Form 8822-B Requirement Includes Churches

Any church that has employees, files employment tax returns, or has a bank or brokerage account, must have an 'employer identification number' (EIN). This includes nearly every church in the United States.

In 2010, the IRS wanted to receive information about responsible parties for any employer in possession of an EIN to help ensure all tax-related correspondence was received by those employers. It began asking for the name and Social Security number of a responsible party through the Form SS-4 used to obtain an EIN.

By 2013 the IRS was becoming increasingly frustrated by its inability to communicate with responsible parties identified in employers' SS-4 forms. This usually was due to the fact that the responsible party designated in an employer's Form SS-4 was no longer serving in that capacity, due to death, relocation, or resignation. As a result, the IRS adopted an entirely new requirement ...