EIN for a Partnership or Multi-Member LLC: Required, Not Optional

Who this covers

For federal tax, a partnership is any unincorporated business with two or more owners. That includes a general partnership, which exists the moment two people go into business together for profit with no state filing at all; a limited partnership or LLP registered with the state; and a multi-member LLC that has not elected to be taxed as a corporation. If you and a co-founder formed an LLC together, this is your page.

Two exceptions. A married couple who own an LLC together in a community property state may treat it as a disregarded entity instead of a partnership; the LLC still gets its own EIN, but the tax classification on the SS-4 changes. How that election works. And an LLC that elects to be taxed as a C-corp or S-corp is not a partnership for tax purposes, though it still needs an EIN. EIN for a corporation or S-corp.

Why the EIN is mandatory here and optional for a sole proprietor

A sole proprietor and the IRS already share a number: the SSN. A partnership is a separate taxpayer with no number of its own until it gets an EIN, and the return it must file cannot be submitted without one. The EIN is also what goes on the K-1s each partner attaches to their personal return, on the W-9 you give customers, and on the bank account, which for a partnership must be in the partnership’s name. There is no employee test and no income threshold; the entity type alone requires it.

When to apply

For an LLC, LP, or LLP: after the state accepts the formation filing. The SS-4 asks for the legal name as it appears on that filing, and a name the state has not yet approved can come back different. Apply the same day the approval arrives and the EIN is usually in hand before the operating agreement is signed. EIN before or after the LLC filing. For a general partnership with no state filing, apply as soon as the partnership agreement, even a verbal one, exists; the start date on Line 11 is the date you began operating together.

Which partner is the responsible party

Line 7a names one person. The IRS definition is the individual who ultimately owns or controls the entity or exercises effective control over it. For a partnership that is a general partner; for an LLC, a member or manager with real authority. It must be a person, not another company, and it cannot be the registered agent, the accountant, or a formation service. Only one name goes on the form, and the partners should agree on who before the application, because that person’s name and SSN or ITIN are what the IRS matches the application against.

If none of the partners has an SSN or ITIN, the partnership can still get an EIN. The responsible party is a foreign individual, Line 7b is left for the IRS to note, and the application goes by fax or mail rather than the online tool. Getting an EIN without an SSN. Be aware that a partnership with foreign partners has withholding obligations on their share of income, which is a separate matter from the EIN but arrives with it.

How the SS-4 differs for a partnership

• Line 1. The partnership’s legal name. For an LLC, exactly as the state filed it, including “LLC”.
• Line 2. A trade name only if you actually use one that differs from Line 1.
• Lines 8a to 8c. For an LLC, “Yes”, the number of members, and whether it was organized in the United States. A partnership that is not an LLC answers “No”.
• Line 9a. “Partnership”. An LLC taxed as a partnership checks the same box; there is no separate LLC box. A two-spouse LLC electing disregarded treatment checks “Other” and writes “Disregarded entity”.
• Line 10. Usually “Started new business”. A sole proprietorship that took on a partner is also a new business here, because the partnership is new even if the storefront is not.
• Line 11. The date the partnership started. For an LLC, the formation date the state shows.
• Line 12. The closing month of the accounting year. Partnerships generally must use the tax year of their majority partners, which for people is December. Put December unless an accountant has told you otherwise.
• Lines 13 to 15. Employees expected in the next twelve months and the first wage date. Partners are not employees of the partnership; do not count yourselves.
• Line 18. Whether this entity has applied for an EIN before. A brand-new partnership answers “No”, even if the partners have EINs from other ventures.
• Signature. A general partner, or for an LLC a member or manager, signs with that title.

Every line of the SS-4, explained.

What the EIN commits you to

Once a partnership has an EIN, the IRS expects Form 1065 every year, due on the fifteenth day of the third month after the tax year ends, with a K-1 for each partner. That is true even in a year with no income, until the partnership files a final return. Most states with an income tax want a matching partnership return, and states with a franchise or entity-level tax on LLCs want that too. The EIN is also what you will use to register for state withholding and unemployment insurance when the partnership hires, and what the bank puts on the account.

Quick answers

Does each partner need their own EIN?

No. The partnership has one EIN. Partners report their share on their own returns under their own SSN or ITIN using the K-1.

We added a third member to our two-member LLC. New EIN?

No. A change in partners that does not end the partnership keeps the number. The IRS spells this out. When a new EIN is and is not required.

My single-member LLC is adding a partner. Does the LLC keep its EIN?

Yes, if the LLC already has its own EIN. Going from disregarded to partnership is a change in tax classification, and an entity keeps its EIN through a classification change. If the LLC was operating under your SSN, it needs an EIN of its own now.

We want the LLC taxed as an S-corp. Do we apply differently?

Apply for the EIN as an LLC in the ordinary way, then file Form 2553 on that EIN. The election does not change the number. The SS-4 has a box on Line 9a for a corporation with the form number it will file, and an LLC that has already decided on S-corp treatment can check it with “1120-S”.

Can a general partnership without a state filing get an EIN?

Yes. The IRS does not require any state registration for a partnership. The SS-4 asks for the start date and the partners, not a certificate.