# BRD-041 — The entity type must match the classification on the tax record

> The selected entity type must match how the business is classified on its tax record, with documentation where the classification is not machine-verifiable.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-041
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.entity_type vs the tax record`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** TCR, Twilio, Bandwidth
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-041/

## Why this rule exists

Entity type drives which verification path runs and which use cases open, so it is checked against the tax classification rather than taken on trust. Honest mismatches are everywhere: an LLC taxed as an S-corp, a member-owned co-operative, a non-profit that never completed its exemption. The registrant picks the description that feels true and the record says something else.

## How to fix it

Match the entity type to the classification on the IRS letter rather than to how the business describes itself. Nearly every commercial company — LLC, S-corp, C-corp, partnership — is PRIVATE_PROFIT. Where the classification is genuinely unusual, attach the determination letter with the registration.

## Provider rejection codes

| Provider | Code | Resubmission allowed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Twilio | `30796` | yes |
| Twilio | `30797` | yes |
| Twilio | `30798` | yes |

## Check this yourself

**Does the entity type you selected match the classification on the IRS letter, rather than how the business describes itself?**

1. Read the classification on the CP-575 or the determination letter.
2. Nearly every commercial company — LLC, S-corp, C-corp, partnership — is PRIVATE_PROFIT, whatever it calls itself internally.
3. Where the classification is genuinely unusual (a co-operative, a mutual association), attach the determination letter with the registration.

*What wrong looks like:* An LLC taxed as an S-corp picks the description that feels most accurate, and the record says something else. The mismatch fails the verification path rather than merely re-grading it.

## Notes

The tax record is not something we can read. The user has to check their CP-575 or determination letter and pick the entity type that matches it — and where the two genuinely differ, attach the document rather than arguing the point in an appeal, because the reviewer is comparing against the same record.