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, sign and fax it for you.

I have an SSN or ITIN

The IRS online interview takes about 15 minutes and issues the EIN immediately.

Have ready: your company’s exact legal name, its formation state, and your SSN or ITIN.
The interview runs Monday to Friday, 7am to 10pm ET, and can’t be saved midway. Set aside 15 quiet minutes.
Answer as the “responsible party”: the person who controls the company.
The EIN appears on screen at the end, and letter CP 575 follows by mail. Save both.

Open the IRS EIN Assistant (irs.gov)(opens in a new tab)

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 it takes the IRS weeks. Answer below and print your preparation sheet, free. Or we prepare, sign and fax it and follow up until the letter lands, for $79 one time, included in the Formation bundle.

Answer what applies. Anything you leave blank stays blank. The form is yours; we organize the typing.

Line 1: Legal name of your company, exactly as filed

Line 2: Trade name, only if different from line 1

Line 4a, 4b: Mailing address (street or PO box, city, state/country, ZIP)Where the IRS mails your EIN letter (CP 575). It can be outside the US.

Line 5a, 5b: Street address, only if different from line 4

Line 6: County and state of the principal business (e.g. Sussex, NJ)

Line 7a: Responsible party: the person who controls the company (usually you)

Line 7b: Their SSN/ITIN. If none, the IRS instructions say to write “Foreign”That word comes from the IRS's own SS-4 instructions for foreign responsible parties. You type it yourself.

Line 8a: Is the company an LLC?

Line 8b: How many LLC members?

Line 8c: Was the LLC organized in the United States?

Line 9a: Type of entity: the official checkbox list; your choiceWe can't tell you which box is right; that is a question for your accountant or attorney. The list is the form's own.

Line 9b: State (or country) where the entity was formed

Line 10: Reason for applying: the form's own list

Line 11: Date the business started (month, day, year)

Line 12: Closing month of your accounting yearThe IRS instructions explain the common cases; many businesses use December. Your call, not ours.

Line 13: Employees expected in the next 12 months (Agricultural / Household / Other; 0 is fine)

Line 16: Principal activity: the form's own list

Line 17: In your words: what the business sells or does

Line 18: Has this entity ever received an EIN before?

How long it takes. The fax route takes the IRS weeks (often 4 to 8), not minutes, whoever sends the fax.

Open the official Form SS-4 (irs.gov)Official SS-4 instructions

Leave the “Third Party Designee” section blank. On this route we are not your designee.

Prefer the phone? International applicants can call the IRS at +1 267-941-1099 (their line, their hours).

Formed your company with us?

Your account’s formation timeline has an EIN tracker: mark it faxed, then record the number when the IRS assigns it.

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