11186: 1041 - Name Control Guidelines, EF Message 5300, & IRS Reject R0000-901-01

Trusts

For trusts (not estates) that applied for their EIN online and have an EIN that begins with 20, 26 or 27, their name control is the first four characters of the first name of the trust. Additionally, IRS notice CP 575B notified the applicant of the EIN. The name control on this notice appeared on the second page on a tear-off tab.

Trusts that applied for their EIN via a paper application were assigned name controls using the first four characters of the last name of the trust. The following examples are from Publication 4163: 

Estates

An estate name control is the first four characters of the deceased individual's last name.

Filers (fiduciaries or their authorized representatives) who cannot determine the correct Name Control should contact the IRS Business Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933 for assistance.

For more information, press F1in the Name control field on screen 1 to review Help. The following examples are from Publication 4163: 

Common EF Messages and Rejects

If the Entity Name Control field on screen 1 is left blank, EF Message 5300 produces, preventing e-file:

If the incorrect Entity Name Control is entered and the return is e-filed, the IRS will reject the fiduciary return with the following reject code: 

R0000-901-01 Filer's EIN and Name Control in the Return Header must match data in the e-file database.