PHOENIX - - The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that publicly available information from approved applications for tax exemption using Form 1023-EZ, Streamlined Application for Recognition of Exemption, is now available electronically for the first time.

The data on IRS.gov is available in spreadsheet format and includes information for approved applications beginning in mid-2014, when the 1023-EZ form was introduced, through 2016. The information will be updated quarterly, starting with the first quarter of calendar year 2017. The IRS's Tax Exempt and Government Entities division approved more than 105,000 applications for exemption submitted on the Form 1023-EZ from 2014 through 2016.

Previously, Form 1023-EZ data was only available through a lengthier process that included completing and submitting Form 4506-A to the IRS.

"The new online availability of Form 1023-EZ data is an important step forward and will allow taxpayers to more easily research information on tax-exempt organizations," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The IRS is committed to ongoing improvements in taxpayer service across the agency and we continue to look for innovative ways like this to provide taxpayers the information they need, when they need it."

Information in the Form 1023-EZ includes basic identifying information such as the name of the organization, Employer Identification Number and the names of officers, directors and trustees. The Form also contains information regarding items such as the organizing documents, state of incorporation, purpose and activities of the organization.

Form 1023-EZ must be filed electronically. The IRS reminds filers that they should not include Social Security numbers on their submissions.

This is part of continuing effort to provide information about the tax-exempt community. In June 2016, the IRS announced that it was making publicly available data on electronically filed Forms 990 in machine-readable format through Amazon Web Services.