IRS Form SS-4: Line-by-Line Instructions for LLC Owners

Form SS-4 is a single page, and most of it is straightforward. The parts that trip people up are almost always the same three: line 7b when you have no Social Security Number, line 9a when you own an LLC, and line 10 when none of the reasons quite describe your situation. This guide covers the whole form, with particular attention to those three.

What Form SS-4 Is

Form SS-4 is the Application for Employer Identification Number. An EIN is the federal tax ID for a business, the equivalent of a Social Security Number for a company. You need one to open a US business bank account, file federal returns, register with payment processors, and hire employees.

The name is misleading. You do not need employees to need an EIN, and most single-member LLCs never hire anyone.

Who Needs to File It

• Any LLC opening a US bank account. In practice this is every LLC, since banks will not open an account without one.
• Foreign-owned single-member LLCs, which need an EIN in order to file Form 5472.
• Multi-member LLCs, which are treated as partnerships and must file returns.
• Any business hiring employees or filing employment tax returns.

Line-by-Line Instructions

Completing It Without an SSN

There is no requirement to hold a Social Security Number or an ITIN to be issued an EIN, and you do not need to apply for an ITIN first. The two numbers are unrelated: an ITIN identifies an individual, an EIN identifies a business.

What changes without an SSN is the route, not the outcome. The online assistant is closed to you, so you use fax, mail, or the international phone line. Write Foreign on line 7b and submit the form as normal. See getting an EIN without a Social Security Number for the full walkthrough.

How to Submit the Form

• By fax. The fastest option for non-residents. Include a return fax number so the IRS can send the EIN straight back.
• By mail. Reliable but slow, and slower again from outside the US.
• By phone. International applicants can be issued an EIN during a single call to +1 267 941 1099. Complete the form first and read from it, because the agent works through the same questions in the same order.

How Long It Takes

• Phone: the EIN is issued during the call.
• Fax: about four business days when a return fax number is supplied.
• Mail: about four weeks, plus international transit.

The paper CP 575 confirmation notice follows separately and takes longer. You can begin using the EIN as soon as you have the number.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving line 7b blank. The most frequent cause of rejection. Write "Foreign" if you have no SSN or ITIN.
• A legal name that does not match the state filing. Punctuation and the LLC suffix both count, and a mismatch causes bank problems later.
• No return fax number. Omitting it turns a four-day process into a multi-week one.
• Applying twice. If a fax seems to have gone unanswered, chase the original rather than resubmitting. Duplicate applications can produce two EINs for one entity, which is tedious to unwind.
• Vague business activity. Line 16 and 17 answers that say nothing invite follow-up questions.

What Happens Next

Once the EIN is issued, the IRS sends Notice CP 575 to the address on line 4. Keep it. It is issued once and never reprinted, and if it goes missing your only route to proof of EIN is Letter 147C. With the number in hand you can open a business bank account.

How StartGlobal Helps

Your EIN is included in formation with StartGlobal, with no SSN required. We prepare the SS-4, submit it through the correct channel for a non-resident applicant, follow it up if the IRS is slow, and store the confirmation in your dashboard. See EIN and Tax Registration or pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions