How to Check Whether a Nonprofit Is Currently Tax Exempt

Recommended verification flow

1. Normalize the EIN. Remove spaces or dashes so 12-3456789 becomes 123456789.
2. Send the EIN to the Nonprofit Check Plus API. Use the single-EIN nonprofitcheck endpoint when checking one organization.
3. Confirm the organization. Match ein and organization_name to the entity your user intended to check.
4. Review BMF presence. Confirm bmf_ein and evaluate bmf_status.
5. Review tax-exempt classification. Evaluate bmf_subsection, subsection_description and exempt_status_code.
6. Check revocation and reinstatement. Review revocation_code, revocation_date and reinstatement_date before treating a revocation-related record as current disqualification.
7. Review Pub. 78 separately. Use pub78_ein and pub78_verified when deductible-contribution eligibility matters to the workflow.
8. Check conflicts. Review irs_bmf_pub78_conflict when BMF and Pub. 78 classification signals do not align.
9. Check freshness. Review most_recent_bmf, most_recent_pub78 and organization_info_last_modified before making a current-status decision.
10. Handle religious-organization exceptions explicitly. When populated, review pub78_church_message and bmf_church_message instead of treating ordinary source absence as a definitive failure.

Example request(s)

curl --request GET \
  --url https://entities.pactman.org/api/entities/nonprofitcheck/v1/us/ein/YOUR_EIN \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'

Implementation note: The endpoint name above reflects the Pactman single-EIN Nonprofit Check endpoint used in Pactman's Production/Customer Environment.

curl --request POST \
  --url https://entities.pactman.org/api/entities/nonprofitcheckbulk/v1/us/eins \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '[
    "YOUR_EIN_1",
    "YOUR_EIN_2",
    "YOUR_EIN_3",
    "YOUR_EIN_4",
    "YOUR_EIN_5"
  ]'

Implementation note: The endpoint name above reflects the Pactman single-EIN Nonprofit Check endpoint used in Pactman's Production/Customer Environment.

What your application should evaluate

Example decision logic

A practical implementation might treat a nonprofit as currently tax exempt only after the application has:

• matched the returned ein and organization_name to the intended nonprofit;
• confirmed relevant BMF presence through bmf_status and bmf_ein;
• evaluated bmf_subsection, subsection_description and exempt_status_code;
• reviewed revocation_code, revocation_date and reinstatement_date;
• evaluated irs_bmf_pub78_conflict when IRS source classifications do not align; and
• considered source freshness before applying the final current-status rule.

If tax-deductible contribution eligibility is also part of the decision, evaluate pub78_verified separately. Current tax-exempt status and Pub. 78 inclusion are related, but they are not the same API signal.

The supplied bulk sample illustrates this separation. For EIN "680343125", Pactman returns bmf_status: true, bmf_subsection: "03", subsection_description: "501(c)(3) Public Charity" and exempt_status_code: "01". The same response returns pub78_verified: true, while revocation_code, revocation_date and reinstatement_date are null.

Important: Do not hard-code "currently tax exempt" as a single-field check. The Nonprofit Check Plus API exposes BMF classification, revocation history, Pub. 78, source conflicts and freshness separately so your application can apply the rule appropriate to its use case.

Why use a consolidated nonprofit verification API?

Determining whether a nonprofit is currently tax exempt may require more than confirming that an EIN exists. A production workflow may need to identify the current IRS classification, account for revocation and reinstatement, preserve Pub. 78 as a separate signal, and compare source freshness when data does not line up.

Pactman Nonprofit Check Plus returns those signals in one normalized response. The supplied single-EIN and bulk samples use the same current 43 organization-level fields, so the same interpretation logic can be reused across individual and batch verification workflows.

One normalized response

Evaluate EIN identity, BMF status, tax-exempt classification, revocation, Pub. 78 and freshness signals from one Pactman response model.

Separate source signals

Keep bmf_status, pub78_verified, revocation fields and irs_bmf_pub78_conflict distinct so downstream logic retains the meaning and source of each signal.

Reusable compliance rules

Apply the same current-tax-exempt logic across onboarding, donations, grantmaking and recurring reviews while allowing each workflow to define its own acceptance criteria.

Developer-friendly automation

Move current tax-exempt verification into the application workflow instead of requiring a person to manually compare IRS status, Pub. 78 and revocation information for every EIN.

Frequently asked questions

Is bmf_status: true enough to prove a nonprofit is currently tax exempt?

Not by itself. Use bmf_status as a BMF-presence signal, then evaluate bmf_subsection, subsection_description, exempt_status_code, revocation information and source freshness before applying your final current-status rule.

Does pub78_verified: true mean the same thing as current tax-exempt status?

No. pub78_verified represents inclusion in the most recent Publication 78 data used by Pactman. It is especially relevant when deductible-contribution eligibility matters, but it should remain separate from BMF status and revocation logic.

What if the nonprofit appears in revocation data?

Review revocation_code, revocation_date and reinstatement_date together. A revocation record can be historical, so current status should not be inferred from revocation history alone.

What if BMF and Pub. 78 disagree?

Review irs_bmf_pub78_conflict together with the underlying BMF and Pub. 78 fields and their source dates. Preserve the disagreement instead of silently converting the records into one status.

Related Pactman artifacts

• How to Check if an EIN Belongs to a Tax-Exempt Organization
• How to Verify a 501(c)(3) Organization Using Its EIN
• How to Check if a Nonprofit Has Lost Its Tax-Exempt Status

Next step

Use the Pactman API response to confirm the nonprofit's identity, evaluate BMF classification and exemption status, then explicitly handle revocation, Pub. 78, source conflicts and freshness before deciding whether the organization is currently tax exempt under your application's rules.