# BRD-053 — Tax-exempt status must be verified against the IRS registers

> A NON_PROFIT registration must be backed by an EIN that appears in the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-053
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.ein`
- **Severity:** HIGH — Rejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- **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:** Twilio, Plivo, HighLevel
- **Applies:** Applies when the brand is a non-profit.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-053/

## Why this rule exists

The non-profit classification and the charity use case both rest on a status the IRS publishes and anyone can check, so the claim is verified rather than accepted. Organisations that operate not for profit but never completed a 501(c) application — community groups, mutual associations, clubs — are outside the register and are refused for a status they never actually held, which is a difficult conversation to have after launch.

## How to fix it

Search the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search for the EIN before submitting, and register as PRIVATE_PROFIT if it does not appear. Where the exemption is genuine but the register is out of date, expect to attach the determination letter to an appeal.

## Provider rejection codes

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

## Check this yourself

**Does this EIN appear in the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search?**

1. Search the EIN at the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search. It is free and public.
2. If it does not appear, register as PRIVATE_PROFIT — and do it before submitting, because changing entity type afterwards re-runs verification and charges the fee again.
3. Genuinely exempt but absent from the register: expect to attach the determination letter to an appeal.

*What wrong looks like:* A community group, mutual association or club that operates not for profit but never completed a 501(c) application is refused for a status it never actually held — a hard conversation to have after launch.

## Notes

Absorbs BRD-061, which is the same lookup used to establish a TCPA exemption rather than an entity type. We hold no IRS data, so the user runs the search themselves — it is free and public — and should do it before choosing the entity type rather than after the rejection, because switching entity type re-runs verification (BRD-044).