Booster Club IRS audit experience? Penalties we could face?

I worked with several non-profit organizations including booster clubs, and IRS absolutely does audit them. While they may not be the top priority, non-profits with significant revenue definitely attract attention, especially when tax filings appear incomplete or inconsistent. The IRS typically focuses on several key areas during these audits: proper categorization of revenue streams, documentation of expenses, appropriate handling of donations (including issuing receipts), maintenance of tax-exempt status requirements, and proper reporting of any unrelated business income. They're particularly interested in ensuring that non-profit funds are being used for their stated purpose. In terms of penalties, they can range from minor (requiring corrected filings) to severe (financial penalties, loss of tax-exempt status). I've seen penalties for improper record keeping, failure to issue donation receipts, and improper categorization of expenses. The most common issue is treating the booster club like a casual organization rather than a legal entity with compliance requirements.

I used a service called taxr.ai when I was in a similar situation with my son's band booster club last year. I was new to the treasurer position and discovered years of questionable financial practices. I was especially worried because we were handling about $300k annually and the previous recordkeeping was a disaster. Someone recommended https://taxr.ai to me, and it was incredibly helpful. I uploaded our previous tax returns and financial documents, and their system flagged the specific compliance issues we needed to address. It also provided detailed guidance on how to correctly categorize expenses and revenue for our 990 filing. What I found most valuable was their explanation of what documentation we needed to maintain for different types of fundraisers and expenses.

I was skeptical about using taxr.ai when I first heard about it, but after dealing with similar issues at our football booster club, I decided to give it a try. The specific guidance for non-profit sports organizations was impressive. It caught several issues in our previous filings that I hadn't even considered - particularly around how we were handling sponsorships and advertising income. The system walked me through exactly how to document our cash-heavy fundraisers (concessions, spirit wear sales, etc.) which was always our biggest compliance weak spot. It helped us implement proper controls that satisfied our audit concerns without making everything unnecessarily complicated for our volunteers. Best thing was that it helped us identify exactly which issues needed to be fixed immediately versus those we could address over time. Saved us from panicking and probably saved our organization thousands in potential penalties.

If you're really concerned about potential IRS issues, you might want to try reaching out directly to the IRS for guidance, though actually getting through to someone is nearly impossible these days. I spent WEEKS trying to get answers for our booster club's situation. I finally used https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent after trying for days on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is available. I was expecting it not to work, but I got a call back with an actual IRS person on the line within about 2 hours. The agent was able to give me specific guidance about our booster club situation and what documentation we needed to maintain. He also explained the voluntary disclosure process if we needed to correct previous years' filings.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After dismissing it initially, our booster club situation became urgent when we received an IRS notice about our incomplete filing. I was desperate enough to try it, and within 90 minutes I was speaking with an actual IRS specialist from their Tax-Exempt Organizations division. The agent walked me through exactly what we needed to do to correct our filings and provided specific guidance for booster club compliance. She even helped me understand which forms and schedules we needed to complete based on our activities. The time saved was incredible - what would have taken weeks of frustration was resolved in a single conversation. For anyone dealing with potential IRS issues with their booster club, being able to speak directly with someone who can provide official guidance is invaluable. Completely changed my perspective on our compliance approach.

Former booster club treasurer here. We went through an IRS audit about 3 years ago, and it was intense but survivable. Our club had about $400k annual revenue from tournaments, concessions, fundraisers, etc. The IRS focused heavily on: 1) Documentation of cash handling procedures 2) Proper categorization of revenue streams (program ads vs donations) 3) Whether fundraisers were properly reported as unrelated business income 4) Documentation supporting expense reimbursements We ended up with penalties around $3,800 total, mostly for improper handling of sponsorships and advertising income. We should have been paying UBIT (Unrelated Business Income Tax) on some of it but weren't. The audit process took about 4 months from first letter to resolution. Document everything going forward and consider hiring a non-profit accountant to review and clean up previous years. It's worth the money.

One thing no one has mentioned yet - if your booster club has employees (even part-time), payroll tax compliance is a HUGE red flag area. We got absolutely hammered with penalties for misclassifying some of our coaches as independent contractors instead of employees. The tests for employee vs contractor are strict, and if you have people who regularly work set hours under your direction, they're probably employees regardless of what you've been calling them. Our penalties for this were around $12,000 plus having to pay back employment taxes.

