After the Form 1023 Is Filed: Protecting the Filing Date and Moving a Stalled Application

Josh G. Starin, Attorney | Schell Bray PLLC

Josh G. Starin is an attorney at Schell Bray PLLC with extensive experience in federal tax law, tax-exempt organizations, and IRS administrative and determination procedures. Before joining the firm, he spent nearly 13 years with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where he served as a subject matter expert on significant technical, procedural, and administrative matters within the Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Business Operating Division. His government service included work involving exemption determination letters, technical advice, rulings on questions of national significance, and guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. He also contributed to the transformation of Form 1023 into its electronic filing format through Pay.gov, work for which he received a Commissioner’s Award. His combination of IRS experience and current private practice provides a strong foundation for addressing the procedural and practical challenges practitioners encounter when applying for recognition of tax-exempt status.

• Education & Credentials

Josh earned his LL.M. in Federal Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010, following his J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2009. He received his B.A. in English and Psychology from the University of North Carolina in 2003. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the U.S. Tax Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Josh received a Commissioner’s Award for his work transforming Form 1023 into its electronic form on Pay.gov. During his IRS career, he served as Knowledge Management senior lead for matters involving Section 501(c)(3) organizations, other Section 501(c) organizations, hospitals and healthcare, and employment tax. He also conducted pre- and post-review of exemption determination letters issued by field offices, contributed to the development of technical guidance, and briefed senior IRS and Treasury officials on significant issues. His experience teaching IRS personnel and presenting on exempt organization tax law further reflects his ability to communicate complex legal and procedural matters to professional audiences.

• Professional Involvement

Josh has taught the Law of Nonprofit Organizations as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and has been certified by the Department of the Treasury as both a virtual and inperson classroom instructor. He has taught IRS agents in settings ranging from small groups to several hundred participants and continues to speak to practitioners and exempt organizations on developments in exempt organization tax law. He maintains a practice group newsletter and is an active contributing member of the TEGE Council. Outside his legal practice, he serves as Vice President of the Riverside Athletics Booster Club, coaches pole vaulting at Riverside High School, and supports and coaches with Orange County Special Olympics.

• Experience

At Schell Bray, Josh advises public charities, private foundations, supporting organizations, business leagues, social welfare organizations, and governmental affiliates on federal tax and corporate matters throughout their organizational life cycles. His practice includes applications for recognition of exemption, IRS determination practice, public charity and private foundation classification, Form 990-series reporting, and IRS examinations, adverse determinations, and other controversy matters. He also advises on private foundation excise taxes, excess benefit transactions, executive compensation, hospital compliance under Section 501(r), unrelated business income, donor-advised funds, charitable contribution substantiation, lobbying and political activity restrictions, governance documents, conflicts policies, inter-entity agreements, and multistate charitable solicitation registration. In addition, he counsels practitioners on professional responsibility and practice before the IRS.

Before joining Schell Bray, Josh served as Lead Tax Attorney at Merritt Webb PLLC, handling matters in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. His background in IRS administration, exemption determination procedures, electronic Form 1023 filing, and nonprofit tax compliance is particularly relevant to practitioners seeking to protect filing dates, address application deficiencies, respond to IRS inquiries, and manage pending exemption applications.

Maria C. De Ramos, Associate | Schell Bray PLLC

Maria C. De Ramos is an associate attorney at Schell Bray PLLC who focuses on nonprofit organizations and tax-exempt entities. She advises public charities, private foundations, and tax-exempt governmental organizations on organizational formation, governance, and compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements. Before entering private practice, she spent more than a decade as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel, including approximately eight years in the Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division. Her experience in federal tax law and tax controversy, combined with her current practice advising tax-exempt organizations, provides a strong foundation for addressing the legal and procedural issues that arise when organizations seek recognition of exemption and meet their ongoing compliance obligations.

• Education & Credentials

Maria earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina in 2008 and her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2011. During law school, she served as Senior Editor of the North Carolina Central Law Review. She is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the U.S. Tax Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Maria received the IRS Commissioner’s Award in 2024 in recognition of her professional contributions during her government service. She graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Central University School of Law and served in an editorial leadership role on the North Carolina Central Law Review. Her background in federal tax law and IRS legal practice reflects substantial experience working with complex tax matters and legal issues affecting tax-exempt organizations.

• Professional Involvement

Maria is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Tax Section. Her professional work focuses on nonprofit organizations and tax-exempt entities, particularly organizational formation, governance, and compliance with applicable federal and state requirements. Her experience in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel’s Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division informs her current work advising organizations on the legal and regulatory responsibilities associated with tax-exempt status.

• Experience

Maria spent more than ten years as a tax controversy attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. Her government service included approximately three years in the Small Business/Self-Employed Division and eight years in the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. Through this work, she developed substantial experience in federal tax matters and issues affecting tax-exempt organizations.

After leaving government service, Maria worked as a manager at a Big Four accounting firm and practiced law at a national law firm before joining Schell Bray. In her current practice, she advises public charities, private foundations, and tax-exempt governmental organizations on formation, governance, and regulatory compliance. Her combination of IRS legal experience, accounting-sector management experience, and private-practice work provides a valuable perspective on the regulatory and practical considerations facing organizations seeking and maintaining tax-exempt status.

SESSION 1 – Protecting the Form 1023 Filing Date Through Non-Acceptance, Resubmission, and Late Filing | Josh G. Starin | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This hour is for practitioners who have filed Forms 1023 and received determination letters and are interested in more information on handling a returned application, a late-filer effective-date request, or a Form 1023-EZ rejection. It treats the submission date as the asset and follows it through a nonacceptance under Rev. Proc. 2026-5 § 4.10, resubmission and acceptance, the month-end 27-month count, a Schedule E earlier-effective-date request, and the rescue of a rejected Form 1023-EZ onto the full Form 1023. Attendees leave with a filing-date docket checklist that sets an internal deadline counted back from month 27 with room for one non-acceptance cycle, and that preserves the evidence needed to prove a submission date.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Moving a Stalled Form 1023 With Information Requests, Expedites, and the 270-Day Clock | Josh G. Starin | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This hour is for applicant-side counsel who have filed Forms 1023 and received determination letters but have not yet handled a file past day 270, a denied expedite, or a long information-request exchange. It treats a pending application as a set of pressure tools and covers the order in which to use them: the posted processing-time baseline; the information-request reply, and when to answer narrowly versus amend; the 270-day date, computed under Rev. Proc. 2026-5 §§ 10.05 and 10.06; the expedite request and the IRM text EO Determinations applies to it; the status call, Taxpayer Advocate Service, and congressional casework, in sequence; and the Form 990-series obligation that begins at formation, before the application is filed. Attendees leave with a 270-day recomputation worksheet, an information-request reply checklist, and the IRM text on expedited handling with its takeaway.