EIN, TIN or ?

July 23, 2020 5:49 AM

I'm part of a small community organization that has started using paypal for donations.. Paypal has blocked further donations until we submit a taxpayer Identification number (TIN). We don't have a TIN, we have an employer identification number (EIN). Paypal won't accept this. Posted this in the paypal community and got no responses. What to do?

In searching this topic on the web I found that I can try to submit a TIN of 999-99-9999 to get to the next screen where I might resolve it. When I do this I get a error message "Things don't appear to be working at the moment. Please try again." This is related to a settings button I can't cant access because my settings preferences look different than the one on the help screen. I'm stuck and no one can donate.

posted by Xurando to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I would suggest you contact Paypal support directly. They are probably the only ones who can clear up this confusion.
posted by blob at 7:06 AM on July 23, 2020

We don't have a TIN, we have an employer identification number (EIN). Paypal won't accept this.

I believe the TIN is issued by your state (that's how it works here in Indiana, anyway). The EIN is the federal equivalent.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:06 AM on July 23, 2020

I think an EIN is a type of TIN, if I'm understanding this document correctly: Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN). So an SSN is a TIN for an individual who qualifies for social security; there are other types of TINs for other entities. That wouldn't explain why PayPal won't accept your EIN, though.
posted by mskyle at 7:10 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

This forum page seems to imply that they are looking for an individual to tie the account to permanently, but that doesn't really help in your situation.

I wonder if also you are using a personal account instead of a buisness account?

Ultimately I think you are just going to have to wait on hold forever to talk to someone.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:42 AM on July 23, 2020

Following up on AlexiaSky's questions - When you say PayPal "won't accept this" w/respect to the EIN, what exactly is happening? Are they saying they can't accept any EIN's or that they can't accept this particular one or your just not able to submit it b/c you get an error on the form submission or something else? It may be that they are trying to verify the EIN and failing, for example if the EIN is associated in the verification system with a name that isn't on the account. Not sure if you've it already but there's a help article
posted by snowymorninblues at 9:03 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Are you trying to set up a Personal account or a Business account? It seems that with an EIN, you'll need to have a Business Paypal account, which comes with fees.
posted by hydra77 at 10:05 AM on July 23, 2020 [3 favorites]

Taxpayer Identification number is the number associated with your tax records, I-9s, 1099, etc. They must need to know for tax purposes how much goes into this account. EIN are the numbers Employers use to pay employees and that's the number on the line of your W2 that tells the IRS who paid you. They want the number tax exempt number from your non profit or the person who owns or signs the checks
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 3:20 PM on August 3, 2020