How to Get an EIN — How-To #002

$0. That's what an EIN costs. And yet, right now, lookalike websites are charging people $200 to $300 for the same free IRS form — dressed up in official-looking fonts, ranked above the real thing in search. We'd rather you kept that money.

Difficulty: Beginner · Time: about 10 minutes online · Cost: $0 — the IRS has never charged for an EIN.

An EIN — Employer Identification Number — is a nine-digit ID the IRS gives your business. Think of it as your business's Social Security number, except this is one you want out in the world. Banks ask for it. Suppliers ask for it. Clients paying you ask for it. And getting one is the fastest way to make your business stop being a hobby in the eyes of every institution you'll deal with.

The first installment gave you the map: problem, buyer, offer, in that order. Today is the first official move on that map. Not the logo. Not the website. The number.

Before you open the form, have these four things written down: your legal business name; your structure (sole proprietor, LLC, and so on — #003 puts those two side by side); your business address; and one plain sentence about what the business does. That's the whole prep. Ten minutes of answers, zero documents to upload.

Get your answers ready first

The application stalls when people improvise mid-form. Don't. Write the four answers above on paper or in a note before you start, and the form becomes a transcription exercise, not a thinking exercise.

One decision deserves a pause: the name you enter is the legal name of the business, not your brand nickname. If you formed an LLC, it's the name on the state filing. If you're a sole proprietor, it's usually your own legal name unless you've registered a trade name. When in doubt, match whatever the state already has on file — mismatches are the one thing that turns a ten-minute job into a phone call.

Go to irs.gov — and nowhere else

Here is the trap, stated once and plainly: if the address isn't irs.gov, close the tab. The lookalike sites buy ads, copy the IRS look, and charge $200 to $300 to forward a free form. The IRS has never charged for an EIN. Not once. Ever.

On irs.gov, search "apply for an EIN online." The online tool runs Monday through Friday, roughly 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern. Outside those hours, wait — don't pay a middleman for impatience.

Answer the form in plain English

The questions are simpler than people expect. Business name. Structure. Address. What the business does. Who is responsible for it. That's the shape of it — no essays, no uploads, no trick questions.

Answer in plain language, the way you'd explain the business to a neighbor. The IRS doesn't grade your vocabulary; it records your facts. And if a question stops you, that's usually a sign to check the four answers you wrote down in step one, not a sign that you're doing it wrong.

Save the number the second it appears

This is the part people fumble, and it's the most important ten seconds of the whole process. When you finish, the EIN appears on screen, immediately. Download the confirmation letter — it's called a CP 575. Screenshot it. Email it to yourself. Print it.

Why the fuss? Banks will ask for that letter, and getting a replacement takes weeks by mail. The number is free and instant; the paper proving it is not. Save it three ways before you close the tab, and you'll never think about it again.

Tell your state, too

The EIN is federal. Your state still wants its own hello. New Jersey, used here as an example of any state, requires a tax and employer registration — the NJ-REG — with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. It's a separate step, and skipping it is how a business ends up official in Washington and invisible in its own state capital.

Do the federal number first, the state registration second, and keep both confirmations in the same folder — digital and printed. Your future self, opening a bank account or filing a first return, will be grateful for exactly this kind of boring organization.

Use the number the same day

A number sitting in a drawer changes nothing. Use it the same day, three ways. First, open the business bank account — most banks require the EIN, and separating business money from personal money is the single healthiest habit a new business can build. Second, hand the EIN to clients and suppliers instead of your Social Security number; your SSN stays home from now on. Third, that's the first brick of business credit: credit in the business's name starts with this number.

That's the whole move. Name, number, bank account — and your thing is more official than most ideas ever get.

Three mistakes we see every time

Paying for it. Covered above, worth repeating: $0 at irs.gov, $200-plus at a lookalike. There is no faster version worth buying.

Losing the letter. The number without the CP 575 is a key without proof you own the lock. Save it three ways, as above.

Getting the number before knowing the structure. The form asks what you are — sole proprietor, LLC, partnership. If you're genuinely unsure, read tomorrow's installment first: #003 puts LLC vs. sole proprietor side by side, with the real trade-offs, before you commit on a federal form.

Questions we get asked

Do I need an EIN if I'm a sole proprietor with no employees? Legally, often no — but practically, yes. Without one, every form, invoice, and 1099 carries your personal Social Security number, and most banks want an EIN for a business account anyway. Free, ten minutes, privacy gained: get it.

Can I apply before my LLC is formed? Get the structure settled first. The EIN application asks what the business is, and the answer should match what the state has on file. Formation first, EIN second — #004 walks incorporation step by step.

What if I already paid a lookalike site? The number itself is still valid if they actually filed it — check that you received a real EIN and a CP 575 letter. Then don't pay them again for anything. The IRS does renewals, changes, and replacements free, by mail or phone.

Is this tax advice? No — it's a walkthrough of a free federal form. For your specific tax situation, a local accountant or the IRS's own free resources beat any blog post, including ours.

What comes after the EIN? The bank account — and #005 covers the five things to know before you open it. But first, #003: the structure question, answered honestly.

What comes next

This is installment #002 of How to X, in our "Start Something" launch week. Next: How-To #003 puts LLC vs. sole proprietor side by side — liability, taxes, cost, and the question that actually decides it. Then #004 incorporates step by step, and #005 covers the five things to know before your first business bank account. One step a day. Number before logo, every time.