EIN · US · 2026
How to apply for an EIN: free, online, in minutes.
What an EIN is, who needs one, how to apply on irs.gov (the IRS EIN Assistant), its hours, what you need before you start, the fax, mail and phone routes, what to do with the number — and when a sole proprietor can skip it. Written for the trades, every IRS fact read on irs.gov.
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The short version
- It's free, and only the IRS issues it. In the US you apply on irs.gov and the online application issues the EIN the moment it's approved. The IRS's own warning: beware of websites that charge for an EIN — you never have to pay a fee for one.
- You need one the day you hire, or the day you form an LLC, partnership or corporation. In the US, the IRS says you need an EIN if you have employees, will need to pay employment, excise or alcohol, tobacco and firearms taxes, or withhold tax on income other than wages paid to a non-resident alien — and to operate a partnership, an LLC, a corporation, a tax-exempt organization, an estate, a trust (except certain grantor-owned revocable trusts), a retirement plan or IRA, a real estate mortgage investment conduit or a farmers' cooperative.
- A sole proprietor with no employees doesn't have to. In the US you can run under your Social Security number — but the IRS says you can still request an EIN for banking or state tax purposes, and many trade owners do, so the SSN stays off W-9s and invoices.
- Online hours and a daily limit. The IRS's online application is open Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time; one EIN per responsible party per day; the session expires after 15 minutes of inactivity, so have your answers ready.
- Form the business with your state first. For an LLC or corporation the IRS says to form the entity with the secretary of state before you apply — otherwise the application may be delayed. The number comes before the bank account, which comes before the first invoice.
The short answer
In the US, you apply for an EIN on irs.gov: the IRS's online application issues the number the moment it's approved, it's free, and the IRS says it takes minutes. You need the business formed with your state first (for an LLC, partnership or corporation), the responsible party's Social Security number or ITIN, and a principal place of business in the US. A sole proprietor with no employees isn't required to have one for federal tax, but can get one anyway for the bank account and to keep their Social Security number off customer paperwork.
This page is US-only: an EIN is a number the US Internal Revenue Service issues, so everything on it describes US rules, read on irs.gov on October 26, 2026 (each page is listed, with its own date, under "Where these facts come from"). It's written for the owner of a trade or service business — a cleaner, a plumber, a landscaper, a pressure washer, a junk hauler — who has just registered the business or is about to, and wants the number without paying a website for it. The UK and Australia get a sentence each on what stands in for it. We build websites, not tax advice: check with the irs or your accountant before you file anything.
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What an EIN is, in plain words
An EIN — Employer Identification Number — is the business's federal tax ID. In the US it's a 9-digit number written 12-3456789, issued by the IRS to businesses, nonprofits and other entities, and it does for the business what your Social Security number does for you: it's how the IRS, your bank, your payroll service and the customers who send you a Form 1099 tell your business apart from every other. The IRS also calls it a federal tax ID number; "tax ID", "FEIN" and "federal employer identification number" are the same thing.
It isn't a license, a registration or a trademark. Getting an EIN doesn't register the business with your state (that's the LLC or corporation filing — do you need an LLC?), doesn't give you a business license, a sales-tax permit or a trade license, and doesn't protect the name. It's one number, issued once, for tax and banking.
It's permanent. Once the IRS assigns an EIN to a business entity it becomes that entity's permanent federal taxpayer ID number: the IRS can't cancel it, only deactivate it, and one business entity should have only one. Outside the US there is no EIN. In the UK, HMRC gives a business an employer PAYE reference when it registers as an employer — which it normally must do when it starts employing staff, before the first payday, and even if the only employee is the director of a limited company. In Australia the business number is the ABN, free from the Australian Business Register. Check with your accountant.
WHO NEEDS ONE
Do you need an EIN?
