Getting your EIN: free, fifteen minutes, straight from the IRS

Who actually needs one

Required: anyone with employees, and any LLC with more than one member. Strongly recommended for everyone else, including one-person sole proprietorships, because of three practical realities:

• Banks ask for it. Most won’t open a business account for an LLC without one.
• W-9s stop exposing your SSN. Every GC and commercial customer who pays you $600+ will request a W-9. With an EIN, that form carries the business number instead of your Social Security number.
• It’s the identity everything else hangs on — payroll later, business credit, government registrations like SAM.gov if you ever chase public work.

How to apply (the only right way)

1. Form the entity first if you’re creating an LLC — the EIN application asks for the legal name exactly as filed.
2. Use the IRS online assistantat irs.gov (link below), weekdays during its posted hours. One sitting — the session doesn’t save.
3. Answer as the “responsible party” — you, with your SSN. The IRS requires a real human behind every EIN.
4. Download the CP 575 confirmation letter immediately. That PDF is shown once. Banks want to see it; save it with your formation documents.

The scam to avoid

Search “EIN application” and the ads above the IRS link are third-party sites charging $75–$300 to submit the same free form. They’re not illegal; they’re just pointless. The official application lives only on irs.gov and costs nothing. If a site asks for a card number, you’re on the wrong site.

One number, everywhere

Once issued, the EIN goes on your W-9s, bank paperwork, insurance applications, and any local business license registrations. Consistency matters — the name/number pair must match the IRS record exactly, so always copy it from the CP 575 letter.