How to Get an EIN: All 4 Ways, Compared

Which method fits your situation?

What information do you need before you start?

Every method runs on the same underlying form, IRS Form SS-4, so the preparation is identical. Applications fail far more often on small mismatches than on hard problems, which means exactness matters more than speed here:

• Legal name of the entity, character for character, as it appears on your state filing. The difference between “Summit Consulting, LLC” and “Summit Consulting LLC” is the kind of discrepancy that causes downstream headaches with banks.
• Entity type: LLC (and number of members), corporation, S corp, sole proprietorship, partnership, estate, or trust. This drives which tax returns the IRS expects from you later, so it is not a “pick whatever” field.
• State and date of formation.
• The responsible party, meaning the individual who ultimately owns or controls the entity, plus their SSN or ITIN. For an LLC that is typically the managing member; for a corporation, a principal officer. The IRS requires a real person here, not another company.
• Business address. A street address; P.O. boxes only work as a mailing address, not the physical location.
• Reason for applying (started a business, hired employees, opened a bank account, changed entity type) and your principal business activity.
• Expected employees in the next 12 months. If any, also whether you will pay wages, which sets employment tax filing expectations.

Method 1: The IRS online application, step by step

1. The application is only open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern. It genuinely shuts down outside those hours, including all weekend. Plan around it.
2. Select your entity type carefully on the first screens. You cannot change it mid application without starting over, and the session expires if you idle too long, so have everything from the checklist above in front of you.
3. Enter the responsible party’s SSN or ITIN. The IRS validates the name and number pair in real time. A maiden name, a missing middle name, or a transposed digit fails the application (reference numbers 102 and 103).
4. Submit. If everything clears, the EIN is issued in that session with a confirmation letter (CP 575) as a PDF. Save it immediately. The IRS never reissues a CP 575; the replacement is a different document (147C) that takes a phone call to get.

Two hard limits trip people constantly. First, the IRS issues one EIN per responsible party per day; a second attempt the same day fails with reference 114. Second, a name conflict fails with reference 101, which cannot be fixed online at all, no matter how many times you retry. That second one is the single most common way a quick application becomes a multi day project.

Method 2: Fax, the workhorse for everything the online tool rejects

Complete Form SS-4 and fax it to 855-641-6935. Three details decide whether this takes 4 days or 4 weeks:

• Include a return fax number. With one, the IRS faxes the EIN back in about 4 business days. Without one, the response goes to postal mail and you have silently opted into the 4 week track. An online fax service works fine as the return number.
• Complete every applicable line. Incomplete forms get rejected or parked. The instructions run 6 pages for a reason. Line 7b (responsible party’s SSN, or “Foreign”), line 9a (entity type), and line 10 (reason for applying) cause most of the bounces we see.
• Sign it. Unsigned forms are the most avoidable rejection there is.

Method 3: Mail, only when nothing is urgent

Same form, sent to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. Allow about four weeks plus postage each way. The only scenario where mail makes sense: no fax access, no urgency, and a preference for paper records.

Method 4: Phone, for international applicants only

If the business has no legal residence or principal place of business in the U.S., call 267-941-1099 (not toll free), Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Have a completed SS-4 in front of you. The agent walks it line by line and assigns the EIN during the call. U.S. based applicants cannot use this line; the IRS stopped issuing EINs by phone domestically years ago.

After you get the EIN: the first three things to do

1. Store the confirmation letter (CP 575 or the faxed assignment notice) somewhere durable. Your bank, payroll provider, and license applications will each ask for it.
2. Open the business bank account. The EIN works the moment it is issued, and banks accept the CP 575 PDF the same day.
3. Register where required. State tax accounts, sales tax permits, and payroll registrations all key off the EIN.

Quick answers

Can I use the EIN immediately?

Yes. For banking, licenses, and platform onboarding it is live the moment it is assigned. IRS electronic filing systems can take up to two weeks to recognize a brand new EIN, and that lag affects nothing else.

Does an EIN expire?

No. Once assigned to your entity it is permanent. Even if you never use it, the IRS will not reassign it to anyone else.

Do I need a new EIN if my business changes?

Changing your business name or address: no, that is a notification, not a new number. Changing structure (sole proprietorship to LLC, LLC to corporation, adding partners): usually yes, a new EIN is required.

Is my EIN confidential?

Treat it as semi public. It is not secret the way an SSN is (it appears on W-2s and 1099s you issue), but do not publish it casually. An EIN plus business details is enough for business identity theft attempts.

What does the IRS charge for an EIN?

The IRS itself does not charge for EIN assignment. What services like ours charge for is the preparation, filing, error handling, and follow through; see the note at the bottom of this page.