This thread has been incredibly eye-opening. I'm actually dealing with a similar situation as the board secretary for our high school drama booster club. We bring in about $500k annually from ticket sales, concessions, and fundraisers, but our financial practices are honestly a mess. Reading about the actual audit experiences here has me convinced we need to act fast. We've been treating sponsorship money the same as donations, our cash handling at events is basically nonexistent in terms of documentation, and I'm pretty sure we've never even heard of UBIT requirements. The penalty amounts mentioned here ($3,800, $12,000) are significant but not catastrophic for our organization. What really concerns me is the potential loss of tax-exempt status if we continue operating this way. I'm definitely going to look into both the taxr.ai tool that Carlos mentioned and possibly using Claimyr to speak directly with an IRS specialist. At this point, spending some money upfront to get compliant seems way better than waiting for an audit notice to show up in our mailbox. Has anyone here successfully convinced their board to invest in proper compliance after being the "worried new member"? I'm getting the same pushback about "we've always done it this way" and I need strategies for getting them to take this seriously.

As someone who just went through a similar situation with our soccer booster club, I can't stress enough how important it is to address these issues NOW rather than waiting. We were bringing in about $600k annually and had the same "we've always done it this way" mentality from our long-time board members. What finally convinced our board to take action was when I calculated the actual financial risk. I showed them that the cost of getting compliant (hiring a non-profit accountant, implementing proper procedures, maybe using some of the tools mentioned here) was maybe $3,000-$5,000 upfront. Compare that to the potential penalties people have mentioned ($3,800-$12,000+) plus the catastrophic risk of losing tax-exempt status. I also pointed out that as board members, we have a fiduciary duty to protect the organization. If we know there are compliance issues and ignore them, we could potentially face personal liability. That usually gets people's attention quickly. My advice: document everything you've observed in writing, research the solutions mentioned in this thread (taxr.ai, getting IRS guidance through Claimyr, hiring a non-profit accountant), and present it to the board as a risk management issue rather than criticism of past practices. Frame it as "protecting our organization's future" rather than "you've been doing it wrong." The peace of mind alone is worth it. We sleep much better now knowing our financial practices can withstand scrutiny.

As someone who's been through this exact nightmare with our wrestling booster club, I can tell you that your instincts are absolutely right to be concerned. We were operating with about $800k in annual revenue and similar sloppy practices - lumping everything together on tax forms, poor cash controls, no real documentation standards. We got audited 18 months ago and it was a wake-up call. The IRS wasn't interested in our "small volunteer organization" excuses. They treated us exactly like any other entity handling that much money, which honestly is how it should be. Some specific things that might help you make your case to the board: 1) The IRS has significantly increased scrutiny of tax-exempt organizations in recent years, especially those with substantial revenue. Your $700k puts you squarely in their zone of interest. 2) Board members DO have legal responsibilities. While criminal liability is rare, civil penalties and personal financial exposure are real possibilities if gross negligence is proven. 3) The "we've always done it this way" defense doesn't work with the IRS. Ignorance isn't a valid excuse for organizations handling significant public funds. Our audit resulted in about $8,500 in penalties plus the cost of amended filings for three years. But honestly, the stress and time consumed was the bigger cost. The audit process took almost 6 months and required hundreds of hours of board member time. Push harder on these issues now. The cost of getting compliant is a fraction of the cost of dealing with an audit after problems are discovered.

I went through something very similar with our basketball booster club last year. We were handling about $650k annually and had the same "seat of our pants" approach to financial management that you're describing. What finally got our board's attention was when I presented them with a simple risk analysis. I created a two-column comparison: on one side, the cost of getting compliant (hiring a CPA familiar with non-profits, implementing proper procedures, using compliance tools) which came to about $4,000. On the other side, I listed the potential costs of non-compliance based on what I'd researched: penalties ranging from $3,000-$15,000+, potential loss of tax-exempt status (which would be catastrophic), and the hidden costs of audit response time. The turning point was when I found IRS Publication 4221-PC specifically for booster clubs and brought it to a board meeting. It clearly outlines all the compliance requirements we were ignoring. Having an official IRS document that directly contradicted their "nobody cares about booster clubs" attitude was incredibly effective. I also emphasized that once you're aware of compliance issues, you have a fiduciary duty to address them. Continuing to operate with known problems could expose board members to personal liability. That usually gets volunteers' attention pretty quickly. My advice: document everything you've observed, research the actual costs of getting compliant, and present it as protecting the organization rather than criticizing past practices. The peace of mind alone is worth the investment.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation at our lacrosse booster club - $650k annual revenue and financial practices that would make any accountant cringe. What really helped me convince our resistant board was creating a simple "compliance audit" checklist based on IRS requirements and then walking through it at a board meeting. I went through each item - proper revenue categorization, cash handling procedures, donation documentation, UBIT requirements, etc. - and we could only check off maybe 30% of what we were supposed to be doing. Seeing it laid out visually like that was a wake-up call even for the "we've always done it this way" crowd. The other thing that worked was finding local news articles about booster clubs that got in trouble with the IRS. I found three within our state that had lost tax-exempt status in the past five years. When board members realized this wasn't just theoretical risk but something happening to organizations just like ours, their attitude shifted quickly. One practical tip: volunteer to lead the compliance project yourself. I offered to research solutions, get quotes from CPAs, and handle communications with the IRS if needed. That way the other board members didn't have to do the work - they just had to approve the budget for getting compliant. Much easier sell when you're not asking people to take on additional responsibilities. The investment has been totally worth it. We ended up spending about $3,500 on a non-profit CPA and compliance tools, but now we can actually sleep at night knowing our practices would survive scrutiny.

I'm going through something very similar with our volleyball booster club right now. We're handling about $450k annually and I've been horrified by what I've discovered since joining the board six months ago. The financial recordkeeping is basically non-existent, we're treating all income the same way regardless of source, and our cash handling at tournaments is completely uncontrolled. What's been most helpful from reading this thread is realizing I'm not being paranoid - these are legitimate compliance risks that could seriously hurt our organization. The actual penalty amounts people have shared ($3,800-$12,000+) are significant but manageable, but the potential loss of tax-exempt status would be devastating. I'm planning to use several strategies mentioned here: creating a risk analysis showing compliance costs versus potential penalties, finding IRS Publication 4221-PC to bring to our next board meeting, and volunteering to lead the compliance project myself so other board members don't have to take on extra work. The most convincing point for me has been that once you're aware of compliance problems, you have a fiduciary duty to address them. Continuing to operate with known issues could expose board members to personal liability, and that's not a risk any volunteer should have to take. For anyone else in this situation - document everything you're seeing, research the actual costs of getting compliant, and present it as protecting the organization's future rather than criticizing past practices. The peace of mind alone is worth the investment.

I've been following this thread closely as someone who went through a very similar situation with our baseball booster club two years ago. We were handling about $580k annually with equally questionable practices - everything lumped together on tax forms, minimal documentation, and the same "we've always done it this way" resistance from long-time board members. What finally broke through the resistance was when I calculated the actual financial exposure. I showed them that our current practices could result in penalties of $10,000-$20,000+ based on similar cases, plus the catastrophic risk of losing our tax-exempt status (which would mean paying taxes on ALL our revenue retroactively). Compare that to maybe $4,000-$5,000 to get properly compliant, and it became an obvious decision. The key was framing it as insurance, not criticism. I presented three scenarios: do nothing and risk audit/penalties, do minimal fixes and still face significant risk, or invest in proper compliance and protect the organization's future. When you put it that way, the choice becomes clear. For those asking about timeline - we were able to get compliant within about 3 months working with a non-profit CPA. The hardest part wasn't the technical fixes but changing the culture from "casual volunteer group" to "organization handling significant public funds with real legal responsibilities." One practical tip: start documenting everything NOW. Take photos of current procedures, save copies of recent tax filings, and create a written record of the issues you've identified. If you do get audited, showing that you recognized problems and took corrective action can significantly reduce penalties. The peace of mind has been incredible. We now have proper controls, clean tax filings, and board members who understand their fiduciary responsibilities. Best money we ever spent.