How to Get a TIN or EIN Number
Getting an employer tax ID number (EIN), also known as a federal tax identification number (TIN), is one of the first steps to incorporating a new business. Even if you have no employees, it’s a basic step in separating your company’s liability from your own. For example, you would use the EIN when applying for credit, not your own social security number. You would also use the EIN to set up a business account at your bank.
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Instructions
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Select a business name that hasn’t been chosen in your state yet. Check with your state’s office of the Secretary of State to verify that the name is still available. Decide the legal structure of the company--for example, LLC, sole proprietorship, S corporation etc.. Both are asked for on the EIN application form. A lawyer can help you with both tasks if you need it.
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Fill out the SS-4 form (see Resources). You can type in the SS-4 PDF file directly, before you print it out for your signature. Make sure to fill out the third-party designee part, which gives the IRS the name of someone to contact with questions about the form’s answers and someone to send the EIN to. Sign the form before sending it to the IRS.
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Contact the IRS with the form in one of several ways, depending on how fast you want the EIN. Call (800) 829-4933 to get the EIN over the phone immediately. Then fax in the SS-4 for verification. Or fax in the SS-4 without calling to receive the EIN in four days. Apply online to receive an EIN immediately (see Resources). Mail the SS-4 in to receive the EIN in four weeks.
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Tips & Warnings
Register your business’s name and new EIN with the Secretary of State for the state in which you are incorporating. You don’t want to lose the name to someone else and then have to redo the EIN paperwork for a different business name.