The IRS's own list — its page dated July 17, 2026, read October 26, 2026 — in the US.
| Your situation | EIN required? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You hire anyone — even one part-timer | Yes | The IRS lists having employees first. Payroll taxes are filed under the EIN, and your payroll service will ask for it before the first pay run. |
| You form an LLC, a partnership or a corporation | Yes | The IRS lists partnerships, LLCs and corporations among the entities that need an EIN to operate. Form the entity with your state first, then apply. |
| You start a nonprofit | Yes | Tax-exempt organizations are on the list — and the IRS says not to apply until the organization is legally formed. |
| You owe employment, excise or alcohol, tobacco and firearms taxes | Yes | On the list whatever your structure. |
| You withhold tax on income, other than wages, paid to a non-resident alien | Yes | On the list; rare for a trade business. |
| You're a sole proprietor with no employees and none of those taxes | Not required | Not on the list — your business taxes go on your personal return. The IRS says you can still request an EIN for banking or state tax purposes. |
| You already have one and change the business name or address | No | The IRS says you don't need a new EIN to change your business name, address or responsible party — a new one is for a change of ownership or structure (the section below). |
The list is the IRS's; which row you're in depends on your structure and your state. The IRS adds that EINs are not intended for other activities, such as state tax lien auctions, sales or lotteries. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Do sole proprietors need an EIN? Not required — but many trade owners get one
If you're a sole proprietor with no employees, the IRS doesn't require an EIN for federal tax. In the US your business income goes on Schedule C with your personal Form 1040, under your Social Security number; the IRS's "who needs an EIN" list doesn't reach you until you hire, owe excise taxes or form an entity. The IRS then says, in the same breath, that you can still request one for banking or state tax purposes.
Three reasons many trade owners get one anyway. First, the W-9: a property manager, general contractor or commercial customer who will send you a 1099 asks for a Form W-9 before the first check, and the form's own instructions say a sole proprietor with an EIN may enter either the SSN or the EIN — so your Social Security number stays off a form that gets emailed around an office. Second, the bank: many banks ask for an EIN to open a business account, and a separate account is the habit that makes tax time an export instead of a shoebox. Third, the day you hire: the EIN has to exist before the first payroll, and it takes minutes to get now versus a scramble later.
If you form an LLC later, read the new-EIN section before you apply again. The IRS says a single-member LLC that doesn't elect to be taxed as a corporation, has no employees and owes no excise tax can keep using the owner's sole-proprietor EIN — and a sole proprietor who incorporates or forms a partnership needs a new one. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
STEP BY STEP
How to apply for an EIN online
The IRS's online application — the IRS EIN Assistant people search for — on irs.gov, in one sitting. The IRS page for it is titled "Get an employer identification number"; it's free, and nothing here needs a formation service.
Form the business first
If you're starting an LLC, a partnership or a corporation, file it with your state before you apply — the IRS says an application for an entity that isn't formed with the state yet may be delayed. A sole proprietor has nothing to file first. Have the exact legal name from the state's approval in front of you.
Check you can use the online tool
The IRS's four conditions: the business was formed in the US or a US territory; its principal place of business is in the US or a territory; you're the responsible party in control of it (or their authorized representative, with signed authorization); and you have the responsible party's Social Security number or ITIN. A business whose principal place of business is outside the US applies by phone, fax or mail instead.
Name the responsible party
The application asks for the person in charge of the entity and its assets — the IRS's responsible party: someone who owns, controls or exercises effective control over the business and manages its funds. For a one-owner trade business that's you. Nominees — someone who merely files for you — can't be the responsible party; the IRS says a nominee who applies puts the entity's information at risk.
Go to irs.gov during its hours
Open the IRS's "Get an employer identification number" page and start the application. It's available Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time. Not a third-party site — the IRS's own warning is that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN.
Answer the questions in one sitting
The IRS's page lists what you need: your entity type, the responsible party's Social Security number or ITIN and, if you're applying for someone else, their signed authorization. Form SS-4 — the same application on paper — shows the rest the screens ask: the legal name and address, the state, the start date, what the business does and whether you expect to have employees. You can't save and come back: the session expires after 15 minutes of inactivity and you start over.
