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Church and Religious Order Employers

A church or religious order employer is a church or association of churches or an organization that operates primarily for religious purposes and is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church, convention, or association of churches. Religious Organizations must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a church.

Employees of a church or religious order are not subject to Unemployment Insurance (UI), Employment Training Tax (ETT), and State Disability Insurance (SDI) but are subject to Personal Income Tax (PIT) withholding. Employers can elect UI and SDI coverage for these employees.

Registration Requirements

To register for an employer payroll tax account number, gather the following information:

Name and Social Security number of all responsible parties (Individual Owners, Co-Owners, General Partners).
Name and Social Security number of all officers, members, partners (Corporations, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), and Limited Partnership (LP).
Physical business address and mailing address.
Business phone number.
Valid email address (contact person and business).
Date of first payroll when wages exceed $100.
Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). A FEIN can be obtained by going to the IRS website.
Industry Description - What is the industry, product, or service that represents the greatest portion of your sales or revenue?
Previous EDD employer payroll tax account information, if applicable.
Business Name as recorded with the California Secretary of State (SOS).
- Provide the following information, access your SOS account to confirm information as needed:
  - Exact Legal Business Name as spelled and registered with SOS (Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, LPs).
  - SOS ID Number:
    - Corporation: California Corporation ID number.
    - LLC: California LLC SOS ID number.
Doing Business As (DBA), if applicable.
Name, phone number, address (if different from physical business or mailing address) for business contact person.
Provide a copy of the 501(c)(3) exemption letter (must include 170(b)(1)(A)(i) section of the Internal Revenue Code).

Optional

If you elect to enroll in Unemployment and Disability Insurance Elective Coverage, have the following documents available as you complete your registration for an employer payroll tax account number.

How to Register for an Employer Payroll Tax Account Number

Use e-Services for Business to apply for your employer payroll tax account number. It is fast, easy, secure, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

1 - Create a username and password.

Go to e-Services for Business.
Select Enroll.
Enter the required information to create a username and password and select Continue.
Choose your security questions and answer each question, then select Continue.
Review the Enrollment Summary and print a copy for your records, then select Submit.
Select the verification link in the email we sent you to complete the enrollment process.

Important: If you do not verify your email address within 24 hours, you will need to restart the enrollment process.

2 - Log into e-Services for Business.

Select New Employer, then select Next.
Select Register for Employer Payroll Tax Account Number.
Complete the online registration application.
Select Submit.

Important: We may contact you if more information is needed to complete your request.

Additional Resources

Information Sheets

Additional Information Sheets are available online at Payroll Taxes – Forms and Publications.