the following Part V questions must all be answered “No”:

Controlling Question Required Value Description
44a No Did the organization engage in any unrelated business activities?
44b No Were substantially all activities related to exempt purposes?
45b No Did the organization engage in lobbying activities or political expenditures?

If any of these are answered “Yes”, the subsequent questions (47–49b) are not applicable and will remain hidden in the form.

Why This Happens

This display logic aligns with the IRS e-file (MeF) schema and business rules that define dependencies between form questions.

The IRS specifications dictate that Part V/VI questions 47–49b should only appear when:

  • There are no unrelated business activities,

  • No political or lobbying activities, and

  • All prior criteria indicate the organization’s activities are fully exempt-purpose related.

This prevents users from entering conflicting or invalid data during form preparation and ensures compliance with IRS validation rules.

How to Resolve

If a user reports that Questions 47–49b are not visible:

  1. Open Part V of the Form 990-EZ in the 990 Tracker application.

  2. Verify the following values:

    • Line 44a = No

    • Line 44b = No

    • Line 45b = No

  3. Click Save or Refresh the form.

  4. The hidden questions (47–49b) will now appear automatically.

If any of those controlling answers remain “Yes,” the questions will stay hidden.

Example Scenarios

Example 1: All “No” responses

44a 44b 45b Result
No No No ✅ Questions 47–49b are displayed

Example 2: One “Yes” response

44a 44b 45b Result
Yes No No 🚫 Questions 47–49b remain hidden

 


Summary

Behavior Explanation
Questions 47–49b hidden One or more of 44a, 44b, or 45b = “Yes”
Questions 47–49b visible 44a, 44b, and 45b all = “No”
Cause Controlled by IRS schema rules
Fix Ensure all three controlling questions are “No” and refresh the form