Taxes and Friends Groups

State Taxes and Reporting

Friends groups in Kansas do have to pay sales tax when they purchase items.
Public libraries have the tax exempt status that allows them to not pay sales tax on purchases.

Friends groups in Kansas do not have to collect sales tax when they sell items at book sales, or in their book stores, to benefit the library.  [Kansas Statutes Chapter 79, Article 36]

State Reporting

Friends groups must register as not-for-profits in Kansas with the Secretary of State annually by filing a not-for-profit annual report.

Federal Reporting

The 501(c)(3) status from the IRS gives the Friends of the Library an official non-profit status that allows Friends donors to claim deductions on their income tax.

Remember to file Form-990 annually with the IRSĀ  to keep your Friends group’s 501(c)(3) status. Read this page with an explanation of annual electronic filing requirement for Friends raising less than $50,000 here.

Each month, the Internal Revenue Service updates the listing of organizations that under the law have automatically lost their tax-exempt status because they have not filed as legally required for the past three years.

Check here to verify your group’s exempt status is still valid.

IRS Educational Tutorials on 501c3 status

Visit this IRS site for videos on various stages of an organizations 501c3 status.