Can You Edit Your EIN Information With the IRS?

You can update the business information tied to your Employer Identification Number with the IRS without applying for a new number. Address changes, responsible party changes, and business name changes all attach to your existing EIN through a short form or a signed letter. Here is how to update your EIN information with the IRS, what deadline applies, and when a change is big enough that you actually need a new number instead.

What You Can Change Without a New EIN

Your EIN itself is permanent. What the IRS lets you edit are the records attached to it: your legal business name, your mailing address, your physical business location, and the person listed as your responsible party.¹ Address, location, and responsible party changes all go on Form 8822-B. A name change follows a separate path.²

The responsible party is whoever ultimately owns or controls the entity, or who exercises effective control over its funds and assets.³ This is the person the IRS holds accountable for the entity’s tax obligations. If that person leaves, is replaced, or legally changes their name, the record needs updating. Trusts with their own EIN use the same rule and the same form when a trustee changes; swapping trustees does not require a new EIN.⁴

Update Your Address or Responsible Party With Form 8822-B

Form 8822-B handles three edits: mailing address, business location, and responsible party. Download it from irs.gov at no cost. The form asks for your business name and EIN, your old mailing address, your new mailing address, your new business location if that changed, and the name and taxpayer identification number of any new responsible party. Check the boxes at the top to indicate which returns the change affects, such as employment, excise, or income tax filings.⁵

For an address change alone, you can skip the form and simply use your new address on your next tax return. That shortcut does not work for a responsible party change.⁶

The 60-Day Deadline for Responsible Party Changes

When your responsible party changes, you have 60 days to file Form 8822-B. This is mandatory.⁵ The same 60-day window applies to trusts reporting a new trustee or grantor.⁴

The IRS does not assess a penalty for filing late or not filing at all, but that is not the reassurance it sounds like. If the IRS does not have your current mailing address or current responsible party on file, you may never see a notice of deficiency or a demand for payment. Those notices are treated as legally delivered anyway, and penalties and interest keep accruing on any outstanding balance whether you saw the notice or not.⁵

Change Your Business Name

Name changes follow a different route. The right one depends on whether you are about to file a return.

If you are filing a return for the year, check the name-change box directly on the return. On Form 1120 for C corporations, that is Page 1, Line E, Box 3. On Form 1120-S for S corporations, it is Page 1, Line H, Box 2. On Form 1065 for partnerships, it is Page 1, Line G, Box 3.⁷ If you e-file and the return rejects because your new name does not match the EIN on record, refile with the name-change box marked.⁸

If you have already filed for the year, or your entity type has no name-change checkbox, send a signed letter to the IRS at the address where you filed your most recent return. Include your old business name, your EIN, and your new business name. A sole proprietor or authorized representative signs for a sole proprietorship; a corporate officer signs for a corporation; a partner signs for a partnership. If you want a written acknowledgment back, ask for one in the letter.⁷

Where to Send Form 8822-B

Form 8822-B goes to one of two IRS service centers based on your old business address.⁹

Mail to IRS, Kansas City, MO 64999 if your old address was in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.
Mail to IRS, Ogden, UT 84201 if your old address was in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, or if your address is outside the United States.

Name-change letters go to the address where you filed your most recent return, which is often not one of the two above. Use the instructions for that return to find the right address.

Processing Time and Confirming the Change

Expect four to six weeks for the change to appear in IRS records.⁵ A name change reported on a return processes with that return, so filing-season backlogs can stretch it out.

After an address change, the IRS mails confirmation notices to both the old and new addresses. The one going to the new address is CP148A; the one going to the old address is CP148B. If someone changed your business address without your knowledge, the CP148B is your alert.¹⁰

To confirm what the IRS currently has on file, request an entity transcript, or call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 (TTY 800-829-4059) and ask for Letter 147C. The phone line is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.¹¹ If you filed a responsible party change and hear nothing within 60 days, mail a copy of the Form 8822-B again with “Second Request” written on it.⁴

When You Need a New EIN Instead

Some changes cannot be handled with an update. If the legal entity the IRS has been dealing with effectively ceases to exist and a new one takes its place, you need a new EIN.¹

Sole proprietors need a new EIN when they incorporate, form a partnership, or file for bankruptcy.
Corporations need a new EIN when they receive a new charter from the secretary of state, create a subsidiary, convert to a partnership or sole proprietorship, or merge and form a new corporation.
Partnerships need a new EIN when they incorporate, dissolve so that one partner takes over as sole proprietor, or end one partnership and begin another.
LLCs need a new EIN when they terminate and form a new corporation or partnership, or when a single-member LLC has to file employment or excise tax returns.

A name change alone or an address change alone never triggers a new EIN, regardless of entity type. Several other transitions that feel major also do not require one: a corporation electing S status, a corporation surviving a merger, a partnership going through an ownership change that does not terminate the partnership, an LLC changing its tax election, a trust changing trustees, or an estate changing its administrator or executor.¹ When in doubt, keep the current EIN and update the record rather than apply for a new number you may not need.

Having a Tax Professional File the Change

You can authorize a CPA, attorney, or enrolled agent to handle EIN updates by filing Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. The form authorizes your representative to sign agreements, consents, and other documents for the tax matters listed.¹²

One detail matters for EIN work: the IRS treats EIN applications as a “specific use” power of attorney, so it does not record them on the Centralized Authorization File. Your representative should check the specific-use box on line 4 and send the form directly to the IRS office handling the matter. You sign first, and the representative must countersign within 45 days of your signature, or 60 days if you live abroad.¹²

1
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 – Section: Lines 7a-7b Name of Responsible Party
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Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B (Rev. December 2019) Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
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Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes
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Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change
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Internal Revenue Service. Using the Correct Name Control in E-Filing Corporate Tax Returns
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Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Form 8822-B
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Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP148B Notice
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Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2848 Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative