What to do if your EIN is marked “Invalid”?

Reference this Knowledge Guide if you need to find the supplier registration form on PaymentWorks.

The content from this Knowledge Guide was adapted from a PaymentWorks help article.

Step 1: Determine the validation status.

Once you have completed your new supplier registration form, you will be able to view your business details in your Company Profile located at the top right of your account. Within the Business Details tab, you may see “INVALID” appear in either the EIN validation field if your legal name/TIN combination was invalid when ran against the IRS database. You will also receive an E-mail notification if your tax information was not properly validated.

PaymentWorks checks your EIN against the IRS database. They check your legal name (found in Line 1 of your W9), your tax ID (the EIN), and your tax classification. If the INVALID status appears, this means the IRS did not recognize the combination you provided.

To resolve an INVALID tax ID status, make sure the Legal Name and TIN you provide is the same Legal Name/TIN as shown on your W-9 form. When Legal Name/TIN’s are updated on your registration(s) or in your Company Profile, the system will run a new IRS Validation. You can then check the “Business Details” section of your PaymentWorks account Company Profile to review the new IRS Validation status. NC State requires that your IRS validation is VALID before approving your registration.

Step 2: What to do if you have an INVALID status?

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is assigned by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the purpose of tax administration. If you have received a message that your EIN does not match IRS records or your legal name, ensure that the legal name you have entered on your PaymentWorks registration exactly matches what is on your IRS documentation, with no extraneous spaces, dashes, or other symbols. If you have done this and it still is marked “INVALID”, we recommend contacting the IRS directly or manually uploading a completed W9 form instead of generating an automatic one.

If your EIN has been recently issued or updated, the IRS database may not yet reflect this change. There is commonly a delay of 4-6 weeks between the IRS issuing a new EIN and updating their database.

Questions?

Please contact Student Body Treasurer Harrison Andrews at sbt@ncsu.edu for any questions or concerns.