Glossary

Group exemption

One IRS approval that makes all the chapters of an organization tax-exempt, so each chapter doesn’t need its own IRS letter.Also called: group ruling, group letter

Group exemption letter

The IRS letter that grants your group exemption. It shows your GEN.Also called: group ruling letter

GEN (group exemption number)

The 4-digit number the IRS gave your group exemption, e.g. 0925. It’s on your group exemption letter.Also called: group number

Central organization

The national, state or regional organization that holds the group exemption and oversees the chapters. That’s you, if you’re filing.Also called: central, parent, federation

Chapter

A local organization covered by your group exemption. The IRS form calls chapters “subordinates”.Also called: subordinate (IRS term), club, post, unit

Form 15644

The yearly IRS form a central organization files to update its chapter list and confirm it supervises its chapters. “SGRI” is the IRS’s name for the information on it.Also called: SGRI (Supplemental Group Ruling Information)

Rev. Proc. 2026-8

The IRS rulebook for group exemptions (a “Revenue Procedure”), in effect since Jan 20, 2026. It replaced the 1980 rules.Also called: the new rules

Filing window

The period when you can file the yearly Form 15644: from 90 days to 30 days before your organization’s fiscal year ends.Also called: your window

Annual update and interim update

An annual update is the yearly filing in your window. An interim update is an extra filing you can make any time, for example to remove a chapter.

Cleanup deadline (Jan 22, 2027)

Groups whose letter existed on Jan 20, 2026 must bring their chapter list in line with the new rules before Jan 22, 2027: one letter, at least one chapter, one tax category, and chapters you actually supervise (Rev. Proc. 2026-8 §12.02).Also called: transition deadline, transition relief

Form 990-N (e-Postcard)

The short online notice that small nonprofits (usually under $50,000 a year in receipts) file with the IRS each year instead of a full Form 990.Also called: 990-N

Group return

One Form 990 filed by the central organization on behalf of some or all chapters. Chapters on a group return don’t file their own 990-N.

Automatic revocation

By law, an organization that misses its yearly IRS filing three years in a row loses its tax-exempt status automatically.Also called: auto-revoked, revoked

Reinstatement

Applying to the IRS to get tax-exempt status back after automatic revocation. A revoked chapter can rejoin your group only after this.

More-than-half rule

The IRS may end the whole group exemption if more than half of its chapters have been automatically revoked.Also called: 50% meter

General supervision

What the central must do each year: collect and review each chapter’s finances and activities, and remind it how to stay exempt. A copy of a chapter’s 990-N isn’t enough.Also called: supervision or control

501(c) paragraph

The part of the tax code an organization is exempt under, e.g. 501(c)(3) for charities or 501(c)(8) for fraternal societies. Under Rev. Proc. 2026-8 all chapters in a group must share one; groups whose letter existed on Jan 20, 2026 have until Jan 22, 2027 to remove the others (§§4.03(2)(a), 12.02(2)(e)). The central can be under a different paragraph.Also called: IRC subsection, tax-exempt category

EIN

The 9-digit IRS number of an organization (like 12-3456789). Your central and each chapter have their own.Also called: employer identification number

IRS roster file

The IRS’s public monthly list of tax-exempt organizations. It shows which chapters are listed under each GEN.Also called: EO Business Master File, EO BMF

Starting roster (Oct 1, 2024)

An Internet Archive copy of the IRS roster file, captured Oct 1–3, 2024. We compare it with today’s file to find chapters revoked since then.Also called: baseline, snapshot

Removal

A chapter you take off your group’s list on Form 15644 (Part III, Section B), for example because it was revoked or closed.Also called: entry type: removal

Tax Exempt Organization Search

The IRS’s free website for checking any organization’s current status by EIN. Use it to confirm a single organization; it draws on the same IRS data as the bulk files and can lag too.Also called: TEOS

Checked against Rev. Proc. 2026-8 and the Form 15644 instructions (Rev. 10-2026). General information, not tax or legal advice.