Enter the name and address the IRS way
Type the business name exactly as it appears on your formation documents. IRS systems allow only letters, numbers, hyphens and ampersands: spell out symbols or replace them with a space (Jones.Com becomes Jones Dot Com or Jones Com), use a hyphen for a slash, drop apostrophes. The street address gets 35 characters — the IRS says to enter the key details, like an apartment or suite number, and to use USPS standard abbreviations.
Submit, then print the confirmation letter
If it's approved, the IRS issues your EIN immediately online. Print or save the confirmation letter — the bank, your payroll service and your state will ask for it, and it's the first place to look if you ever lose the number. Only one EIN per responsible party per day, so one business per sitting.
Use it — some uses wait 2 weeks
The IRS says you can use the EIN immediately to open a bank account, apply for business licenses or file a return by mail, and to wait up to 2 weeks before it passes the IRS's TIN matching, before you e-file a return, or before you make tax deposits electronically.
Keep it current
If the responsible party, address or location changes, the IRS says to report it on Form 8822-B within 60 days. A name or address change never needs a new EIN; a change of ownership or structure usually does — the section below has the IRS's lists. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
FOUR WAYS TO APPLY
Online, fax, mail or phone: how long each takes
All four are free. The online tool asks the questions on screen; fax and mail take Form SS-4; the phone line is for a business whose principal place of business is outside the US. Read on irs.gov on October 26, 2026.
| Method | How | You get the EIN |
|---|---|---|
| Online | The IRS's application on irs.gov, Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time. Principal place of business must be in the US or a territory. | Immediately, on screen, if approved — print the confirmation letter. |
| Fax | Fax Form SS-4 to 855-641-6935. Include your own fax number. | In about 4 business days, by fax — the IRS faxes back a cover sheet with the EIN (it no longer returns the SS-4 notated with the number). |
| Mail Form SS-4 to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. | In approximately 4 weeks. The IRS warns that high inventory can mean delays, and lists Form SS-4's current processing status on its processing-status page (under "Other forms"), updated every 2 weeks. | |
| Phone (outside the US only) | If the principal place of business is outside the US, call 267-941-1099, Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time — or fax Form SS-4 to 855-215-1627 (within the US) or 304-707-9471 (outside), or mail it to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN International Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. | The IRS publishes no timing for the international phone, fax or mail routes. |
Whichever route you use, the IRS allows 1 EIN per day. Form SS-4 is the IRS's paper application (its About page is linked under the sources); the online application takes the same answers on screen. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
After you have the number
Open the business bank account. In the US the IRS says the EIN works immediately for a bank account and for business licenses. Take the confirmation letter and, for an LLC, the stamped formation document; from that day every job is paid into this account and every tank of fuel is paid out of it. If you take card payments, point them here from the first one.
Put it where it belongs — and nowhere else. Your payroll service, your state's tax and labor registrations, your business license applications and the W-9s customers request all take the EIN. Your website, your truck and your quotes don't: the business name goes there, the number stays on the paperwork. Put the legal name on the EIN letter at the top of every quote and invoice so the name on the check matches the name on the account.
If a return is due before the number arrives — a fax or mail applicant — the IRS says to write "Applied For" and the date you applied in the space for the number, and to send any deposit that's due to the service center for your state with your name as shown on the SS-4, your address, the kind of tax, the period and the date you applied.
If you need proof of it later, the IRS gives three ways to confirm an EIN: request an entity transcript, download a digital CP575 notice in Business Tax Account if you're eligible, or call the Business and Specialty Tax Line for a Letter 147C. A business should have only one EIN; if you took over another employer's business, the IRS says to use your own EIN, never the prior employer's. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
When you need a new EIN — and when you don't
The rule in one line, from the IRS: you need a new EIN, in general, when you change the entity's ownership or structure — and you don't need one to change the business name, address or responsible party. In the US the two lists that matter for a trade business, as the IRS publishes them:
Sole proprietors get a new EIN if they incorporate, form a partnership or declare bankruptcy — and don't need one for a new business name or location, or for owning more than one business (one sole proprietor, one EIN, however many trades).
