How to get an EIN online in 15 minutes

You just formed an LLC, or you're about to, and a bank or payroll service told you that you need an EIN before you can open a business account, hire an employee, or file business taxes. This guide walks through what an EIN is, who needs one, how to apply, and what comes after you have it in hand.

The whole article assumes a sequence: form your business entity first, then get the EIN, then open a business bank account, then start operating. If you haven't formed an entity yet, see our guides on articles of incorporation and DBAs for the formation step. The EIN comes after.

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Key takeaways

• An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also called a Federal Tax Identification Number or FEIN, is a 9-digit number issued by the IRS that identifies your business for tax, banking, and hiring purposes.

• Most US businesses need one to open a business bank account, hire employees, file business tax returns, or apply for certain licenses and permits.

• The IRS online application is free, takes about 15 minutes, and issues the EIN immediately. It's available at irs.gov during IRS business hours.

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What is an EIN?

An Employer Identification Number is a 9-digit federal tax ID assigned by the IRS to identify businesses. The format is XX-XXXXXXX (two digits, a hyphen, and seven digits). It functions for a business the way a Social Security Number functions for an individual: a unique identifier used on tax filings, bank account applications, payroll, and any official correspondence with the IRS or state tax agencies.

Despite the name, you don't need to have employees to need an EIN. The 'employer' in 'Employer Identification Number' is a holdover from when the IRS originally created the number for businesses with payroll. Today, sole proprietors, single-member LLCs, partnerships, and corporations all use the same EIN format whether they have employees or not.

The EIN is also called a Federal Tax Identification Number (FTIN) or Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). All three terms refer to the same number.

Who needs an EIN?

The IRS requires an EIN for most business structures. Specifically, you need an EIN if any of these apply:

• Your business is a corporation, partnership, multi-member LLC, or any structure other than a sole proprietorship.

• Your business has employees (including yourself in some structures).

• Your business files certain federal tax returns: employment tax, excise tax, alcohol/tobacco/firearms tax, or certain trust forms.

• Your business has a Keogh plan or other retirement plan that requires an EIN.

• Your business is involved with certain types of organizations (trusts, estates, non-profits, real estate mortgage investment conduits, farmers' cooperatives, and plan administrators).

Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs without employees can technically use their owner's SSN instead of an EIN for federal tax purposes, but most banks still require an EIN to open a business checking account in the business's name. In practice, almost every business benefits from getting an EIN, even when it's not strictly required by the IRS.

What you need before you apply

Before starting the application, gather a few details. The IRS online application is a single session that times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, so having the information ready before you start prevents starting over.

• Legal name and structure of the business. The legal name as registered with your state (for LLCs and corporations) or your own name (for sole proprietors). The structure (sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc.).

• Formation state. The state where your business is legally formed or incorporated. For LLCs and corporations, this is the state where you filed your articles of organization or incorporation.

• Primary US address. A US-based mailing address for the business. A home address is fine for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs.

• Responsible party. The person whose SSN or ITIN will be on the application. Per IRS guidance, this is typically the owner, principal officer, or senior partner who controls or manages the entity. The responsible party must be an individual, not another entity.

• Reason for applying. The IRS asks why you're applying: started a new business, hiring employees for the first time, banking purposes, changed organization type, purchased an existing business, etc.

• Contact phone number. A phone number where the IRS can reach you if there's a question about the application.

How to get an EIN: the step-by-step application

The IRS online application is the fastest path for most US-based businesses. Five steps:

• Confirm eligibility. You need a valid SSN or ITIN for the responsible party. Your principal business must be in the US or a US territory. Only one EIN can be issued per responsible party per day via the online tool.

• Go to irs.gov and find the 'Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Online' page. Click through to start the application. The IRS online application is available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, as of publication. The system is unavailable outside those hours, which often confuses first-time applicants who assume the site is broken.

• Complete the online application. You'll answer the questions you prepared for in the previous section. The IRS calls this Form SS-4, even though the online experience doesn't look like a traditional form.

• Submit and receive your EIN. The system issues your EIN immediately on the confirmation screen and generates a confirmation letter called CP 575. Save or print this letter immediately; it's your official record of the assignment.

