Anyone who operates a business requires an Employee Identification Number also known as Tax ID Number, each EIN is unique same as your Social security number. EIN is issued from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) department. EIN is used by IRS to identify individual taxpayers and business to provide all the tax forms and documents in short unique EIN is used to identify businesses.
First thing you should check before applying for Tax ID Number is that it is required or not as not all business require this service.
Who should apply for Federal Tax Id?
- Any business offering services and product that fall under the category of taxed than Federal Tax ID is required.
- All government forms where you need to mention your business will require Federal Tax ID.
- If you are required to collect sales taxes on your sales than you need Federal Tax ID.
Still confused how to get a federal tax ID? Read and follow below steps one by one.
Apply Online for an EIN
The easiest and quickest way to apply for Federal Tax Id is online through the Internal Revenue Service website. You will receive your Federal Tax ID Number immediately after you submit your tax id form. You can get your own Federal Tax ID number online by following simple steps:
- First select the type of Federal ID Number you are applying for like corporation, LLC, Partnership etc. Select the one which describes why you are applying for Federal Tax Id Number.
- Enter your Name and Social Security Number.
- Once you finished filling all the sections in the tax id form, the system will generate a new Federal Tax Id Number.
- You will get official document from IRS which confirms your application status and your unique EIN.
- For future reference or for your record save a copy on your computer and make sure you also take a print out for your record.
Apply by Fax or Mail for an EIN
You can get your EIN through fax or mail also, for this is need to fill IRS FORM SS-4 and contact the appropriate authority depending on your location. You can file for EIN using:
Internal Revenue Service
ATTN: EIN operation
Cincinnati, OH, 45999
Fax: (855) 641-6953
Just keep in mind while applying through fax medium you need to include a return fax number so that IRS can reply with your EIN, normal timeframe for getting EIN from IRS is four weeks.
Apply by Phone for an EIN
This service is only for international applicants, and can be completed by calling 267-941-1099
Few points to remember:
- In case you lose or forget your EIN you can always call the IRS Business & Speciality Tax Line at 800-829-4933. An IRS representative will ask some question in order to ensure you are the authorised person to receive the EIN.
Once IRS has allotted the EIN after the completion of application, the EIN can never be cancelled. However, if you find that you don’t need the EIN, the IRS can close your business account but the EIN remains available to you as same EIN will never be reassigned to anyone else.
