How To Find A Company's Federal Tax Id Number

An employer identification number (EIN) is a unique ix-digit identifier that'due south issued by the IRS. It'due south also known equally a federal tax identification number or a concern tax ID number. There are a number of ways to determine a business organisation'southward (EIN).

All businesses are eligible to apply for an EIN and even small businesses, such as sole proprietors, will often obtain an EIN. This is because an EIN is typically required for not-taxation-related business tasks, such as opening a bank account or applying for a license or permit.

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Reasons Why You Might Need to Detect a Visitor's EIN

While you should always know your own business taxation ID number, or EIN, there are also a variety of legitimate reasons why yous might need to know the EIN of some other company. These include the following:

Unemployment benefits.Many states require the EIN of your former employer when you use for unemployment benefits.
Vendor information. If you're looking into using a new vendor and they've given you their business information, you may need their EIN in order to make sure the information you've been given is valid.
Customer information. You may demand to know the EIN of new business clients in order to verify the information they've given y'all.
Daily business organisation operations. Some industries, such as insurance, may require the EINs of dissimilar companies as office of their day-to-day operations.

Keep in mind, though, that a company's EIN is much like an individual'south social security number. Therefore, y'all should just expect for a company's EIN if you lot take a valid reason for doing and so.

Finding Your Ain Business's EIN

If you've lost or misplaced your EIN, there are a number of ways you can locate it:

EIN confirmation letter. When your business showtime practical for an EIN, the IRS would have sent you an EIN confirmation letter of the alphabet. Your EIN will be located in that letter.
Business organization and tax filings. Bank check for your EIN on copies of any previous business concern or tax filings you've made. For example, if y'all applied for a land business license, y'all may take been required to provide your EIN.
Enquire your bank. If you opened up a business banking concern business relationship or obtained a business loan from your banking company, chances are they will have your EIN on file.
Contact the IRS. You can telephone call the IRS'due south Business & Specialty Tax Line and enquire them to search for your EIN. You volition have to provide identifying information, as the IRS volition merely provide a company's EIN to persons who are authorized to receive the data.

Public Companies

If the company you need the EIN for is a publicly traded company, you lot will be able to obtain its EIN through the U.South. Securities and Exchange Commission'south EDGAR database. Input the company proper name into the Company and Person Lookup search field, and check its latest Grade ten-Q or Grade 10-K filing for the company's EIN.

Nonprofits

You can locate the EIN of a nonprofit or charitable arrangement through a database similar Guidestar. If the nonprofit is registered as a tax-exempt organization with the IRS, you tin can also search for it on the IRS'southward taxation-exempt organization search page.

Private Companies

Finding the EIN for a private visitor can be more than challenging, equally there are no free one-cease databases that amass this kind of information. The post-obit are the best means to observe the EIN for a private visitor:

Check your Course W-two. If you are an employee of the company, yous volition receive a W-2 form every year from them. The company'due south EIN volition be on this course.
Search government filings. If the company has fabricated any state filings—for example, license or let applications—y'all may be able to find their EIN on your state'due south searchable business databases.
Contact the company. Every bit long every bit you have a legitimate reason for obtaining a company's EIN, yous can e'er try calling them direct for the information. The company's accounting department is often the best place to learn a company's EIN.

Other Means to Decide a Business'due south EIN

In addition to the free methods listed above, there are other, fee-based means to find a business's EIN:

Purchase a business credit report. You can buy a business'due south credit report from a credit written report company. The company'south EIN should exist included in the information in the credit report.
Employ a paid legal database. Legal search companies maintain databases of companies that typically include companies' contact and tax data.
Search a fee-based EIN database. There are a number of paid EIN search databases you tin can apply to obtain a visitor'southward EIN information, for a fee.

Depending on whether the company whose EIN you're looking for is a publicly traded company, a nonprofit company, or a individual company, in that location are a number of ways to determine its EIN. As long as y'all have a legitimate reason for obtaining this information, the process is ordinarily not hard and may involve nothing more than picking upwards the phone and contacting the visitor directly.

This portion of the site is for informational purposes only. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated past LegalZoom for accurateness, completeness, or changes in the constabulary.