How much does an EIN cost?
EINCosts
An EIN is free. The IRS does not charge to issue one, whether you apply online, by fax, by post, or by phone if you are applying from outside the US, and the number is yours for the life of the company with nothing to renew. The IRS's own page says, in as many words, that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN and to beware of websites that charge for one.
Search for how to get one and the first screen of results is mostly companies charging for it anyway. Some are formation services adding it to a package. Others are sites built to look official, with a government-style design and a fee at the end. What all of them are selling is the same free IRS form, filled in by someone else. LegalZoom, for example, charges $79 at the time of writing and files it through the same online tool you could use yourself.
When paying someone makes sense
There are honest reasons to have it done for you. You may not want to learn the form for a thing you will do once. You may be a founder outside the US with no Social Security number, where the online tool will not work and the phone route means a long call to the IRS's international line. Or you may simply have someone already handling your formation who can add it. What does not make sense is paying a stranger for it.
Arabella files the EIN application free for members and for anyone who forms a company through us. You are the responsible party on the application, never Arabella, and your Social Security number is removed from our records once the application is filed.
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Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.