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EIN guide, free with an SSN
An EIN comes from the IRS. It costs nothing.
This page walks you through getting yours: in minutes with an SSN, by fax without one. With an SSN we guide you and charge nothing. Without one you can do it yourself here, or we prepare it, you sign it, and we fax it.
I have an SSN or ITIN
Once your company exists, the IRS online interview takes about 15 minutes and issues the EIN immediately.
1.Have ready: your company’s exact legal name, its formation state, and your SSN or ITIN.
2.The interview runs Monday to Friday, 7am to 10pm ET, and can’t be saved midway, so do it in one sitting.
3.Answer as the “responsible party”: the person who controls the company.
4.When it asks how you want the confirmation letter, pick online. The EIN appears on screen at the end, with the letter (CP 575) to download. Save both.
That button leaves our site. The application is the IRS’s, start to finish.
I don’t have an SSN
The route is the paper SS-4 by fax, and the IRS takes 4 to 8 weeks. Answer below and print your preparation sheet, free. Or we prepare it, you sign it, and we fax it and follow up until the letter lands: $79 one time, or included in the Formation bundle.
Answer what applies. Anything you leave blank stays blank. The form is yours; we organize the typing.
Where the IRS mails your EIN letter (CP 575). It can be outside the US.
The IRS requires an individual responsible party, except for government entities.
The IRS says to enter “foreign” or “N/A” only if the responsible party has no SSN/ITIN and is ineligible to obtain one. Government entities have a separate exception.
We can't tell you which box is right; that is a question for your accountant or attorney. The list is the form's own.
The IRS instructions explain the common cases; many businesses use December. Your call, not ours.
The form says to skip line 14 if no employees are expected. A blank answer makes no election. Check the official instructions for Form 944 eligibility.
For a withholding agent, the form asks when income will first be paid to a nonresident alien.
How long it takes. The IRS says an EIN is generally returned by fax within four business days. Provide your return fax number and check the current IRS instructions before sending.