• Save the CP 575 in a permanent business file. You'll need the EIN and ideally the CP 575 letter when opening a business bank account, setting up payroll, applying for licenses, and corresponding with state tax agencies.

The whole online process takes about 15 minutes if you have all the information ready. The EIN itself is issued instantly.

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Common EIN application mistakes

Five problems show up regularly in EIN applications. Knowing them in advance prevents most of them:

• Using the wrong responsible party. The responsible party must be an individual with a valid SSN or ITIN, not another entity. If your business is owned by another LLC, you cannot use the parent LLC as the responsible party; you need an individual person.

• Applying outside the IRS portal's hours. The online tool is available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, as of publication. Applying outside those hours produces an error message that looks like a system failure but is actually scheduled downtime. Wait for business hours.

• Applying before the business is legally formed. File your formation documents (articles of organization for an LLC, articles of incorporation for a corporation) with your state first. Apply for the EIN after the state confirms the entity is formed. Applying for an EIN for a business that doesn't yet legally exist creates a paperwork mismatch that the IRS may flag.

• Hitting the daily-EIN limit. Per IRS guidance as of publication, the online tool issues only one EIN per responsible party per day. If you're filing for multiple entities, space the applications across multiple days or use the fax method for the others.

• Using fake or test names. The IRS flags applications with obviously fake business names, names that look like test data, or names that match suspicious patterns. Use the actual legal name of the business as registered with the state.

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What to do once you have your EIN

Once the EIN is issued, six practical next steps follow in roughly this order:

• Save the CP 575 confirmation letter. Store it in a permanent business file. If you lose it, you can request a replacement (the CP 575B) from the IRS, but it's much easier to keep the original.

• Open a business bank account. Most banks require the EIN before they'll open a business checking account. This is the natural next step in the formation sequence. See our guide on routing numbers vs. account numbers for what to do once you have a business account.

• Register with state tax agencies if applicable. Most states with income tax or sales tax require a separate state-level registration in addition to the federal EIN.

• Set up payroll if you're hiring employees. Payroll providers (Gusto, ADP, QuickBooks Online Payroll, Paychex, and others) will ask for your EIN during setup. For the worker-classification piece (1099 vs. W-2), see our guide on classifying workers.

• Apply for any required business licenses. Most state and city business license applications require the EIN.

• Update your accounting software. Add the EIN to your bookkeeping records so it's available for year-end tax forms and 1099 issuance.

For most small businesses, steps 1 and 2 (saving the CP 575 and opening a bank account) happen the same week the EIN is issued. The rest follow as you build out the operational infrastructure.

Using your EIN to open a business bank account

Opening a business bank account is the most common next step after getting an EIN, and most US business banks require the EIN in the application. The general documents most banks ask for:

• The EIN (either the number itself or a copy of the CP 575 confirmation letter).

• Formation documents (articles of organization for an LLC, articles of incorporation for a corporation, partnership agreement if applicable).

• Government-issued photo ID for the responsible party and any other signers on the account.

• Operating agreement (for LLCs) or bylaws (for corporations), if applicable.

• DBA filing if your business operates under a different name than its legal name.

For Bluevine Business Checking specifically, the application asks for the EIN (or SSN for sole proprietors without an EIN), basic business information, and the identity of the responsible party. The full sequence is: entity formation, then EIN, then Bluevine Business Checking, then first ACH and card transactions. Standard plan¹ has no monthly fee, so the cost of having a business account doesn't compete with the startup expenses you're already managing.

The bottom line

Getting an EIN is free, fast, and required for most US businesses. The IRS online application takes about 15 minutes if you have your information ready. The work isn't getting the EIN itself; it's the steps that follow. Save the confirmation letter, open a business bank account, set up payroll and tax registrations, and the EIN becomes a quiet identifier that does its job every time the business interacts with the IRS, a bank, or a payroll provider.

Got your EIN? Open a business bank account next.

Bluevine Business Checking is built for the formation-to-banking handoff: apply with your EIN and formation documents, get approved fast, and start operating from an account with no monthly fee on the Standard plan¹.

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