Of all the types of Corporation's and various business entities that you can form, this is one of the most complex as there are many rules and restrictions that apply to the certain type of non-profit that you want to set-up.
 

A non-profit corporation is exactly what it means, a Corporation that is primarily set-up without the intended purpose to make a profit A school or church, for example, may be two examples, but there are more. The type will of course depend exactly what it the non-profit is intended to accomplish. Some non-profits are set up for a short period of time for one sole purpose, such as for collecting certain donations, while others are set-up to be more perpetual in length. Lasting a very long time. Even longer than the original Incorporator's lives; which is not uncommon. The Red Cross for example might be only one such example, or even a church may be another. 

In setting up this type of entity Corporation, you must not only have approval from the IRS to do so, which may take time after the initial paperwork is filed, but you must also pay a user fee as well, which, depending on the type of Corporation it is and other factors, can vary. The IRS can of course waive this fee, but this is not very likely unless extreme and exigent circumstances prevent the payment thereof. Then again, they will most likely waive it for payment at a later date which is not unheard of.

When it comes to paperwork, there is much input that is needed on your part. And there is a lot of paperwork that will need to be completed prior to filing with the Internal Revenue Service. For this reason, many people will choose accountants like us, or even an attorney to complete it for them as it is quite involved.

When it comes to tax consequences, generally there will be no taxes that need to be paid for this type of entity. Of course this will also depend on various other factors as well, but generally speaking this is the case.  When it comes to forms, depending again, on the type of non-profit that you form, you will have to file Form 990 which is a Non-Profit return for the IRS, or for a Public Foundation for example, you would file Form 990PF.  A church for example, will not have to file the forms though as they exempt from such requirements.  In general though, filing the forms are important and filing them on time even more so as there are extreme penalties that can be levied for not doing so.

When it comes to payroll and such, of course it is no different from any other business. If the entity has paid employees, then all forms required for that will have to be filed on time, including payment of the taxes on the payroll as well. Again, doing this on time is very important.

If you want more information, let us know, we will be more than happy to discuss it with you and if you want to set up a non-profit, by all means let us know. We can do it for you.