EIN Lookup: How to Find Your EIN (or Another Company’s)

Finding your own EIN

The IRS does not have an online lookup for your own number, and no third party can search IRS records for you. But an EIN gets written down in a lot of places once it exists. Work through these before you call anyone.

1. The CP 575 letter

The IRS mails, or the online tool displays, a confirmation notice called the CP 575 when the EIN is issued. It is the one document that is issued exactly once and never reissued. If you filed online, you may have saved it as a PDF; check downloads and email from the day you applied.

2. A prior tax return

Every business return, and the Schedule C of a sole proprietor who has an EIN, carries it. Your tax preparer will have it on file. Payroll returns such as Form 941 carry it too.

3. Bank and lender paperwork

You gave it to the bank to open the business account. It is on the account application and usually visible in online banking under account details or tax documents.

4. Payroll, merchant and state records

Payroll providers, payment processors, and state sales tax or withholding registrations all hold it. If you have ever filed a state annual report with a tax number on it, the state has it.

5. The 147C letter

If none of that works, the responsible party calls the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and asks for an EIN verification letter, form 147C. The IRS will confirm your identity and authority, then mail or fax the letter. Banks accept the 147C in place of the original CP 575. The 147C guide covers the call step by step.

Finding another company’s EIN

Businesses are not required to publish their EIN, and the IRS does not publish them. So the answer depends on what kind of company it is and why you need it.

Nonprofits

Public. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search lists every recognised exempt organisation with its EIN, and the EIN is on the Form 990 the organisation files, which is also public. Charity rating sites carry it too.

Publicly traded companies

Public. The EIN appears on the cover page of filings with the SEC, such as the 10-K, searchable in EDGAR.

Your employer or a company that paid you

It is on your W-2 in box b, and on any 1099 in the payer’s identification box. You do not need to search for it; you have it.

A private company, for a vendor or credit application

Ask them. There is no lawful public lookup for a private company’s EIN, and paid “EIN database” sites are assembling scraps from public filings with no guarantee of accuracy. If you need it for a W-9, the company sends you the W-9.

Things an EIN lookup will not do

• Verify that an EIN is valid. There is no public validation tool. The IRS validates against its own records when a return or a W-9 match is processed.
• Tell you whether you already have one. If you think you applied years ago and cannot find it, the 147C call is the route. Applying again produces a second number, and the IRS tool will let you.
• Retrieve an EIN issued today that you did not write down. If the online tool reached its confirmation page, the number was issued. A second attempt returns reference number 114. The 147C call is how you get it back.

Quick answers

Can I look up my EIN online with the IRS?

No. The IRS has no self-service EIN retrieval. The phone line and the 147C letter are the official route.

Is an EIN confidential?

It is not secret in the way an SSN is. It appears on W-2s, 1099s and public filings. But it is not something to publish, because it is used on credit and tax documents in the business’s name.

How is an EIN formatted?

Nine digits, written as two digits, a hyphen, and seven digits. The first two digits reflect the IRS campus or the online system that issued it, not the state.