Can I get an EIN without a Social Security Number?

This question comes up constantly, usually in a version that assumes the answer is no. It is not, and the confusion has a specific cause worth understanding before you fill anything in.

Why people think the answer is no

The IRS runs an online EIN assistant that issues a number immediately. It validates the responsible party's taxpayer identification number against IRS records, so it cannot be used by someone who has neither an SSN nor an ITIN. A person who finds that tool first, tries it, and is stopped reasonably concludes that an EIN requires an SSN.

What the tool is, though, is one channel. The IRS publishes three others for applicants who have no legal residence, principal place of business or principal office in the United States: telephone, fax and mail.¹ They use the same form and produce the same number.

Who the responsible party is

This is the part worth reading twice, because getting it wrong causes problems that surface later.

The IRS requires the responsible party to be an individual who controls the entity, and states that nominees may not apply.¹ A nominee is someone put on the application in place of the person who actually controls the company — a formation agent, for example, or a relative with a convenient SSN.

Some services offer to use their own principal as the responsible party so the online tool works. That gets a number faster and leaves the IRS holding a record that says someone else controls your company. When you later need to change the responsible party, close the entity, respond to a notice or prove who owns what to a bank, you are unwinding a statement that was not true when it was made. Put yourself on the form and use the channels built for people in your situation.

Filling in the form

Form SS-4 is one page. Two lines cause nearly all the trouble.

Line 7b asks for the responsible party's SSN, ITIN or EIN. Where the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and is ineligible for one, the instructions say to enter “foreign” or N/A.² You do not need to obtain an ITIN first, and you do not leave the line blank.

Line 9a asks what type of entity you are. A single-member LLC that has not elected to be treated as a corporation checks “Other” and writes “disregarded entity”.² People frequently tick the corporation box here because the company is a company, which creates a mismatch between what the IRS thinks you are and what you actually file.

How long it takes

Faxed applications are generally processed within four business days, and mailed applications in approximately four weeks.² Phone applications issue the number during the call, which is why most people outside the United States use that route, allowing for the time difference and the wait.

The practical planning point: the EIN sits between forming the company and opening a bank account, and the bank will not start without it. If you are working to a date, the four-week mail route is the one that quietly costs you a month.

What it costs

Nothing. An EIN is free.¹ Services that charge to obtain one are charging for filling in a one-page form on your behalf, which is a legitimate thing to sell and a strange thing to buy without knowing that the underlying government fee is zero.

What the EIN does not do

An EIN is a tax identification number for your entity. It is not a tax election, not a licence, and not permission to do anything in particular. Three things it is frequently confused with:

• It is not an ITIN. An ITIN identifies an individual; an EIN identifies an entity. You may need both, for different reasons, and having one does not produce the other.
• It is not a bank account. Banks require it, and then apply their own checks on top.
• It does not end your filing obligations. A foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120, and the penalty for not doing so is $25,000, with an additional $25,000 for each 30-day period the failure continues after notice and 90 days.³ That is the obligation people discover late, and it is expensive.

Lesson 2 of the U.S. course walks through the whole sequence — state, formation, EIN, and what you owe afterwards — with the same sources.

The mistakes that cost time

• Trying the online tool repeatedly and concluding the answer is no.
• Letting a service put its own principal on line 7b as the responsible party.
• Applying for an ITIN first, believing it is a prerequisite. It is not.
• Ticking “corporation” on line 9a for a single-member LLC.
• Choosing mail because it feels safer, and losing four weeks.
• Paying for something the IRS provides free.
• Getting the EIN and never learning about Form 5472.