Form SS-4 - EIN Application

What Form SS-4 is

Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number, is the IRS form used to request an EIN, the nine-digit number the IRS uses to identify a business, trust, estate or other entity for tax purposes. This template is the Rev. December 2025 edition, which is the current revision on the IRS About Form SS-4 page as of October 3, 2026. Page 1 holds lines 1 through 18, the third party designee section and the signature block. Page 2 is a "Do I Need an EIN?" table that tells you which lines to complete for your situation.

Who uses Form SS-4

The form's header lists employers, corporations, partnerships, trusts, estates, churches, government agencies, Indian tribal entities, certain individuals and others. Typical reasons include starting a business, hiring employees (household employees included), opening a bank account that requires an EIN, creating a trust or pension plan, administering an estate, and foreign persons who need an EIN to comply with IRS withholding rules. Page 2 also notes that an existing entity should not apply for a new EIN only because it changed its business name.

Most U.S. applicants can also apply through the IRS online EIN application. The paper SS-4 is the version you fax or mail.

What to have ready

• The entity's legal name, trade name and addresses
• The responsible party's name and SSN, ITIN or EIN
• Entity type, and for an LLC the number of members
• Start date, accounting year-end month and expected employees
• Principal business activity and any earlier EIN

How to fill out Form SS-4 online

Click "Fill Template Now" to open the form in the editor, type into each line, tick the checkboxes, then add your signature with the PDF signing tool and download the finished PDF for faxing or mailing. For a longer walkthrough, see our Form SS-4 guide.

Lines 1 to 6: names and addresses

Line 1 is the legal name, line 2 the trade name if different, and line 3 an executor, trustee or "care of" name. Lines 4a and 4b are the mailing address, and lines 5a and 5b the street address if different, where the form says not to enter a P.O. box. Line 6 asks for the county and state where the principal business is located.

Lines 7a to 9b: responsible party and entity type

Lines 7a and 7b name the responsible party and their SSN, ITIN or EIN. The SS-4 instructions say this must be an individual, except for government entities, and that an entry is required. Lines 8a to 8c cover LLCs: whether the applicant is an LLC, how many members it has and whether it was organized in the United States. Line 9a has one checkbox per entity type (sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, nonprofit, REMIC and others), with space to enter details such as the corporation's form number or a Group Exemption Number. Line 9b names the state or foreign country of incorporation.

Lines 10 to 15: reason, dates and employees

Line 10 is the reason for applying (check one box only). Line 11 is the date the business started or was acquired and line 12 the closing month of the accounting year. Line 13 asks for the highest number of agricultural, household and other employees expected in the next 12 months, entering -0- if none. Line 14 is the election to file Form 944 annually instead of Form 941 quarterly. The form explains that liability is generally $1,000 or less if you expect to pay $5,000 or less in total wages ($6,536 or less in a U.S. territory), and the instructions add that once you check the box you must keep filing Form 944 until the IRS tells you to file Form 941. Line 15 is the first date wages or annuities were paid.

Lines 16 to 18, designee and signature

Line 16 asks for the principal activity, line 17 the main merchandise, construction work, products or services, and line 18 whether the entity ever received an EIN before. The optional Third Party Designee section lets you authorize someone to receive the EIN; per the instructions, that authority ends once the EIN is assigned and released to the designee.

Signing and submitting

The instructions list who signs: the individual for a sole proprietorship, a principal officer for a corporation, an authorized member or officer for a partnership, or the fiduciary for a trust or estate. As of October 3, 2026, the Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025) give these filing options:

• Fax (U.S. and DC applicants): 855-641-6935, generally processed within 4 business days
• Mail (U.S. and DC applicants): Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999, approximately 4 weeks
• Applicants outside the U.S.: fax 855-215-1627 (from within the U.S.) or 304-707-9471 (from outside the U.S.), or mail to Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN International Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999. The IRS EIN page also lists phone applications at 267-941-1099, Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time.

Fees and limits

The IRS Get an EIN page states that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN and warns about websites that charge for one. It also says you can apply for only one EIN per responsible party per day. After you have the number, the IRS asks you to report changes in the responsible party on Form 8822-B within 60 days.

Common mistakes

• Listing a company as the responsible party on line 7a when the entity is not a government entity
• Entering a P.O. box on line 5a
• Checking more than one box on line 9a or line 10
• Skipping the LLC questions on lines 8a to 8c
• Applying for a new EIN after a simple name change
• Faxing or mailing the form unsigned

More IRS forms are collected in our IRS tax form templates.