EIN for a Trust: Which Trusts Need One, Who Applies, and What the SS-4 Asks

Does your trust need its own EIN?

Find the row that describes the trust. Each case with more to it has its own guide.

Checked against IRS.gov on November 1, 2026.

The grantor trust rule, in one paragraph

A grantor type trust is one the IRS treats as owned by the person who created it, and the Form 1041 instructions say a revocable trust is one. Its income is the grantor’s, so the IRS lets it skip its own number on one condition: the trustee gives the grantor’s name and taxpayer ID and the trust’s address to every payer. That is Optional Method 1, and the 1041 instructions say most people with revocable living trusts can use it. The SS-4 instructions spell out the limit of the exception: grantor trusts that don’t file using Optional Method 1, and IRA trusts required to file Form 990-T, must have an EIN. The revocable vs irrevocable guide covers the moment a trust moves from one side of that line to the other, and why a trust needs an EIN covers what the number is used for once it has one.

When the grantor dies

A revocable trust stops being revocable when the grantor dies, and the IRS lists a revocable trust that changes to an irrevocable trust among the cases that need a new EIN. The Form 1041 instructions say the same for a qualified revocable trust: it must get a new taxpayer ID after the death, whether or not the trustee also elects to treat it as part of the estate. The successor trustee’s steps, the SS-4 boxes and the date to use are in the trust after death guide. The estate is a separate taxpayer with its own EIN; the estate guide covers that number.

Irrevocable trusts set up during the grantor’s life

Insurance trusts, special needs trusts, trusts for children and other irrevocable trusts are generally separate taxpayers unless their terms make them grantor trusts, so they generally need their own EIN. The irrevocable trust guide covers who applies and what the trustee does with the number after.

Several trusts at once

The IRS says the grantor of many trusts will generally need an EIN for each trust. Plan the order. The SS-4 instructions limit EINs to one per responsible party per day, by any method, online, phone, fax or mail, and say that for trusts the limit is applied to the grantor, owner or trustor. A grantor setting up an insurance trust and two trusts for the children in the same week gets one number a day. On the online application, the refusal we see for a second attempt the same day is reference number 114.

Who applies, and who the responsible party is

The trustee applies and signs: the instructions say the fiduciary signs when the applicant is a trust. The SS-4 asks for two people in two places. Line 3 takes the trustee’s name, so IRS mail for the trust reaches a person. Lines 7a and 7b take the responsible party, and the instructions say that for trusts “the responsible party is a grantor, owner, or trustor”. The responsible party must be an individual, with an SSN or ITIN, or “foreign” on line 7b if they have neither and cannot get one. Who the application names once the grantor has died is covered in the after-death guide above.

The SS-4 lines that are different for a trust

• Line 1. The name of the trust as it appears on the trust instrument.
• Line 3. The trustee’s name.
• Line 9a. The Trust box, with the grantor’s taxpayer ID beside it. A trust for a new pension plan uses Other instead, with “Created a pension plan”.
• Line 10. “Created a trust”, with the type of trust written in. The instructions give a nonexempt charitable trust and a split-interest trust as examples.
• Line 11. The date the trust was funded, or the date the regulations first required it to have an EIN.
• Line 12. December for most trusts. The instructions say a trust must generally use a calendar year; tax-exempt, charitable and grantor-owned trusts are the exceptions.

Every other line is the same as for any applicant, and the line by line SS-4 guide covers them.

How to apply

Online, if the trust has a US address and the responsible party has an SSN or ITIN: the instructions say the grantor, owner or trustor needs a valid taxpayer ID to use the online application, which issues the number at the end of the session. Otherwise by fax, which the fax guide covers, or by mail. Apply once per trust, by one method: a second application for the same trust risks a second EIN.

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