RSO Banking & Tax IDs
Registered Student Organizations may decide to have their own group bank account that isn’t owned by any one officer.
UW Seattle does not provide banking services or endorse any banks for any student organizations. Furthermore, SAO does not provide tax or legal advice and recommends RSO’s solicit advice from a tax or legal professional. Registered Student Organizations that want to create an RSO bank account are encouraged to do extensive research on bank options, tax implications and federal and state requirements.
Where to start
Before an RSO opens a bank account, officers should ask themselves why they need it. This is an important question. While bank accounts provide benefits–such as the ability to deposit funds issued to the RSO–they also come with their own set of obligations.
Legal: Clubs will need a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) to create an account. Officers will be legally obligated to ensure the funds are used appropriately.
Logistical: As officers approach graduation, they will need to ensure the transfer of account access to the next generation of club officers, or dissolve the account and associated EIN in compliance with state and federal law.
Ethical: Officers will need to ensure they are good stewards of the money entrusted to them and restrict spending to purchases that further the organization’s members. In addition to abiding by laws against the misuse of funds, officers are ethically obligated to ensure funds are being used for the benefit of UW students.
Selecting a bank
The Student Activities Office does not endorse any specific bank for RSO use.
Banks have varying requirements for opening or updating an organization bank account. All banks will require an Employer Identification Number, which you can learn more about in the section below. Another common request is a letter of verification from the university. SAO can provide a letter of verification for your organization that confirms registration and the current list of officers. This letter can be used to open an account or update signature authorization on an existing account. If a letter of verification is requested by the bank, please contact the SAO Front Desk via email: sao@uw.edu
Depending on the purpose of your account and the bank’s policy, you may be required to provide additional documentation, such as a club constitution, meeting minutes, or proof of non-profit or not-for-profit incorporation issued by the Washington Secretary of State.
Tax Identification – EIN
An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is used to identify a business entity or organization. You can apply for an EIN on the IRS website.
These days, you can find plenty of fake EIN application websites online. Remember, EINs are free. The IRS will not charge you anything when you apply for one. You should also avoid downloading forms from other websites besides the IRS. This way, you can guarantee the documents you’re using are accurate.
SAO strongly encourages all RSOs with an EIN to save any documentation from the Internal Revenue Service regarding their EIN and to share that information accordingly among their officers, especially when officers transition.
You can find the EIN application and related information in the references at the bottom of this page
The first part of the application is to choose the identity for your group:
- Select “View Additional Types, Including Tax-Exempt and Governmental Organizations”
- Select the most appropriate category for your organization. Some common choices for school clubs are:
- Social or Savings Club: “A social club is organized for pleasure, recreation, and other similar non-profitable purposes and substantially all of its activities must be for these purposes.”
- Community of Volunteer Group: “A community or volunteer group is any specialized interest group that comes together to provide volunteer services.”
- Sports Teams (community): “These organizations are comprised of sports teams or clubs primarily participating in live sporting events before a non-paying audience.”
Nonprofit status & RSO’s
Some RSO’s may decide to register with the state of Washington as a legal non-profit organization. Registering with the state of Washington as a legal entity may benefit an RSO by having additional oversight to RSO funds and limit liability for individual RSO members. For more information on how to register your RSO with Washington state and information on whether or not registering is right for you please review the WA Nonprofit Handbook.
Additional Requirements: Many RSO’s solicit donations from companies or donors and are often asked about whether or not the donations are tax deductible. In order for RSO’s to solicit tax-deductible donations, RSO’s in WA state may be required to register separately with the Charities Programs as a Charitable Organization. Donations made to an RSO are inherently NOT tax-deductible for the donor under non-profit status with the state of Washington or with an EIN.
RSO’s that wish to incorporate with the state as a nonprofit and register as a charitable organization must adhere to requirements for reporting funds and any applicable tax laws. Reminder: SAO does not provide tax or legal advice and recommends RSO’s solicit advice from a tax or legal professional.
RSOs and tax-exempt status
RSOs are legally independent and autonomous from the University and therefore do not have access to the University’s tax-exempt status.
RSO’s wishing to be tax-exempt for donation purposes must file a separate form with the Internal Revenue Service in addition to registering with the state of Washington. An EIN is not the same as tax exempt status. An EIN is the IRS’ record that your organization exists. For more information about filing for tax-exempt status and different status options, visit the IRS website.
Student Activities Office
Email: saoreg@uw.edu
Phone: 206-543-2380
Location: HUB 232
References
IRS: EIN Application Information – Review the “specific instructions” section for more details about what information is needed for the application.
Washington Secretary of State: Nonprofit handbook
Updated: October 22, 2025
Contact SAO regarding the content on this page.
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