You can get an EIN before your LLC is approved by the state, because the IRS doesn’t verify that your entity exists when it issues the number. But the IRS now explicitly tells applicants to form the entity first and warns that going out of order can delay the application.1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number For most people forming an LLC, waiting is the better call.
What the IRS Says Now
The IRS EIN application page is unambiguous: “Form your entity through your state before you apply for an EIN. If you don’t form your entity with your state first, your EIN application may be delayed.”1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number That guidance is a relatively recent addition, and it cuts against what most LLC formation websites still tell you.
The system itself doesn’t enforce the recommendation. The online application won’t ask whether your Articles of Organization have been filed, and it won’t reject you for applying early. You enter your SSN or ITIN as the responsible party, and the IRS issues the number.2Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees So the question isn’t whether you’re allowed to apply early. It’s whether you should.
The Supposed Benefit Usually Doesn’t Materialize
The main reason people rush to get an EIN is to open a business bank account. In practice, this almost never works. Banks want to see your state-filed formation documents, usually Articles of Organization, a Certificate of Organization, or a Certificate of Formation, before they’ll open the account. An EIN by itself isn’t enough.
So the ordering most people imagine, where the EIN unlocks the bank and gets things moving while the state processes the filing, isn’t actually how it goes. You end up waiting for the state anyway. The EIN just sits there.
What Can Go Wrong If You Apply Early
Your Chosen Name May Not Clear State Review
When you apply for an EIN, you give the IRS the LLC’s legal name. If your state later rejects that name because it’s too similar to an existing entity or doesn’t meet state naming rules, you now have an EIN tied to a name that doesn’t exist. Fixing it means writing to the IRS to request a name change, or reporting the corrected name on your first tax return.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change In some situations the IRS may decide you need a new EIN entirely rather than a name correction.
You Can’t Cancel an EIN
If the formation falls through, whether because you change your mind, pivot to a different structure, or run into a problem with the state filing, the EIN doesn’t go away. The IRS cannot cancel an EIN once it’s assigned. The number stays permanently tied to the entity name you gave and will never be reissued to anyone else.
What you can do is ask the IRS to close the business account associated with that EIN. You send a letter listing the EIN, the entity’s legal name, the address, and your reason for closing, along with the original CP 575 notice if you have it. Mail it to Internal Revenue Service, MS 6055, Kansas City, MO 64108, or Internal Revenue Service, MS 6273, Ogden, UT 84201.4Internal Revenue Service. If You No Longer Need Your EIN Closing the account stops future filing obligations from being generated, but the number itself stays on file forever.
The IRS Warns of Delays
The IRS’s own warning that early applications “may be delayed” is worth taking at face value.1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number The online tool issues the number instantly for straightforward applications, but anything that triggers review slows the process.
When You Need an EIN at All
Before worrying about timing, check whether you need an EIN in the first place. A single-member LLC with no employees and no excise tax liability doesn’t need one for federal tax purposes. The IRS treats it as a disregarded entity, and the owner reports business income on their personal return using their own SSN.5Internal Revenue Service. Single Member Limited Liability Companies
In practice, most single-member owners get one anyway because banks ask for it, some states require it for state tax registration, and you need it the moment you hire anyone. A multi-member LLC always needs an EIN, because the IRS classifies it as a partnership by default.6Internal Revenue Service. LLC Filing as a Corporation or Partnership
The Sensible Order
For almost every new LLC, the clean sequence is:
- Confirm your chosen LLC name is available with your state and reserve it if your state offers that option.
- File your formation documents with the state and wait for approval.
- Apply for the EIN using the exact approved name on your formation certificate.
- Take the EIN and the state-stamped formation documents to the bank.
Done in that order, the EIN application itself takes only minutes online and the number is assigned immediately,1Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number so you lose nothing meaningful by waiting for state approval first.
There is one group that can’t use the online tool regardless of timing: applicants whose entity does not have a legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the United States or a U.S. territory. They have to apply by fax, mail, or phone.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 (12/2025) For international applicants, the processing lag is a reason to start the state filing early, not a reason to apply for the EIN before the state approves the entity.
If You Already Applied Early
If you’ve already gotten an EIN and the LLC name came through state review unchanged, nothing more to do. Use the EIN as issued.
If the state approved a different name, write to the IRS to request a name change at the address where you’d file your returns. The IRS may process a name correction, or it may tell you to get a new EIN, depending on the circumstances.3Internal Revenue Service. Business Name Change
If you decide not to form the LLC at all, send the closure letter described above so the account doesn’t sit open under your name indefinitely.4Internal Revenue Service. If You No Longer Need Your EIN
One housekeeping item that applies either way: if the responsible party on the EIN later changes, for example when a new member takes over management, you have 60 days to file Form 8822-B with the IRS.2Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees