Does a General Partnership Need an EIN? Rules and How to Apply

Yes, a general partnership does need an EIN. Federal law requires every domestic partnership to file an annual return, and that return has to carry a tax identification number belonging to the partnership itself, not to any individual partner.¹² Applying is free, the online process takes a few minutes, and the number stays with the partnership for the rest of its life.

Why the Requirement Applies Even With No Employees

The IRS lists operating a partnership as one of the baseline reasons a business needs an EIN, on equal footing with hiring employees or paying excise taxes.³ Partnership income flows through to each partner’s individual return, but the partnership is still a separate entity for federal reporting, and it files Form 1065 each year.⁴ Using a partner’s Social Security number in place of an EIN is not an option.

Other Situations That Force the Issue

Even if the filing requirement weren’t enough on its own, most partnerships run into the EIN long before their first return is due:

Hiring employees. Payroll tax withholding and reporting require an EIN from day one.⁵
Paying federal excise taxes on goods or services the partnership sells.
Administering a qualified retirement plan or IRA.⁵
Opening a bank account in the partnership’s name. Banks want the EIN before they’ll open the account.⁶

Vendors and lenders routinely ask for a tax ID before signing a contract, so as a practical matter the EIN comes up early.

What Happens if You File Late

A partnership that misses the Form 1065 deadline owes $255 per partner for each month or partial month the return is late, capped at 12 months.⁷ A four-partner firm three months late would owe $3,060. The penalty applies whether the return is missing entirely or simply incomplete.⁸ Having the EIN in hand well ahead of the deadline is the easy way to avoid this trap.

Information to Gather Before You Apply

The application is Form SS-4. Have these details ready:

The legal name of the partnership, entered exactly as it appears in the partnership agreement or formation documents.⁹
A responsible party. One real person with ultimate control over the partnership and its assets, not another entity. You’ll need that person’s Social Security number or ITIN.⁹
A mailing address for IRS correspondence.
The date the business started, meaning when partners began operations or first incurred business expenses.
A reason for applying. For a new partnership, that’s usually “started a new business” or “banking purposes.”

Check the legal name and responsible party details twice. Errors here cause delays and create mismatches in IRS records that are tedious to fix later.

How to Apply

Online

The IRS online application is free and issues the EIN in real time once approved. There’s never a fee, so be wary of third-party sites charging for what the IRS provides at no cost.³

The tool runs on limited hours (Eastern time): Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. the next day, Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. Only one EIN per responsible party is issued per day, so forming multiple partnerships takes multiple days. The online option is available only to partnerships whose principal place of business is in the United States or a U.S. territory.³

Fax or Mail

You can also submit Form SS-4 on paper. Faxed applications are processed in about four business days if you include a return fax number. Mailed applications take roughly four to five weeks.¹⁰ Current mailing and fax addresses are in the IRS filing instructions.¹¹

Partnerships With No U.S. Address

If the partnership has no legal residence or principal business location in the United States, the online application isn’t available. Instead, call the IRS at 267-941-1099 (not toll-free) between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. The caller must be authorized to receive the EIN and to answer questions about Form SS-4.¹⁰ International applicants can also fax Form SS-4 to 304-707-9471 and receive the EIN in about four business days.¹¹ If the responsible party has no Social Security number or ITIN and isn’t eligible for one, enter “foreign” or “N/A” on line 7b.⁹

What to Do After the EIN Is Issued

The EIN is permanent. The IRS won’t cancel it, though the number can be deactivated if the partnership closes. Shortly after approval, the IRS mails a confirmation notice called CP 575. Keep it in a permanent file, because banks and government agencies regularly ask for it as proof of the tax ID. The CP 575 is issued only once. If it goes missing, request a replacement verification letter (Letter 147C) from the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933.⁵

When a Change in the Partnership Requires a New EIN

Not every change resets the number. The IRS draws a clear line:

A new EIN is required when the partnership ends and a new one begins, when the business incorporates, or when it converts to a sole proprietorship.¹²
No new EIN is needed for an ownership change that doesn’t terminate the partnership, a name change, a new business address, or a bankruptcy filing.¹²

Partner turnover is where people get tripped up. Buying out one partner and bringing in another doesn’t automatically terminate the partnership under current tax rules, so the existing EIN usually survives. If the partnership dissolves and the remaining partners form a brand-new venture, that new entity needs its own EIN.

Updating the Responsible Party

When the partner named as responsible party on the original application changes, whether through buyout, retirement, or a reassignment of control, the partnership must file Form 8822-B with the IRS within 60 days.¹³ This filing is mandatory. Skipping it can cause problems if the IRS needs to reach the partnership or if a bank checks the EIN against IRS records and finds a mismatch.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6031 – Return of Partnership Income
2
eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6109-1 – Identifying Numbers
3
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income
5
Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number
6
U.S. Small Business Administration. Open a Business Bank Account
7
Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6698 – Failure to File Partnership Return
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
11
Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes for Form SS-4
12
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
13
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party