How to Fill Out Form SS-4 for an LLC: Line-by-Line EIN Guide

To fill out Form SS-4 for an LLC, enter the LLC’s legal name and addresses on lines 1 through 6, name an actual person as the responsible party on line 7 with their SSN or ITIN, answer the three LLC-specific questions on lines 8a through 8c, and then make the key choice on line 9a: Partnership for a multi-member LLC, Corporation for an LLC that has elected corporate tax treatment, or Other with “disregarded entity” written in for a single-member LLC. The form is one page, but a handful of lines don’t map cleanly onto the IRS’s checkboxes, and a mismatch between what you enter and what the IRS already has on file will bounce the application.¹

Lines 1 Through 6: Name and Address

Line 1 is the LLC’s legal name exactly as it appears on the articles of organization filed with your state. Small discrepancies cause problems. Abbreviating “Limited Liability Company” to “LLC” when the state filing spells it out can hold up processing.¹

Line 2 is for a trade name or “doing business as” name. Leave it blank if the LLC doesn’t use one. Lines 3 and 4 take the mailing address. Lines 5 and 6 take the street address if it’s different from the mailing address; otherwise, leave them blank.

Lines 7a and 7b: The Responsible Party

The responsible party is the individual who controls, manages, or directs the LLC and its finances. For most LLCs, that’s a managing member or the sole owner. Line 7a takes their full legal name. Line 7b takes their Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

Use the name exactly as it appears on the Social Security card. A name-to-SSN mismatch is the single most common cause of rejection, and the online application catches it in real time.

The responsible party must be an actual person. The IRS explicitly prohibits listing a nominee, meaning someone given limited authority just to handle formation paperwork.² If you used a formation agent or registered-agent service to set up the LLC, that agent cannot be listed on line 7a.

If the responsible party is a foreign individual with no SSN or ITIN and no eligibility for one, write “foreign” or “N/A” on line 7b. In that case you can’t use the online tool and will need to apply by phone or fax.³

Lines 8a Through 8c: The LLC Questions

These three lines exist specifically for LLCs and are easy to miss. Line 8a asks whether the entity is an LLC; check “Yes.” Line 8b asks for the number of members; enter the total number of owners. If you and your spouse co-own the LLC in a community property state and have chosen to treat it as a disregarded entity, enter “1.”⁴ Line 8c asks whether the LLC was organized in the United States; check “Yes” for any LLC formed under state law. Your answers here tell the IRS how to interpret line 9a.

Line 9a: Entity Type

This is where most LLC applicants get stuck, because there’s no “LLC” checkbox. You select the box that matches the LLC’s federal tax classification, not its state-law structure.

A multi-member LLC with no corporate election is a partnership by default. Check the “Partnership” box.

An LLC that has elected to be taxed as a corporation checks the “Corporation” box and writes the form number of the return it will file: 1120 for a C-Corp, 1120-S for an S-Corp.

A single-member LLC with no corporate election is a disregarded entity. Check the “Other” box and write “disregarded entity” in the space provided. Older guidance sometimes points single-member LLCs to “Sole Proprietor,” but the current SS-4 instructions direct disregarded-entity LLCs to “Other.”⁴ The wrong box here can create confusion in IRS records about how your LLC is taxed.

Line 10: Reason for Applying

Pick the reason that actually fits your situation. The IRS uses this answer to decide which returns to expect from you, so an inaccurate response invites follow-up notices.

“Started new business” if you’ve just formed the LLC and are applying for the first time.
“Hired employees” if a previously disregarded single-member LLC now needs an EIN because it’s bringing on staff.
“Banking purpose” if you need the EIN only to open a business bank account. Many single-member LLCs that aren’t required to have an EIN get one for this reason.
“Changed type of organization” if the LLC is restructuring, such as converting from single-member to multi-member.
“Created a trust” only if the LLC is involved in trust administration.

If none fit, choose “Other” and write a brief description.

Lines 11 Through 13: Dates, Accounting Year, and Employees

Line 11 is the date the business started or was acquired. For a newly formed LLC, use the date your state approved the articles of organization. If you’re buying an existing business and moving it into a new LLC, use the acquisition date.⁴

Line 12 is the closing month of your accounting year. Most LLCs use a calendar year, so the answer is “December.” A multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership generally must use the same tax year as its majority partners, which is usually calendar-year. If you want a fiscal year ending in another month, check with your accountant that the LLC qualifies.

Line 13 asks for the highest number of employees you expect in the next 12 months, split into agricultural, household, and other. The IRS uses this to assign a federal tax deposit schedule. Enter zero in any category where you won’t have employees. If you’re applying only for banking purposes with no hiring plans, enter zero in all three.⁴

Lines 14 Through 18: Activity and Designee

Lines 14 through 17 cover principal business activity, specific products or services, and whether the LLC has ever applied for or received an EIN before. Be specific on the activity. “Consulting” is too vague. “Management consulting for healthcare companies” gives the IRS enough to classify the business properly.

Line 18 is the third-party designee section. Complete it only if you want someone else, such as your attorney or accountant, to receive the EIN on your behalf. The designee’s authority ends the moment the EIN is issued. One quirk: if the designee’s address or phone number matches yours, the online application won’t accept it, and you’ll have to submit by fax or mail.³

How to Submit the Completed Form

You have four ways to submit, and the fastest by a wide margin is the IRS online EIN application. It validates your entries in real time and issues the EIN immediately on approval. The online tool is available 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, Eastern Time.⁵ The responsible party must have a valid SSN or ITIN to use it.

If you can’t apply online, fax the completed form to 855-641-6935. Include a return fax number, and the IRS will fax back your EIN in about four business days.⁶ Mail is the slowest route, at roughly four weeks, sent to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999.⁷

International applicants with no U.S. taxpayer identification number apply by phone at 267-941-1099. An IRS agent walks through the form verbally and issues the EIN during the call.³

The IRS limits issuance to one EIN per responsible party per day, regardless of submission method. If you’re forming multiple LLCs, spread the applications across different days.⁵

Mistakes That Get Applications Rejected

The most common rejection is the name-and-SSN mismatch on lines 7a and 7b. If the name you enter doesn’t match Social Security Administration records exactly, the online application rejects immediately and a paper application comes back weeks later. Use the name on the Social Security card, not a nickname or former name.

The next most frequent error is picking the wrong box on line 9a. LLCs aren’t corporations and they aren’t sole proprietorships in the IRS’s eyes. Use Partnership for multi-member, Corporation for an LLC that has elected corporate treatment, and Other with “disregarded entity” written in for single-member. If you’ve already submitted with the wrong classification, don’t file a second SS-4. Send a letter to the IRS explaining the error and include the LLC’s legal name, the EIN, and the responsible party’s name and SSN.

Listing a nominee as the responsible party is the third trap, and it catches people whose LLCs were set up by formation services. Identify your actual responsible party before applying. If a nominee was already listed, file Form 8822-B to correct the record.²

1
Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
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Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Where To File Your Taxes for Form SS-4
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Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number