How Do I Get a Federal Tax ID number?
There are a couple ways to get an employer identification number (EIN) or federal tax ID with the IRS.
- You can get it yourself through the IRS website online, you can fax in the SS-4 form, or you can mail it in. The IRS website page for EINs is here: http://www.irs.gov
- You can also hire us to get the EIN federal tax ID number for you on our incorporation sign up form (at the bottom): Delaware incorporation service.
If you have a social security number, the process is super easy and can be done instantly online if the IRS website is working. (It crashes ALL the time.)
If you do not have a social security number and are from out of the U.S., it is just harder, but still quite possible. You can also add this service on our incorporation sign up form.
A federal tax id number is the same thing as an EIN, and an employer identification number. When paying your taxes to the IRS, you will be required to have one. If you have employees, you will be required to have a federal tax id number, because this is how you associate the payroll taxes you withheld from your employees and how you pay it to the IRS. (Isn’t it something that we are forced to collect the IRS taxes and we don’t get paid for it? It’s just our duty for having the privilege of having a business?)
Often a bank will want you to have an EIN as well, but this is just a specific requirement per your bank.
Many people form Delaware companies for the purpose of holding assets in them. Many Delaware companies don’t actually have profits and thus don’t file tax returns with the IRS. The IRS will tell you that even if you don’t make money, you should file a zero return so they can monitor you and see what you’re up to. Many people don’t do this though, and the IRS never finds out about their companies. This is not our advice, but we are just telling you that a lot of people don’t go through with getting an EIN because their bank doesn’t require it and they don’t really make any money with that company. They just own assets in it that don’t appreciate, so there’s never any income they have to report and pay taxes on, so they are making the calculated risk that the IRS won’t ever even find out about the company.