The IRS says a faxed Form SS-4 with a return fax number is answered within about four business days. For a company whose owner has no Social Security Number, that's rarely how it goes, so plan on a longer wait. Here are the timelines as they usually run, and what to do if yours runs long.
By route
With the expedited EIN, $199 on any plan, we use the direct route and the number normally arrives in one to two weeks. Only a successful call to the phone line is faster, and that line can be hard to reach.
The number and the letter arrive separately
The IRS assigns the EIN when it processes the form. The CP 575 letter confirming it is printed and posted afterwards to the mailing address on the form, and international post adds its own delay. On the fax route the IRS faxes the number back, which most banks accept. On the phone route you get the number during the call and the letter follows. So a company can have a working EIN weeks before the letter arrives.
What slows it down
- The spring filing season, from January to April, when IRS queues are longest.
- US federal holidays, and the days around them.
- A form with an error: a missing signature, a name that doesn't match the state's record, or a duplicate application.
- A second application sent because the first seemed slow. It can produce a second number and months of letters to cancel it.
At thirty business days
If nothing has come back after thirty business days, the application is either still in the queue or lost, and the only way to know is to ask. The IRS's Business and Specialty Tax Line, or the international line if you're calling from abroad, can confirm whether an EIN has been assigned and, after identity checks, give it to the responsible party or someone they've authorised. If none has been assigned, they'll tell you, and the application can go in again. We chase applications this way on every plan.
What to do while you wait
- Sign the operating agreement, which doesn't need the EIN.
- Prepare the bank application: passport scans, proof of address, a description of the business and a website.
- Set up invoicing and bookkeeping, which can start without the number.
- Don't send a second EIN application without checking on the first.