To find your EIN, start with your own paperwork: the IRS confirmation notice sent when the number was first assigned, any prior federal tax return, or a business bank or loan document will all display the nine-digit number. If none of those turn up, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and an agent will read it back to you once your identity and authority are verified. The service is free, and the sections below walk through each option in the order most people find fastest.
Check the IRS Confirmation Notice First
When the IRS assigns an EIN, it issues a confirmation. Paper applicants receive Notice CP 575 by mail roughly four to six weeks after approval. Online applicants get the EIN immediately and can print a confirmation letter on the spot, which serves as the permanent record.1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number Look in your corporate minute book, formation binder, or the digital folder where you saved the printout.
Look at a Previous Tax Return
If the original notice is gone, pull any federal return the business has filed. The EIN appears near the top of the first page, whether the return was filed as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Paper copies and electronic copies both show the number in the header.
Check Bank, Payroll, and Licensing Records
Financial institutions collect your EIN when you open a business bank account, take out a loan, or set up a business credit card, so the original application, signature card, or loan agreement will contain it. If you no longer have the paperwork, the bank can usually provide the number after verifying your identity.
Payroll providers use the EIN to process withholdings and generate W-2s, which means your service agreement or a recent payroll summary will show it.2Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number Independent contractors looking for a client’s EIN can find it on any Form 1099-NEC they received, printed in the upper section under “Payer’s TIN.”3Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099-NEC
State and local agencies keep the number too. Business license applications, professional permits, and local tax filings all require an EIN, so the licensing board or local tax office can often produce it from a prior submission.
Call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line
When your own records come up empty, the IRS will look up the EIN by phone at 800-829-4933, Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time).4Internal Revenue Service. Telephone Assistance Contacts for Business Customers Hold times run longest during filing season, January through April. Early morning and later in the week tend to move faster.
Before you call, gather:
- The exact legal name of the entity as it appears on your formation documents. Small differences like “LLC” versus “Inc.” or a missing comma can stall the call.
- The business address the IRS has on file. If you’ve moved, see the next section.
- Your Social Security Number or ITIN, which the IRS uses to confirm you personally.5Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
- Proof of your authority to receive the number. Only certain people qualify: typically the principal officer of a corporation, a general partner in a partnership, or a member-manager of an LLC. Keep the Articles of Incorporation or Operating Agreement nearby so you can confirm your role matches IRS records.5Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
Once you’re verified, the agent reads the EIN to you and can send a formal verification letter to the address on file. There is no fee.
Callers outside the United States cannot use the main business line. Reach the IRS International Taxpayer Service line at 267-941-1000 (not toll-free), Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Getting Written Proof With Letter 147C
If a bank or lender wants written confirmation of your EIN, ask the phone agent for Letter 147C, the IRS’s official confirmation that the number was previously assigned.2Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number It’s mailed to the business address on file and works as a permanent replacement for a lost CP 575.
What to Do If Your Address Doesn’t Match
If your business has moved since it last filed, the address you give over the phone won’t match IRS records, and the agent may refuse to release the number. You have three ways to update the record:
- File Form 8822-B, the IRS’s dedicated form for changing a business address or responsible party, and mail it to the address in the form instructions.
- Put the new address on your next business return; filing updates the record automatically.
- Notify the IRS by phone, or mail a signed statement with the business name, EIN, and both the old and new addresses.
Processing generally takes four to six weeks.6Internal Revenue Service. Address Changes If you know you’ll need the EIN soon after a move, filing Form 8822-B early prevents a mismatch when you call.
Finding an EIN for a Nonprofit or Public Company
If the EIN you need belongs to a tax-exempt organization, use the IRS’s free Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. You can search by name, city, or state, and the tool draws on Publication 78 data, auto-revocation lists, and filed Form 990 returns.7Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Most registered 501(c)(3) EINs are publicly available there.
For a publicly traded company, the EIN appears on the cover page of its annual Form 10-K, which you can pull for free from the SEC’s EDGAR database at sec.gov.
Retrieving an EIN for an Estate
An estate uses its own EIN, separate from the decedent’s Social Security Number, and the personal representative applies for or retrieves it.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators To establish authority with the IRS, the representative files Form 56 (Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship) and attaches the court certificate showing their appointment.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 A power of attorney or a copy of the will alone will not do; the IRS requires a court-issued certificate such as letters testamentary. Once the fiduciary relationship is on file, the representative can retrieve an existing EIN or apply for a new one through the same channels described above.
Skip the Paid Lookup Sites
Search results are cluttered with third-party sites offering to find or apply for an EIN on your behalf, sometimes for as much as $300. The IRS provides EINs free, and there is never a fee to retrieve one.1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number In 2025, the FTC sent warning letters to operators of these sites, noting that many use IRS-like logos, color schemes, and domain names containing “IRS” to create a false impression of government affiliation.10Federal Trade Commission. FTC Warns Operators of Websites that Charge for an Employer Identification Number and Claim Affiliation with the IRS Go directly to irs.gov. The official tool is called the EIN Assistant, and the URL always ends in irs.gov. If a site asks for a credit card before showing you an EIN, close it and start over at the IRS.