Where do I locate the State tax exempt number for my chuch?

Question

My church is starting a food bank, to give out food to the needy, we recently applied for our 501C3 and are waiting to hear back. The church and food bank are located in Rand WV. We need our state tax exempt number to purchase items to keep the food and so forth. Any help would be very appreciated. God Bless.

Answer 1

Here's a summary of the rules for tax exemptions in WV. It looks to me like you need the 501C3 registration first before a sales tax exemption can be issued. There's a phone number at the end of the document provided where you can call to find out if the church already has a sales tax exemption. The church secretary or minister should have access to these documents if they've already been received. If they've been misplaced, then duplicates need to be requested, because typically a copy of the certificate needs to be supplied to the vendor from whom you're requesting an exemption. Just verbally supplying the number is not usually sufficient.

Answer 2

If the state hasn't sent you a confirmation yet that you are tax-exempt, then you probably aren't yet approved - they should send you a form once you are, with the number on it. You could call the state and ask them. You said your 501(c)3 application is in process. I don't know in WV whether the state tax-exempt approval has to wait for that or not.

Good luck. You're doing a good thing.