How to Apply for an EIN in Alabama
Last updated September 6, 2026 · Written by the EIN Registration filing team
Get the EIN for your Alabama business
Pick your entity type and we take it from there: our specialists prepare the SS-4 with the name and formation date exactly as the state recorded them, file it, and email you the EIN, typically within 2 to 4 business days (7 to 10 if it has to go by fax).
The EIN step itself
One federal form, one agency, the same options wherever the business sits: online, fax, mail, or the international phone line. The method decides the timeline, not the state. Every method and what it actually takes covers that in full, and it applies to Alabama unchanged.
What Alabama needs first
Form your entity with the Alabama Secretary of State before applying. The IRS asks for the legal name and formation date exactly as the state recorded them, and a mismatch is one of the common causes of a rejected application.
Alabama assigns its own entity ID number. It identifies your company in state records and is not a tax ID. It cannot be used where an EIN is asked for, and the IRS has no record of it.
What Alabama requires once you have the EIN
- File the Initial Business Privilege Tax Return, Form BPT-IN, with the Alabama Department of Revenue within two and a half months of the formation date. It is the first state filing an Alabama LLC owes and it asks for the EIN.
- Register on My Alabama Taxes with the Department of Revenue if you will collect sales tax or pay wages; the account cannot be opened without the EIN.
What is actually different about Alabama
- Alabama requires a name reservation from the Secretary of State before an LLC can be formed, and the reservation certificate is part of the formation filing. In most states a name is simply checked at filing time, so the two-step sequence catches out owners who expected to form the LLC the same day they chose the name.
- Alabama's Business Privilege Tax is an annual return filed with the Department of Revenue by every LLC, separate from the Secretary of State's records, with an initial return due shortly after formation and a regular return every year after. Alabama is one of a handful of states with a privilege tax return on top of income tax filings.
- Since 2021 Alabama LLC formations are filed directly with the Secretary of State. Before that they went through the county probate judge, so older Alabama paperwork and older guides describe a county filing step that no longer exists.
Get Your EIN the Easy Way
Answer a few questions in about 5 minutes. Our specialists prepare your IRS Form SS-4, file it, personally handle any rejection or name conflict along the way, and get your EIN to you, typically within 2 to 4 business days, or 7 to 10 when the IRS requires the application by fax. One flat $197 service fee. No upsells, no subscriptions.
- ✓ Prepared and filed by specialists
- ✓ Error 101 and rejection handling included
- ✓ Data encrypted (AES-256)
- ✓ Order tracking and email updates
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EIN Registration is an independent document preparation and filing service and is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency. You can also apply for an EIN directly with the IRS at irs.gov at no cost.