How to Obtain an EIN from the IRS

An EIN is your Employer Identification Number, it’s also commonly known as a tax ID. Your EIN is like the social security number for your business. All it is is a unique identifying number for your business.

If you plan to have employees, you will need an EIN. You also need an EIN to open a separate bank account for your business, which we will cover in the next section.

“If you plan to have employees, you will need an EIN. You also need an EIN to open a separate bank account for your business.” 

The main point we want to emphasize in this section is that obtaining your EIN from the IRS is very easy. Depending on your level of comfort, you may be able to do it yourself without the help of a CPA or attorney. As always, make sure to do your homework and assess your own level of comfort.

In this section, we’re going to show you the process of actually going online and obtaining your EIN from the IRS.

If you Google “IRS EIN” you will notice there are tons of sites with .com, .us, or .org URLs. You do not want to go to one of those sites. Make sure you are on the official government website (denoted by the .gov URL).

First off, to apply for your EIN your principal business must be located in the United States or U.S. Territories and you must have a valid Taxpayer Identification Number (SSN, ITIN, EIN). If you have those things, head to this page to begin the application process.

This first section of the application is to select your entity type (which we discussed in Step #7).

After you select your entity type, you will be greeted with a confirmation page that displays more information about your type of entity you selected. When you are comfortable with your selection, you can continue with the application.

After selecting and confirming your entity, you need to express why you are looking to obtain an EIN. If you’re ready this page, your reason is most likely “Started a new business.”

From there, you will have to assign the responsible party of your business, which you will likely make yourself. If you have a third-party apply for your EIN, you will need special permission for them to do so. Please note, you will need to enter your SSN at this time.

The next step is to confirm the physical address of your business. After confirming the address, you will need to supply additional information about your business, make sure the information here matches the information you entered when you registered with your state.

Also, if you enter a trade name, such as a name where you drop the LLC, make sure your trade name is registered (separately) with your state.

The next page asks about special circumstances that will affect how your business is taxed. The most common circumstance is hiring employees. If your business plans to have any employees within the next year, make sure to make the “Yes” box. If you select “Yes,” the next page will ask you about how many employees you expect to have.

After completing the information about employees, you will have to answer more questions about your type of business. All of the selections are very straightforward. If none of the business types match your line of work, like if you offer a service not listed, you can always check “Other.”

You’re almost done! After confirming information about your product/service, you can select to receive your EIN online. If you select this method, you will receive a PDF immediately with your new EIN.

Congratulations! Now that you have your EIN, you can move onto the next step of the Legal Checklist for Startups: Open a Separate Bank Account for your Business.