MCC 8398: Charitable Social Service Organizations
Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual (April 2026), Section 2: Merchant Category Code Listing, PDF page 109. Checked 2026-10-15.
What MCC 8398 means
The Visa manual describes it this way:
Merchants classified with this MCC are non-political fund-raising organizations engaged in soliciting charitable donations/contributions on behalf of organizations engaged in social welfare services, or social service organizations engaged in social welfare services. This MCC also includes crowd funding Merchants that accept donations on behalf of individuals raising money for various causes without receiving any perceived or actual financial benefit for doing so.
How an MCC is assigned
Visa says the Merchant Category Code is a four-digit number assigned to describe a merchant's primary business based on annual sales volume, and that acquirers and their agents must assign the correct MCC to each merchant.
If a merchant has more than one line of business, Visa's rules say it must either use the MCC for the business with the highest sales volume or use different MCCs for each line of business. "Miscellaneous" codes, usually ending in 99, are for businesses with no more specific MCC.
On the tax side, the IRS asks for a payee's MCC in Box 2 of Form 1099-K and tells filers to use the code that most closely matches the payee's business.
Source:Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual,IRS Instructions for Form 1099-K.
Your processor or merchant account provider assigns your code when you apply. If you think the wrong code was assigned, ask them to review it.
Nearby codes
- 8249: Vocational and Trade Schools
- 8299: Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified)
- 8351: Child Care Services
- 8641: Civic, Social, and Fraternal Associations
- 8651: Political Organizations
- 8661: Religious Organizations