LLCs get a new EIN if they terminate the LLC and form a new corporation or partnership, or if a single-member LLC has to file excise or employment taxes — and don't need one for a name or location change, for converting a partnership to an LLC taxed as a partnership, for electing to be taxed as a corporation or an S corporation, or when the owner keeps using their sole-proprietor EIN for a single-member LLC that doesn't elect corporate taxation, has no employees and owes no excise tax.
That last line is the one that bites: the day a one-owner LLC hires its first helper, the IRS wants an EIN for the LLC itself, not the owner's old sole-proprietor number. Apply again (one per day, same tool), and the old number stays with you as a person. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Lost your EIN? Four places to look, then one number to call
In the US the IRS's own order: look for it on the notice the IRS issued when you applied; contact the bank that holds your business account; check with the agencies where you've applied for state or local licenses; look on past business tax returns. If it's still missing, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 (TTY 800-829-4059), Monday to Friday 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. local time — Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time — and after verifying your identity the IRS gives the number over the phone to someone authorized to receive it.
Don't apply for a second one. A business entity should have only one EIN; if you somehow have two and aren't sure which to use, the same line tells you which. And if you close the business, the IRS can't cancel the EIN — it can deactivate it, by letter — and if you made tax payments, owe business taxes or were told to file a business return, only after every outstanding return is filed and the tax paid. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
The trade-owner angle: the EIN, the bank, the W-9 and the website
The order that works. Register the business (an LLC for most trades, or stay a sole proprietor for now), get the EIN the same afternoon, open the bank account the same week, then insurance and the licenses — the how-to-start guide for your trade walks the whole sequence: cleaning, landscaping, pressure washing, junk removal; the service business ideas hub lines up 30 more. Each of those four guides tells you to get a free EIN from the IRS in its first steps, and this page is that step.
The W-9 is where the EIN earns its keep. Property managers, general contractors, HOAs and commercial customers ask for a Form W-9 before they pay a vendor, and a sole proprietor with an EIN may put the EIN on it instead of their Social Security number. Keep a signed W-9 as a PDF and send it with the first invoice to any customer that will send you a 1099 — it saves a week of back-and-forth on the first big job. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Zarla doesn't apply for an EIN for you — nobody but the IRS issues one, and it's free. What the website does: the business name on the EIN letter is the name on every page, and the quotes and invoices you send from the same dashboard carry it, with your logo and license number set once. Build the site while the state processes the filing, add the bank details to the invoice template the day the account opens, and the first customer sees one name everywhere.
EIN questions trade owners ask
Yes. In the US the IRS issues EINs free, online in minutes, and says in as many words: beware of websites that charge for an EIN — you never have to pay a fee for one. A formation service or accountant may charge for filling in the form for you; the number itself never costs anything. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Online, the IRS issues the EIN immediately if the application is approved — the IRS says it takes minutes. By fax it's about 4 business days; by mail approximately 4 weeks. Some uses wait up to 2 weeks after issue (e-filing, electronic deposits, the IRS's TIN matching); a bank account and license applications can use it the same day.
It's the IRS's online EIN application on irs.gov — the step-by-step screens that ask your entity type, the responsible party, the address and the reason you're applying, then issue the number. The IRS's page for it today is titled "Get an employer identification number" (the old "apply for an EIN online" address redirects there). It's open Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time, it's free, and any "EIN assistant" that asks for a card is a third-party site, not the IRS.
