Yes, a disregarded entity can have an EIN, and in several common situations it is required to have one. The IRS ignores a disregarded entity for federal income tax purposes, but it still treats the entity as separate for employment taxes, excise taxes, and certain information reporting. Each of those triggers its own EIN requirement.1Internal Revenue Service. Limited Liability Company (LLC) Even when nothing in the Internal Revenue Code forces the issue, banks, state agencies, and vendors usually do.
When a Disregarded Entity Must Have Its Own EIN
The counterintuitive part: although the IRS disregards your single-member LLC for income tax, it treats the entity as completely separate for employment and excise tax purposes.1Internal Revenue Service. Limited Liability Company (LLC) That separation is what creates the EIN requirement in these situations.
- Employees. A disregarded entity with employees must obtain its own EIN to report and pay employment taxes. Form 941, the quarterly federal employment tax return, requires the entity’s EIN, not the owner’s Social Security Number.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941 (03/2026)
- Excise taxes. If the entity owes federal excise taxes, it reports and pays those under its own EIN. The Form 720 instructions say eligible single-owner disregarded entities must handle excise tax obligations under their own EIN rather than the owner’s taxpayer identification number.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 720 (Rev. December 2025)
- Retirement plans. If the entity sponsors a qualified retirement plan, that plan generally needs an EIN associated with the sponsoring entity.
- Foreign ownership. A U.S. disregarded entity wholly owned by a foreign person must have its own EIN to file Form 5472 attached to a pro forma Form 1120. The penalty for failing to file is $25,000 per form, plus another $25,000 for each 30-day period the failure continues after the IRS sends notice, with no cap.4Internal Revenue Service. International Information Reporting Penalties
The foreign-ownership trigger catches people off guard. On Form SS-4, a foreign-owned disregarded entity checks “Other” for the entity type and writes “Foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity-Form 5472.”5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 These applications cannot be submitted online; they must be faxed or mailed.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5472
When You Should Get One Even If You Don’t Have To
Most banks want an EIN before they open a business account, even for a single-member LLC with no employees. The IRS says plainly that a disregarded entity may apply for and obtain an EIN if one is needed to open a bank account.7Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies Keeping business and personal finances in separate accounts matters for a legal reason too: commingling funds is the classic fact pattern that leads courts to pierce the corporate veil and strip away the liability protection the LLC was supposed to give you.
Some states require an EIN for business licensing or state tax registration regardless of federal classification, and the IRS recognizes that as a valid reason for a disregarded entity to apply.7Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies Privacy is another reason. Putting an EIN on W-9s, invoices, and vendor paperwork keeps your Social Security Number from circulating through every contractor relationship you have.
How to Apply
The quickest path is the IRS online application at IRS.gov/EIN. If your principal place of business is in the United States or a U.S. territory, you finish the application in a few minutes and get your EIN immediately. There is no fee. One limit worth knowing: the system issues only one EIN per responsible party per day.8Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
If you can’t use the online system, you can submit Form SS-4 by fax or mail. International applicants can also apply by phone at 267-941-1099 during business hours. That phone option is not available to domestic applicants.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
On line 9a of Form SS-4, a disregarded entity checks “Other” and writes “disregarded entity.” If you’re applying because the entity is simultaneously electing corporate status via Form 8832 or Form 2553, check the “Corporation” box instead and note “Single-member” with the return type you’ll be filing.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
Every application has to list a responsible party: the individual who owns or controls the entity and manages its funds. The responsible party must be an actual person, not another entity, with their SSN or ITIN.9Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees For a single-member LLC, that’s the owner.
Which Number Goes on W-9s and 1099s
This is where disregarded entities trip up, and the consequences are real. On Form W-9, you put the owner’s name on line 1 and the entity’s name on line 2. The taxpayer identification number you give the payer is the owner’s SSN or EIN, not the disregarded entity’s separate EIN.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 The reasoning follows the entity’s status: for income tax purposes, the owner is the taxpayer, so the owner’s TIN is what the payer needs for 1099 reporting.
Give a client the disregarded entity’s EIN instead, and the IRS may flag a name/TIN mismatch. Once a payer gets a mismatch notice, or if the payee never provides a correct TIN, the payer must withhold 24% of your payments as backup withholding.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 307, Backup Withholding You get the money back after you file, but having a quarter of your gross income locked up at the IRS for months is the kind of cash-flow problem that sinks a small business.
A clean rule of thumb: the owner’s TIN goes on anything related to income, and the entity’s EIN goes on anything related to employment or excise obligations.
When You Need a New EIN
You generally need a new EIN when ownership or structure changes in a way that creates a different taxpayer. Bring on a second member, and the single-member LLC stops being disregarded; by default it becomes a partnership, and a new EIN is required.12Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN Terminating the LLC and forming a new entity also calls for a new EIN.
If your disregarded entity files Form 8832 to elect corporate classification, you keep the EIN you already have. The IRS is explicit: an entity with an existing EIN retains it when its federal tax classification changes, and should not apply for a new one.13Internal Revenue Service. Form 8832, Entity Classification Election If a disregarded entity without an EIN elects corporate status, it must apply at that point and cannot keep using the owner’s number.
Does Getting an EIN Change Your Tax Classification
No. Obtaining an EIN does not change your federal tax classification. A single-member LLC with an EIN is still a disregarded entity, and its income and expenses still flow to the owner’s return, typically on Schedule C for an individual owner.7Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies The EIN only gives the entity a number for the purposes that require one: employment tax filings, excise returns, bank accounts, state registrations. Actually changing classification requires filing Form 8832.