How to Apply for an EIN – Ways to Apply for an EIN

An Employee Identification Number (EIN) is an identity used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for businesses and other entities. Every business in the country needs an EIN even though they do not have any employees. For instance, before you apply for a business checking account many banks require an EIN. EIN is primarily used for employment tax identification purposes and also an EIN can be used as a general tax number.

Before applying for an EIN, an individual must need to review the application, IRS Form SS -4 and the instructions of SS -4. Complete the application with the required information and start applying for an EIN. There are multiple ways to apply for an EIN, which will be discussed in this article.

Eligibility to Apply for EIN

1. An individual can apply for an EIN online if the person’s principal business is located in the United States or in the territories of U.S.
2. The person must have a valid Taxpayer Identification Number ( SSN, ITIN, EIN).
3. A person is limited to a single EIN per responsible party.

Ways to Apply for an EIN

An individual who is in U. S. or in the territories of U. S. can apply for an EIN by one of the 4 ways as discussed below.

Apply EIN through online:

Majority of the people opt for the online EIN application form called EIN assistant. Here the individual needs to complete the application and must answer the questions before going online. Else you need to begin from the start if you stop in the middle. The application must be completed in a single session.

After completing the form, the information is validated and you can receive the EIN immediately. The person engages with the business located in the U.S or in the territories of U.S can use this online method.

Apply EIN through Phone:

Individuals can call 267 941 1099 from 6.00 a.m to 11.00 p.m. Monday to Friday in order to obtain the EIN. The individuals who are making the call must be able to answer the questions related to the Form SS-4 and must be an authorized person to obtain the EIN.

You can also complete the third party Designee section if you want to authorize the named individual to receive the EIN entity and also answer the question about the Form SS- 4.

Apply EIN through FAX:

Fax the completed SS-4 application Form to your associated state fax number.  Send the completed form after ensuring that the Form -4 has all the related information. Include your fax number along with the application and within 4 business days, you will receive your EIN.

Apply EIN through the mail:

While applying through the mail also ensure that the information provided in the application form is correct. If the entity needs a new EIN, then the one will be assigned with appropriate procedures for the entity type and it is then mailed to the taxpayer. Note that the processing timeframe for an EIN application received by mail is considerably longer than another method, which is four weeks.

NOTE:

1. A person must complete the application in a single session, as the session cannot be saved and return later.
2. Each session expires after 15 minutes of inactivity and you need to start from the first.
3. After successful validation, the person will receive the EIN immediately. You can save, download and print the EIN confirmation notice.
4. The Third Party Designee section should be completed at the bottom of the Form SS-4.
5. To identify the appropriate individuals and entities applying for EINs, language changes are made to the EIN process.
6. There is a daily limitation of an EIN to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all the entities, the IRS limit EIN issuance to one per responsible party per day.