To change your LLC name with the IRS, keep your existing EIN and tell the agency about the new name in one of three ways: check the name-change box on your next federal tax return, file Form 8822-B, or send a signed letter to the IRS office where you file. Which route fits you depends on how your LLC is taxed and whether you’ve already filed this year’s return.
Your EIN Doesn’t Change
A name change by itself never requires a new Employer Identification Number. The IRS requires a new EIN when ownership or structure changes, not when you rebrand. File amended articles of organization with your state, adopt the new legal name, and your nine-digit EIN carries over.1Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
A new EIN does come into play if the name change is bundled with a structural change, such as converting a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership into a corporation, or dissolving the LLC and forming a new entity. If the only thing shifting is the name, skip the new EIN application.1Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
Know How Your LLC Is Taxed Before You Start
The notification method depends on your federal tax classification. A multi-member LLC defaults to partnership treatment and files Form 1065. An LLC that filed Form 8832 to elect corporate treatment files Form 1120 as a C corporation or Form 1120-S as an S corporation. A single-member LLC that hasn’t elected corporate treatment is a disregarded entity, and the owner reports income on Schedule C, E, or F of Form 1040.2Internal Revenue Service. LLC Filing as a Corporation or Partnership
Not sure which one you are? Check your most recent federal return or the IRS confirmation letter from when your EIN was assigned.
Reporting the Change on Your Next Return
If you haven’t filed for the current year yet, the cleanest option is to report the new name on the return itself. Enter the new legal name at the top of the form and check the name-change box. The IRS updates its records when it processes the return.
Partnerships
On Form 1065, check Box 3 on Page 1, Line G, and enter the new legal name in the name and address section at the top.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change For calendar-year partnerships, the return is due March 15.4Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 1065 – US Return of Partnership Income
C Corporations and S Corporations
For an LLC taxed as a C corporation, check Box 3 on Page 1, Line E of Form 1120. For one taxed as an S corporation, check Box 2 on Page 1, Line H of Form 1120-S.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change Enter the new name, tick the box, and file as usual; the IRS updates its master file on processing.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1120-S (2025) – Item H Final Return, Name Change, Address Change, Amended Return, or S Election Termination
Match the name on the return exactly to the name on your state amendment. A mismatch can get an e-filed return flagged or rejected.
Single-Member LLCs
Form 1040 has no name-change checkbox for the business, so a single-member LLC filing on Schedule C, E, or F can’t handle the update on the return.6Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies Instead, mail a signed letter to the IRS office where you file. The letter must be signed by the owner or an authorized representative.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change The same written approach applies to partnerships and corporations that have already filed this year’s return and want the change on record before next filing season.
Using Form 8822-B
Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party — Business, has a checkbox for a business name change at line 4a. If you’re already updating an address or a responsible party, you can handle the name change on the same form.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
Form 8822-B also works as a fallback if you’ve filed the current-year return already and would rather use a standard IRS form than draft a letter. Download it from irs.gov, fill in the EIN and old and new names, and mail it to the address in the form’s instructions.
What to Include in a Written Letter
If you’re sending a letter rather than using a return or Form 8822-B, include:
- The previous legal name currently on file with the IRS.
- The new legal name as it appears on your state amendment.
- Your nine-digit EIN.
- The business address on file.
- An authorized signature. For a sole proprietorship, the owner or authorized representative signs; for a partnership, a partner signs; for a corporation, a corporate officer signs.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change
Business letterhead isn’t required, but it does make the letter easier to process. What the IRS insists on is the correct signature from the correct person.
Where and How to Send It
Mail your letter or Form 8822-B to the IRS address where your LLC files its federal income tax return. The address varies by state and form type, so check the instructions for your specific return (Form 1065, 1120, 1120-S, or Form 1040 with Schedule C) to find the right service center.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change
There is no online option. The change has to go through on a paper or e-filed return, on Form 8822-B, or through a mailed letter. Send it certified or by USPS registered mail. Under federal law, registered mail serves as prima facie evidence of delivery, and the registration date counts as the postmark date.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 7502 – Timely Mailing Treated as Timely Filing and Paying Keep a copy of what you send along with the mailing receipt.
If Your LLC Has Employees
Payroll tax records need to catch up too. The instructions for Form 941, the quarterly payroll tax return, direct you to notify the IRS immediately of a business name change by writing to the office where you file, and to enter the new legal name on Form 941 going forward.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941 Form 940, the annual federal unemployment tax return, gives the same instruction.10Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 940 – Employers Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return Don’t wait for the next quarterly or annual filing. Getting the payroll records updated quickly prevents confusion when the IRS tries to match your tax deposits to your account.
Getting Confirmation
The IRS doesn’t send an automatic acknowledgment after processing a name change. If you want written confirmation, ask for it. Add a line to your notification letter requesting it, and expect processing to take roughly four to six weeks.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change
If nothing shows up, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933, staffed Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Agents can check whether the new name has posted to the IRS master file.11Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers – Business and Specialty Tax Line and EIN Assignment (800-829-4933)
Why It Pays to Move Quickly
A stale name in the IRS system isn’t just a paperwork nuisance. When the name on a Form W-9 or information return doesn’t line up with what the IRS has for your EIN, the IRS can send the payer a CP2100 or CP2100A notice. That notice can trigger backup withholding at 24% on payments to your LLC.12Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding “B” Program13Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employers Tax Guide
In practice, that means clients or vendors paying your LLC may have to hold back 24% of each payment and send it to the IRS instead of paying you in full. You’d get credit for the withheld amounts when you file, but the cash flow hit in the meantime can hurt. Update the name promptly with the IRS and hand a corrected W-9 to anyone who pays you.
E-filed returns are the other pressure point. The IRS matches the name and EIN on your return against its database, so if the state shows the new name but the IRS still has the old one, the return bounces back, often close to a deadline.