EIN starting with ZF? How strange is this?

[EvenKeelTax]

Hi all, my research has led me to some dead-ends. I have a new client, pastor, with a handwritten w2 from his church. EIN is ZF1-XXXXXXX. Has anyone ever seen an EIN with letters in it? First thing I thought was maybe something to do with Canada as my clients live in a very rural area, but the church has a United States address. Pastor states the EIN is probably a few decades old. I don't think fraud is an issue here as I have PY taxes and clients seem very honest.

Prior tax preparer has always has paper-filed and I plan to do the same since I can't e-file such an odd EIN. Just wondering if anyone else has ever run across anything like this before? This is my 12th year, I've seen thousands of w2s, 1099s, etc, and I've never seen an EIN with a letter in it. Would love to be able to e-file since the IRS is so backed up on paper returns.

Edit: just to clarify the EIN is definitely two letters followed by 8 numbers. It is written the same way for the state of Maine EIN box 15 of the w2.

[Lion]

Was the church founded in Maryland?

https://dat.maryland.gov/businesses/Pages/Tax-ID-Numbers-or-FEIN.aspx

This Department will issue its own identification number (usually beginning with a “D”, “F”, “W”, “L”, or “Z”) but this is not the FEIN number required for bank accounts.

[Uncle Sam]

How does the Church file its Form 941s with IRS and Form W-3 with Social Security Administration?
I would ask the client (or have client authorize you to) to contact the Church and find out if this is a human error who "handwrote" a W-2 and may have
misread what was actually on IRS records.
It might be a number that was used in registering the Church with a Maine government agency, and may not be the real actual number issued by IRS.

[Rapid Robert]

The IRS no longer publishes e-file specs (maybe to deter fraudsters?) but the last time in TY2012 indicates that EIN prefixs must be numeric. See attachment 7 in the following document:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/ty12pub1346_part1att111_122012.pdf

It would be nice if you could see the payroll tax filings (Form 941, W-3). Are there other employees? If there was no withholding of any kind, then it probably doesn't matter what the W-2 says.

[spanel]

Hi all, my research has led me to some dead-ends. I have a new client, pastor, with a handwritten w2 from his church. EIN is ZF1-XXXXXXX. Has anyone ever seen an EIN with letters in it? First thing I thought was maybe something to do with Canada as my clients live in a very rural area, but the church has a United States address. Pastor states the EIN is probably a few decades old. I don't think fraud is an issue here as I have PY taxes and clients seem very honest.


Prior tax preparer has always has paper-filed and I plan to do the same since I can't e-file such an odd EIN. Just wondering if anyone else has ever run across anything like this before? This is my 12th year, I've seen thousands of w2s, 1099s, etc, and I've never seen an EIN with a letter in it. Would love to be able to e-file since the IRS is so backed up on paper returns.

Edit: just to clarify the EIN is definitely two letters followed by 8 numbers. It is written the same way for the state of Maine EIN box 15 of the w2.

I would ask to see the IRS SS-4. Mostly likely they have the number incorrect, hence the paper filing.

Chris

[spanel]

2nd.. It cant be 2 x 8. It obviously has to be 2 x 7.

Chris

[EvenKeelTax]

Hi all, thanks for the advice and links. I will have the client do more digging on his end. Federal taxes are withheld from his w2, and he pays SS tax on all his earnings as well as his $4800 housing allowance. (He does not opt out of SS taxes for religious purposes.) Very rural area, almost like a step back in time, so I am not surprised to see something like this coming from his geographical area.

Chris, that is the first thing that jumped out at me as well seeing 2x8 instead of 2x7.

[Lion]

It's probably some state ID# from Revenue or even from SotS.

Does your SotS website give federal ID #s for businesses? State Revenue? If the church has a tax-exempt certificate they use for purchases within your state, it would include the federal ID #. Obviously no payroll company, with that handwritten W-2. Vendors that sell to church without charging sales tax are required to have the church's federal ID# on file, at least in CT. Is the church part of a main-stream religion and has a national office &/or state/regional office? Have your client ask (or the church treasurer or other officer) ask everyone the church does business with or reports to for what tax ID # they have on file.

[EvenKeelTax]

Client stated the same person has done the church admin since the 1970s, all by hand pen and paper it seems, so who knows what weird things have happened over the decades. I agree it probably is not a federal EIN on the w2, but at this point we will paper file and the clients will have to wait a year for the IRS to process everything. There is a balance due so at least no one is stuck waiting forever for a refund. Thanks again for all the replies.

Note: I did consider for a fleeting moment a 4852 substitute w2, but even a 4852 still needs a valid EIN to e-file...

[Uncle Sam]

I suggest you have your client ask the person who prepares the quarterly Form 941s - under what number are the taxes paid and form filed?
The Church as a tax exempt institution should provide donors acknowledgment letters of their donations where usually the EI# is shown on the receipt.

[Uncle Sam]

Here's a longshot you can try - but it IS a longshot - religious institutions (unless involved with UBTI) are not required to file 990s.
It is possible that the Church filed some Form 990 along the way, and www.guidestar.org is a place to look if there is a filing to see
what EI# was shown.

[Burke]

I suggest you have your client ask the person who prepares the quarterly Form 941s - under what number are the taxes paid and form filed?
The Church as a tax exempt institution should provide donors acknowledgment letters of their donations where usually the EI# is shown on the receipt.

It may be that the pastor is the only employee and the church does not withhold any taxes, including SS/MC, and would not be required to file 941's.