How to Fill Out a W-9 for Your Church: EIN and 501(c)(3)

To fill out a W-9 for a church, put the church’s legal name on Line 1, leave Line 2 blank unless the church uses a different public name, check “Other” on Line 3a and write “Tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3),” enter exempt payee code “1” in the first box on Line 4, list the church’s address on Lines 5 and 6, write the Employer Identification Number in Part I, and have an authorized officer sign and date Part II. The completed form goes to the bank, vendor, landlord, or grant-maker that asked for it. Do not send it to the IRS.¹

The rest of this walks each line in order, with the pieces churches most often get wrong flagged as they come up. Work from the March 2024 revision of the form.¹

Lines 1 and 2: Legal Name and Trade Name

Line 1 is the church’s legal name exactly as it appears on the original EIN assignment. If the church still has its CP 575 confirmation notice from when it applied on Form SS-4, use the name printed there. The IRS runs automated matching between the name and EIN on every information return filed against a W-9. If the two do not line up, the payor receives a B-Notice and is required to begin backup withholding at 24 percent on future payments until the mismatch is fixed.²³

Line 2 is only for a “doing business as” or trade name. A church legally registered as “First Community Church of Springfield, Inc.” but known publicly as “The Vine Church” would put the legal name on Line 1 and “The Vine Church” on Line 2. If the church operates under only one name, leave Line 2 blank.

Line 3a and 3b: Federal Tax Classification

Check the “Other” box on Line 3a and write “Tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3)” on the line provided.¹

This is where many church administrators go wrong. A church that is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under state law is not a C corporation for federal purposes. Line 3a asks about federal tax classification, and every 501(c)(3) church is a tax-exempt organization at the federal level regardless of its state-law form. “Other” is the right box.

Line 3b is new on the March 2024 revision and asks about foreign partners, owners, or beneficiaries in a partnership, trust, estate, or partnership-taxed LLC. Churches leave Line 3b blank.

Line 4: Exempt Payee Code

Line 4 has two small boxes. In the first box, “Exempt payee code,” enter “1.” Code 1 covers organizations exempt from tax under section 501(a), which includes every 501(c)(3) religious organization, and it tells the payor the church is exempt from backup withholding.¹⁴

Leave the second box, “FATCA reporting code,” blank. It applies to accounts maintained outside the United States and to certain foreign financial institutions, not to a domestic church with domestic bank accounts.

Lines 5 and 6: Address

Line 5 is the street address; Line 6 is the city, state, and ZIP code. Use the address where the church receives official correspondence, ideally the same address the IRS has on file. A P.O. box is acceptable if that is how the church receives its mail.

Part I: The EIN

Part I asks for the church’s nine-digit Employer Identification Number. Enter it in the box labeled “Employer identification number.” Never use a Social Security number in place of an EIN, even if the church is small and informal.⁵

Check every digit against the CP 575 confirmation or the SS-4 acceptance letter before submitting. A single transposed number can trigger the same B-Notice and 24 percent backup withholding as a name mismatch, and providing an incorrect TIN can carry a separate penalty of $50 per failure.⁶

If the Church Does Not Have an EIN

A church that has never obtained an EIN needs one before it can complete a W-9. Apply online through the IRS website, by fax, or by mail on Form SS-4. The online application issues the number immediately at the end of the session. The church must be legally formed under state law before applying.⁷

Part II: Signature

An authorized official signs and dates Part II, typically the senior pastor, treasurer, or an administrator with board authority to act on behalf of the church. The signature certifies under penalties of perjury that the TIN is correct, the church is not subject to backup withholding, the church is a U.S. person, and any FATCA code entered is accurate.¹

The perjury language is meant to deter deliberate fraud, not to punish a transposed digit. An honest mistake corrected with an updated W-9 is not a criminal matter.

If the requesting party accepts electronic submissions, the IRS allows electronic signatures on Form W-9 as long as the system requires the signature as the final step, the signature is made under penalties of perjury, and the perjury statement matches the language on the paper form.⁴

Claiming 501(c)(3) Without a Determination Letter

A common worry: can the church check “Other” and claim 501(c)(3) status if it never applied for exemption and has no determination letter? Yes. The IRS treats churches that meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3) as automatically tax-exempt. They are not required to file Form 1023 or receive a formal ruling to be recognized.⁸

Some payors will still ask for written proof. A church that wants documentation on file can voluntarily apply for a determination letter by filing Form 1023.

Churches that fall under a denomination’s group exemption ruling fill out the W-9 the same way, using the church’s own EIN. If asked to prove exempt status, contact the denomination’s national office for a copy of the group exemption letter and confirmation that the congregation is listed as a subordinate under the group ruling.⁹

Where the Form Goes

The completed W-9 goes directly to the party that requested it. The first line of the instructions says: “Give form to the requester. Do not send to the IRS.”¹

Before sending anything, confirm who is actually asking. Scammers impersonate vendors and grant organizations to harvest EINs. The IRS recommends sharing identification numbers only when the church initiated the contact or is certain of the requester’s identity.¹⁰ For electronic delivery, use encrypted email or a secure portal rather than a plain attachment. Keep a copy of every W-9 the church submits, along with a note of which party received it and when.

When to Send an Updated W-9

A W-9 has no fixed expiration, but a payor’s copy becomes invalid when the information on it has changed.⁴ Send a fresh W-9 to any party holding an old one when:

The church’s legal name changes through merger, reincorporation, or a formal name change.
The church receives a new EIN after a structural change.
The mailing address changes. Update the IRS first by filing Form 8822-B or reporting the change on the church’s next annual return (Form 990 or 990-N), then send updated W-9s to active payors.¹¹
A payor sends a B-Notice flagging a name/TIN mismatch. Correct the issue and submit a fresh W-9 promptly to stop backup withholding.

Address changes catch churches off guard. Filing an updated W-9 with the bank does not update the IRS. The church must report the new address to the IRS directly and on its next annual return even if it already filed Form 8822-B separately.¹¹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
2
Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding “B” Program
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 307, Backup Withholding
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 (03/2024)
5
Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN)
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6723 – Failure to Comply With Other Information Reporting Requirements
7
Internal Revenue Service. Obtaining an Employer Identification Number for an Exempt Organization
8
Internal Revenue Service. Churches, Integrated Auxiliaries and Conventions or Associations of Churches
9
Internal Revenue Service. Obtaining Copies of Exemption Determination Letter From IRS
10
Internal Revenue Service. Identity Protection Tips
11
Internal Revenue Service. Change of Address – Exempt Organizations