I lost my EIN. How do I find it?

Question

Accepted Answer

Start with the IRS confirmation letter, called a CP 575, that arrived when the number was issued. If you applied online it was offered as a PDF at the end, and if a formation service applied for you, it will be in your account with them or in your email. If Arabella filed it, the letter is in the email we sent you when the number was issued. After that, the number is on the paperwork from opening your business bank account, on every federal tax return the company has filed, on payroll filings, and on any W-9 you have sent a client. If none of that turns it up, call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line on 800-829-4933, Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. your local time. They will ask questions to confirm you are someone entitled to the number, such as an owner, officer or partner, and then read it to you. Ask at the same time for a 147C letter, which is the IRS's written confirmation of an EIN previously assigned. They will post or fax it. Why the 147C matters The IRS never reissues a CP 575. The 147C is its replacement, and banks, payroll providers and state agencies accept it as proof of the number. Once you have it, save it somewhere that will outlast your current laptop. Losing the number is a small problem. Losing it the week a bank needs it is a larger one. Looking up someone else's EIN There is no public IRS database to search. Public companies list their EIN on filings at the SEC, and charities appear in the IRS's tax-exempt search, but a private company's number is not published anywhere. If you need a supplier's EIN for a 1099, ask them for a W-9, which is what the form is for. Any website offering to look up any company's EIN for a fee is selling something other than what it claims.

I lost my EIN. How do I find it?

Why the 147C matters

Looking up someone else's EIN

Related questions