I received a CTR back from the IRS indicating that the EIN and name of a local PTA do not match. After talking to the treasurer of the PTA, I found out that when the two elementary schools in the same district merged several years ago, the PTAs merged as well, changing their name and using the EIN of one of the old PTAs. She does not have a record of which EIN was used or even what the two names of the former PTAs were. Where do I go from here? Do I instruct the treasurer to find out what name belongs to the EIN they are using and file a name change, or should they apply for a new EIN? In the meantime, how do I comply with the IRS's deadline for returning the corrected CTR? I'm not very familiar with EIN and IRS protocol.

How do they file their taxes?

Remember, sometimes when the IRS says Name & EIN do not match ... it could be the name that is wrong. (hyphens are typical culprits)

Sometimes the PTA will operate under the TIN of the school, so it is possible that you need to report just the school name. I do think they need to follow up and determine which TIN they should be using, or if they should have filed for a new one.

Have the PTA representative call the number listed on the form SS-4 for telephone EIN applications. (800.829.4933) These IRS employees have access to the list of existing EINs and I've had more than one banker tell me they are willing to help bank customers unravel situations such as yours. You cannot make the call, it needs to be a member of the organization. (Tell them they are welcome to use your phone.)

If the situation is so bolixed up they cannot figure it out, they need to get a new number assigned to the surviving organization.

When they are certain they have the correct name/TIN combination have them execute a W-9 and send that back in response to the CTR query. (Please understand, I just made that up; the W-9 is not designed for this purpose. Nevertheless, you just provided a TIN certification under penalties of perjury and there is not much more you can do.)

You cannot use the school's number for organizations affiliated with the school. It is not the school's money. The "B-Notice" sent by the IRS for name/TIN mismatches on information reporting cites this as an example of a common error that also causes mismatches.

Thanks for the help everyone! I'll take your advice, Ken.