No, an entity number is not the same as an EIN. An Employer Identification Number is a nine-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS, while an entity number is the registration ID your state’s Secretary of State (or equivalent agency) assigns when you file formation documents. They come from different levels of government and do different jobs, and if you run a formally registered business you will almost certainly need both.
What Each Number Is
The EIN is a federal identifier. The IRS assigns it to employers, sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, LLCs, estates, trusts, tax-exempt organizations, and retirement plans for tax filing and reporting.1Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number You need one if you have employees, operate as a partnership or corporation, or have to file employment or excise taxes. A single-member LLC taxed as a disregarded entity can often use the owner’s Social Security Number instead, but a single-member LLC that elects corporate taxation needs an EIN. Once issued, the EIN is permanent and never reassigned to another business.
The entity number is a state identifier. When you file Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization, the state’s filing office stamps your documents and assigns a unique number to your business. States don’t use a single standard name for it: depending on where you form, it may be called an entity number, file number, charter number, or registration number. The format varies too. What stays consistent is the function: it identifies your business within that state’s records, tracks whether you’ve filed required annual or biennial reports, and shows whether you remain in good standing. It has no federal tax purpose.
Where You Use Each One
The EIN belongs on anything federal and tax-related. That includes income tax returns such as Form 1120 for corporations and Form 1065 for partnerships, quarterly payroll filings like Form 941, and the W-2s and 1099s you issue.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941 Banks ask for it when you open a business account, and lenders need it for federal loan reporting.
The state entity number belongs on state-level filings: annual reports, franchise tax returns, statements of information, and applications to register (or “foreign qualify”) in another state. It’s also what appears when someone looks you up in the state’s public business database.
A good illustration of the distinction is the Uniform Commercial Code financing statement used to record security interests in business assets. The UCC-1 form has one field for the debtor’s tax ID (your EIN or SSN) and a separate field for the organizational ID (your state-assigned entity number). The two sit side by side on the same form because they identify your business in two different systems.3OAS.org. Instructions for National UCC Financing Statement (Form UCC1)
One Can Lapse While the Other Stays Active
Because the two numbers come from different authorities, their status is independent. Skip your state’s annual report and the state can revoke or suspend your entity number, pushing your business out of good standing, while your EIN remains perfectly valid with the IRS. The reverse timing happens at the start of a business’s life: a newly formed company gets its state entity number the moment formation documents are approved, but the EIN may take a few days to arrive if the applicant used mail rather than the IRS online tool.
This also matters when something structural changes. The IRS treats the EIN as tied to the entity that received it; certain changes, such as a corporation receiving a new charter from the Secretary of State or a sole proprietor incorporating, require a new EIN even though a simple name change or address change does not.4Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN A change at the state level, like merging or converting your entity type, usually produces a new state entity number as well, but the two events are tracked separately by each agency.
Other Numbers People Mistake for These Two
EINs and entity numbers are the two identifiers that get confused most often, but they aren’t the only business numbers in circulation. Onboarding forms that ask vaguely for your “business number” are a common source of the mix-up.
State Tax ID Numbers
Many states issue their own tax ID, separate from both the EIN and the entity number. A state tax ID is typically used for state income tax withholding, sales tax collection, or unemployment insurance reporting, and it’s issued by the state’s department of revenue or taxation rather than the Secretary of State. The Small Business Administration treats the state tax ID and the federal EIN as parallel but separate numbers.5U.S. Small Business Administration. Get Federal and State Tax ID Numbers
Unique Entity ID for Federal Contracts
Businesses that work with the federal government need a Unique Entity ID (UEI), assigned through SAM.gov during registration. The UEI replaced the older DUNS Number as the standard identifier across federal award systems.6U.S. General Services Administration. Unique Entity ID is Here It has no connection to your EIN or your state entity number and exists solely so federal agencies can track grant recipients and contractors in one database.
FinCEN Beneficial Ownership
The Corporate Transparency Act originally required most businesses to report beneficial owners to FinCEN, but a FinCEN interim final rule issued in March 2025 exempts all U.S.-formed companies from that reporting requirement. Only entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction still have to file.7FinCEN.gov. FinCEN Removes Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for U.S. Companies and U.S. Persons If your LLC or corporation was formed in a U.S. state, you currently have no BOI filing obligation, though FinCEN has indicated it intends to finalize the rule.
Local and Industry-Specific Numbers
Cities and counties often issue their own business license numbers for local tax or zoning purposes, and businesses in regulated industries like insurance or finance may receive separate numbers from a state department of financial services. None of these overlap with the EIN or the state entity number, but they’re frequently mistaken for one of the two.
Finding Each Number if You’ve Lost It
The IRS sends a confirmation notice (CP 575) when it assigns your EIN, and that letter is the most reliable record. If you no longer have it, the EIN appears on any federal tax return you’ve filed, and your bank has it on file from when you opened the business account. As a last resort, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933, Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time; after identity verification, they’ll give you the number over the phone.1Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number
Your state entity number appears on the stamped formation documents returned by the Secretary of State and on every annual report or statement of information you’ve filed. Almost every state also runs a free online business search where you can look up your company by name and retrieve the entity number, current standing, and registered agent on record.