The IRS says it can take up to 45 days to get an EFIN once you submit a complete e-file application, and there is no fee to apply.1Internal Revenue Service. FAQs About Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFIN) The realistic timeline is usually longer, because the 45-day window does not begin until the IRS has everything it needs, including your fingerprint results. Setting up the accounts and prerequisites in front of the application can add another two weeks or more on top of that.
What Has to Happen Before the 45-Day Clock Starts
Two prerequisites sit in front of the application itself. Anyone preparing federal returns for compensation needs a current-year Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN).2Internal Revenue Service. PTIN Requirements for Tax Return Preparers You also need an IRS e-services account, and that account now runs through ID.me identity verification: photo ID upload, video selfie, and Social Security number entry. The IRS says the registration itself can take up to two weeks to complete.3Internal Revenue Service. e-Services Registration
Fingerprinting is the other item that quietly extends the timeline. Every principal and responsible official on the application has to be fingerprinted unless they qualify for an exemption. Licensed attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents who enter their current professional credentials during the application skip fingerprinting entirely.4Internal Revenue Service. Become an Authorized e-File Provider Everyone else uses the IRS-authorized live scan vendor, which captures prints electronically and sends them to the FBI. Mailing physical fingerprint cards is an option if live scan is not available, but it adds transit time before the IRS considers your application complete.
The practical point: if you click submit but your prints have not been captured yet, the clock has not really started. Getting the e-services account, PTIN, and fingerprints handled first is what makes the 45 days a real number rather than a floor.
What the IRS Is Doing During Those 45 Days
Once the application is complete, the IRS runs a suitability check on the firm and on each principal and responsible official. That review covers four areas:4Internal Revenue Service. Become an Authorized e-File Provider
- A criminal background review coordinated with the FBI, using your fingerprint results.
- A tax compliance review looking back six years at personal and business accounts to confirm required returns are filed and no balances are outstanding.5Internal Revenue Service. Return Preparer Suitability
- A possible credit check.
- A review of any prior e-file violations or sanctions.
Tax compliance is where most denials come from. Unfiled returns or an outstanding balance almost guarantee a rejection, so fixing those before applying saves weeks of processing time.5Internal Revenue Service. Return Preparer Suitability While the review is running, your application shows as “Pending” in e-services. When it clears, the EFIN arrives in your e-services message center and you can transmit returns right away.
What Speeds It Up and What Stretches It Out
Some applications approve in as little as a couple of weeks. Others take the full 45 days, and a few take longer when the IRS has to follow up on a compliance issue.4Internal Revenue Service. Become an Authorized e-File Provider A few things move an application toward the fast end of that range:
- A principal or responsible official who is a licensed attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent, entered with current credentials, so fingerprinting is skipped entirely.4Internal Revenue Service. Become an Authorized e-File Provider
- Live scan fingerprints rather than mailed cards.
- A clean six-year tax history for every principal, responsible official, and the firm itself.
- Addresses on the application that match exactly what the IRS already has on file. Mismatched addresses are one of the most common causes of avoidable delay.
Because the timeline stacks — up to two weeks for e-services registration, then fingerprint capture and transmission, then up to 45 days of IRS review — applying well before filing season is the only reliable way to have an EFIN in hand when clients start showing up.
If the Application Is Denied
A denial resets the timing entirely. You have 30 calendar days from the date of the denial letter to submit a written response to the address in that letter. The IRS will either withdraw the denial and accept you, or sustain it and issue a second denial letter. If the second denial comes, you have another 30 calendar days to appeal to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals with detailed reasons and supporting documents. Miss either 30-day deadline and administrative review is permanently waived for that application.6Internal Revenue Service. 8.7.13 e-File Cases
In most cases the faster path is to fix the underlying issue and reapply. If unfiled returns caused the denial, file them. If a balance did, pay it or set up an installment agreement. A credentialed preparer with two or more unfiled returns or an outstanding balance may also be referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which reaches beyond e-filing into other professional privileges.5Internal Revenue Service. Return Preparer Suitability
Plan the whole sequence backward from the date you actually need to transmit returns: two weeks for e-services and ID.me, time to schedule and complete fingerprinting, up to 45 days for IRS review, and a buffer in case the suitability check surfaces something. Sixty to ninety days of runway is a safer assumption than the 45-day headline number.