EIN (Employer Identification Number)

An EIN, or Employer Identification Number, is a nine-digit tax ID for businesses, written in the format 12-3456789. Despite the word employer in the name, you need one even if you will never hire anyone. It works like a Social Security number for your company: the IRS uses it to match every filing to your LLC.

For a non-resident founder, the EIN is the first practical step after forming the LLC. You cannot file Form 5472 with its pro forma Form 1120, or Form 1065 for a multi-member LLC, without one. Banks and payment processors like Stripe also require it. Foreign owners without a Social Security number cannot use the IRS online application; instead they file Form SS-4 by fax or mail, or call the IRS international line.

The SS-4 asks for a responsible party, the human who controls the company. As a foreign owner you can write your name and enter Foreign in the tax ID field if you have no SSN or ITIN. Faxed applications typically come back in a few weeks; mailed ones take longer, so apply well before the April 15 deadline for a single-member LLC filing, or March 15 if your multi-member LLC files Form 1065.

One common myth is that getting an EIN creates US tax duty by itself. It does not. It simply identifies the company. But once your foreign-owned LLC exists and has reportable transactions, the Form 5472 filing duty applies whether or not the company earned a dollar, and missing it risks the $25,000 penalty. Keep the IRS letter that assigns your EIN, called the CP 575, because banks and platforms will ask for it.