The online EIN application takes ten minutes and requires a Social Security number or ITIN. Without one, the same application goes by fax or phone, and takes days or weeks instead of minutes. Formation services charge $100 to $300 to do the waiting for you. The form itself is short, and the reasons it gets rejected are few and avoidable.
What it is
A nine-digit number the IRS assigns to the entity. Banks, Stripe, Amazon, payroll providers and the IRS itself use it to identify the LLC. It is not a tax status and it does not by itself create any filing obligation beyond the ones the entity already has. Every LLC that opens a bank account or files Form 5472 needs one, and a single-member LLC owned by a non-resident needs one for the 5472 alone.
Form SS-4 for a non-resident
- Line 7a, responsible party: you, the owner, by name. The IRS requires an individual who controls the entity; a formation company or a nominee should not be listed here, and the IRS now rejects entities named as responsible party in most cases.
- Line 7b, SSN/ITIN: write "Foreign" or leave it blank. Do not write "N/A" and do not invent a number.
- Line 8a: yes, it is an LLC; line 8b, number of members. Line 9a: for a single-member LLC owned by an individual, "Other" with "Disregarded entity, foreign-owned single-member LLC" is the description that avoids the IRS assuming a corporation.
- Address: the LLC's mailing address. A registered agent address is acceptable if the agent forwards mail; the IRS will send the confirmation letter here.
- Reason for applying: "Started new business" and the activity in a few words.
- Third-party designee: optional; lets a preparer receive the number on your behalf.
The two routes
Fax. Send the signed SS-4 to the IRS international fax number. The IRS states four business days; in practice, a week to three weeks in normal periods and longer in January to April. The assigned number comes back by fax to the number on the form, so include one that receives faxes (an online fax service is fine).
Phone. The IRS international EIN line takes applications from outside the US during US business hours. Have the completed SS-4 in front of you; the agent asks each question and issues the number on the call. Wait times are long and the line is sometimes unavailable; when it works, it is same-day.
Mail is the third route and takes four to six weeks. Nobody chooses it on purpose.
After the number arrives
The IRS mails a CP575 confirmation letter to the address on the form, typically within a few weeks of assignment. Keep it permanently; banks and platforms ask for it, sometimes years later. If it never arrives, a 147C letter (a reissued confirmation) can be requested by phone and faxed to you while you are on the line.
What causes rejections and delays
- An entity or a formation service listed as responsible party.
- A name mismatch between the SS-4 and the state formation document, including punctuation like "LLC" versus "L.L.C.".
- Applying before the state has actually approved the formation.
- Duplicate applications: faxing again after a week because nothing came back. Two applications create two numbers, one of which must be closed by letter.
- An illegible fax. Type the form; do not photograph a handwritten one.
What it should cost
Nothing from the IRS. A preparer who files it as part of formation or first-year compliance should charge a modest fixed fee for the time. Anyone charging hundreds of dollars for the EIN alone, or promising "instant" EINs for non-residents, is selling the waiting.
The check: if you have an EIN already, find the CP575. If you cannot, request a 147C now, before a bank asks for it in a week you do not have.