In the US, not for federal tax unless you have employees, owe employment, excise or alcohol, tobacco and firearms taxes, or withhold tax on income, other than wages, paid to a non-resident alien — your business income goes on your personal return under your Social Security number. The IRS says you can still request one for banking or state tax purposes, and many trade owners do: it keeps the SSN off W-9s, and many banks ask for it. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
In the US the IRS lists LLCs among the entities that need an EIN to operate — and a multi-member LLC, or any LLC with employees, needs its own. The IRS's new-EIN page allows one exception: the owner of a single-member LLC that doesn't elect to be taxed as a corporation, has no employees and owes no excise tax can keep using their sole-proprietor EIN. Many banks ask for the LLC's own number anyway. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
In the US, the IRS says to form the entity through the secretary of state before you apply, and that an application for an entity that isn't formed with the state first may be delayed. Wait for the state's approval, then apply with the exact name on it — the application takes minutes once you have it. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
In the US the IRS's page lists three things: your entity type, the responsible party's Social Security number or ITIN and, if you're a third-party designee applying for someone else, signed authorization. Form SS-4 — the same application on paper — shows the rest the online screens ask: the business's legal name as it appears on its formation documents and its address, the state, the start date, what the business does and whether you expect to have employees. You answer it all in one session. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. (next day), Saturday 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sunday 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time. Outside those hours the online application isn't available; fax and mail take Form SS-4 any time. A business whose principal place of business is outside the US applies by phone at 267-941-1099, Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time.
No — the IRS allows 1 EIN per responsible party per day online, and 1 per day whichever way you apply. Two businesses means two sittings on two days. A single business should have only one EIN, ever. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
In the US the EIN is the federal tax ID number for a business; the IRS uses both names. A Social Security number is a person's tax ID, an ITIN is the IRS's number for someone who can't get an SSN, and a state tax ID is a separate number your state's revenue department issues for sales tax or withholding. Banks and forms that ask for a "tax ID" or "TIN" for the business mean the EIN.
No. In the US the IRS says you don't need a new EIN to change your business name, address or responsible party — a new one is for a change of ownership or structure, such as a sole proprietor incorporating or forming a partnership. Report a change of responsible party, address or location on Form 8822-B within 60 days. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
In the US, check the IRS notice from when you applied, ask your bank, check with the agencies that licensed you, or look at a past business tax return. Failing those, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933, Monday to Friday 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. local time; after verifying your identity the IRS gives the number to someone authorized to receive it. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
No. The IRS says it can't cancel an EIN — once assigned it's the entity's permanent federal taxpayer ID — but it can deactivate it. You write to the IRS with the EIN, the legal name, the address, the assignment notice if you have it and the reason — and if you made tax payments, owe business taxes or were told to file a business return, the IRS deactivates it only after every outstanding return is filed and the tax paid. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
Yes, if the business has a US principal place of business the online tool works with the responsible party's SSN or ITIN; if the principal place of business is outside the US, the IRS takes the application by phone at 267-941-1099 (Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time), by fax or by mail to its international EIN operation. Check with the IRS or your accountant.
No. Nobody but the IRS issues an EIN, and the IRS does it free. Zarla builds the website, and once the business is registered the name on your EIN letter is the name on every page, every quote and every invoice you send from the dashboard.
There's no EIN outside the US. In the UK a business registers as an employer with HMRC when it starts employing staff — before the first payday, and even if the only employee is the director of a limited company — and gets an employer PAYE reference. In Australia the business number is the ABN, free from the Australian Business Register. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Where these facts come from
Every IRS fact on this page — who needs an EIN, the online application's hours and daily limit, the fax number and address and their timings, the international phone line, the responsible party, when a new EIN is needed, how to find a lost one, deactivation — was read on the IRS's own pages on October 26, 2026, each listed below with the date the IRS prints on it. The W-9 line is from the form's own instructions; the UK and Australian lines from GOV.UK and business.gov.au. Hours, numbers and rules change; the linked page is the current word, and your accountant is the final one.
- IRS — Employer identification number — page dated July 17, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — Get an employer identification number (the online application) — page dated October 16, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — When to get a new EIN — page dated July 21, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — If you no longer need your EIN — page dated November 5, 2025, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — Responsible parties and nominees — page dated August 22, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number — page dated August 27, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business — page dated June 25, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — Sole proprietorships — page dated June 28, 2026, read October 26, 2026
- IRS — Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (Rev. March 2024) — no date on the page, read October 26, 2026
- GOV.UK — Register as an employer — page dated November 27, 2024, read October 26, 2026
- business.gov.au — Register for an Australian business number (ABN) — no date on the page, read October 26, 2026
Number in hand? Put the business on a website — free to build
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Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.