How to Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN)

To apply for an Employer Identification Number, submit IRS Form SS-4 through one of four free channels: the IRS online EIN tool (fastest, issued immediately), fax (about four business days), mail (roughly four weeks), or phone for applicants whose principal place of business is outside the United States. The IRS charges nothing through any of these channels.¹ Which channel you use depends mainly on where you are and whether your responsible party has a Social Security Number or ITIN.

Do You Actually Need One

Corporations, partnerships, and multi-member LLCs need an EIN whether or not they have employees. So do trusts, estates, tax-exempt organizations, farmer cooperatives, and retirement plan administrators.² You also need one if you hire even one employee, pay excise taxes, or withhold taxes on payments to non-resident aliens.

Sole proprietors with no employees are the exception. You can legally use your Social Security Number for business tax filings. Many sole proprietors still get an EIN so they don’t have to hand their SSN to every client, vendor, and bank, and because the application is free and takes minutes.

What to Gather Before You Start

The IRS collects the same information regardless of channel, all of it drawn from Form SS-4. Have it ready before you begin, especially online, where the tool won’t let you save partway through.

Legal name exactly as it appears on your charter, articles of incorporation, or partnership agreement. Sole proprietors use their personal name.
Trade name or DBA, if different from the legal name.
Entity type: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC, trust, estate, or other.
Physical U.S. address. The IRS does not accept a P.O. box as the primary business address.
Reason for applying, such as starting a new business, hiring employees, or opening a bank account.
Business start or acquisition date, and the closing month of your accounting year.

The Responsible Party

Every application names a single “responsible party,” meaning the individual who ultimately owns or controls the entity and can direct its funds and assets. It has to be an actual person, not another business. Government entities are the only exception.³ The responsible party must supply a valid Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

If your responsible party has neither an SSN nor an ITIN, you cannot use the online tool. Apply by phone, fax, or mail instead.¹

Applying Online

The IRS online EIN tool is the fastest option for anyone with a U.S. address and a valid SSN or ITIN. It’s available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day, Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 6 p.m. to midnight, all Eastern Time.¹ The tool walks through the same fields as Form SS-4 in a guided format.

Two things trip people up. You have to finish the entire application in one session; there is no save button. And the session times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, forcing you to start over.¹

Once the system validates your entries, it assigns your EIN on the spot and displays a confirmation notice you can download as a PDF. Save and print it immediately. This document, the CP 575 notice, is issued only once. The IRS will not send a duplicate. Banks, licensing agencies, and lenders accept it as proof of your EIN.

Using the EIN Right Away

Your EIN is valid the moment it’s issued, but banks verify EINs against the IRS database, and the number can take up to two weeks to fully propagate there after online issuance. If you’re opening a business bank account immediately, bring your CP 575. Some banks accept it as proof before the number appears in their verification system.

If You Get Reference Number 101

Reference Number 101 means the IRS already has an entity on file with a name identical or very similar to yours, and the system will not let you finish online. Call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933.⁴ The representative will typically ask you to fax your SS-4 along with your filed certificate of incorporation or formation so they can verify your entity is distinct.

Applying by Fax or Mail

If the online tool doesn’t work for you, submit a completed Form SS-4 by fax or mail. For businesses in any of the 50 states or the District of Columbia, the fax number is 855-641-6935.² Put a return fax number on the form and the IRS will fax your EIN back within about four business days.

To mail the form, send it to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. Expect roughly four weeks for a response.² Fax is the clear choice when you need the number sooner but can’t apply online.

Applying From Outside the United States

If your principal place of business is outside the U.S., the online tool isn’t available to you. Call 267-941-1099, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time.² This is not a toll-free number. The caller has to be authorized to receive the EIN and should have a completed Form SS-4 on hand. The IRS representative goes through the form on the call, verifies the details, and assigns the EIN during the call if everything is in order.

International applicants can also fax Form SS-4 to 855-215-1627 from within the U.S. or 304-707-9471 from outside the U.S.⁵

Skip the Paid Services

The IRS does not charge for an EIN through any channel. As the agency puts it, “Beware of websites that charge for an EIN. You never have to pay a fee for an EIN.”¹

Third-party sites often mimic the look of official IRS pages and charge $50 to $300 to file the same free form on your behalf. If a site is asking for a credit card to get you an EIN, it is not the IRS. The official application lives at irs.gov.

After You Have the Number

Your EIN belongs to the entity’s structure. Keeping records current means knowing what to do when things change.

If you lose your CP 575, the IRS will not reissue it. What they will issue is a 147C verification letter, which serves the same proof-of-EIN purpose. Call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and request Letter 147C by fax for faster delivery or by mail.²

If your business address, location, or responsible party changes, file Form 8822-B with the IRS. Changes to the responsible party must be reported within 60 days.⁶ Processing runs four to six weeks. An officer, owner, general partner, or authorized representative must sign. The IRS will not process the form from an unauthorized third party.

A name change or a move does not require a new EIN. A structural change often does: for example, a sole proprietor who incorporates, a corporation that receives a new charter or merges to form a new entity, a partnership that incorporates or dissolves, or an LLC that terminates and reforms as a corporation or partnership.⁷ If you’re in one of those situations, apply for a new EIN the same way you got the first one.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
2
Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
4
Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers
5
Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes for Form SS-4
6
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
7
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN