An Employer Identification Number, or EIN, is the nine-digit number the IRS gives a company. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with having employees. Every US bank, payment processor and marketplace asks for it first, and it's where founders abroad most often get stuck. Getting one isn't hard, but the quick online route is closed to anyone without a Social Security Number, and few people say so up front.
Why you can't apply online
The IRS's online application needs the responsible party's Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and it won't go further without one. The responsible party is the person who controls the company, which is you. Someone living outside the US usually can't get an SSN and, in most cases, has no reason to get an ITIN, so the online form isn't an option.
A company with a foreign owner is still entitled to an EIN. The IRS just issues it by a slower route.
The two routes that work
Form SS-4 by fax
Form SS-4 is the paper application. If you have no SSN or ITIN, the IRS's instructions say to write "foreign" or N/A where the responsible party's number goes, and a single-member LLC checks Other on line 9a and writes "disregarded entity". The form is then faxed to the IRS's number for international applicants. The IRS says a fax application with a return fax number is answered within about four business days. For foreign-owned companies, twenty to thirty business days is more typical, and the number is often assigned before the confirmation letter arrives.
By phone, for international applicants
The IRS runs a phone line, 267-941-1099, for applicants with no legal residence, principal place of business or principal office in the US. It isn't toll-free and it's open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. US Eastern time, Monday to Friday. The caller has to be someone authorised to sign the form, or a third-party designee named on a signed SS-4, with the completed form to hand. The EIN is given during the call. It's the fastest route when you get through, but the waits on hold can be very long.
What the form asks for
What arrives, and what to do with it
On the fax route, the IRS faxes the number back, and most banks accept that. The formal confirmation is a notice called the CP 575, posted once to the mailing address on the form, and it's the document banks and processors usually ask for. If it's lost, the IRS issues a replacement confirmation, the 147C letter, on request.
Once you have the number, you can open the bank account, register with Stripe or PayPal, complete a marketplace's tax interview, and file the company's first return the following spring. None of that can start without it, which is why it pays to form the company well before you need the account.
Mistakes that cost weeks
- Applying before the state approves the company. The SS-4 asks for the legal name and start date. An application for a name the state hasn't approved can be rejected, or issued to a company that doesn't exist yet.
- Applying twice. A second application while the first is pending can produce two numbers, and sorting that out takes months. Chase the one you filed instead.
- Using someone else's SSN. A friend in the US isn't the responsible party. Putting their number on the form misstates who controls the company and makes them the person the IRS writes to.
- Ticking the wrong entity type. A single-member LLC that ticks Corporation, or a partnership that ticks disregarded entity, has told the IRS to expect the wrong return. It can be fixed, but it takes letters and time.
- A mailing address nobody checks. The CP 575 goes to the mailing address on the form and nowhere else. If nobody is there to receive it, it's gone.
Do you need an ITIN first?
No. An ITIN is a personal tax number for people who have to file a US tax return and can't get an SSN. You don't need one to form a company or to get its EIN. Some founders need one later, to report US income personally or because a particular bank insists. There's a separate guide on when you actually need an ITIN.