The EIN and IRS forms · A term for founders abroad
What is Form SS-4?
The IRS application for an Employer Identification Number, sent by fax or post, or made by phone, when the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN.
Checked against the IRS's instructions and the states' own rules. Reviewed by Saais Patel, compliance reviewer.
Term 50 of 105 in the glossary, filed under F.IRS: instructions for Form SS-4
Form SS-4, for a founder abroad.
Form SS-4 asks for the company's legal name, address, responsible party, entity type and reason for applying. If the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN, the IRS's instructions say to write "foreign" or N/A where the number goes, and a single-member LLC owned from abroad checks Other and writes "Foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity-Form 5472".
How a founder abroad sends it
- By fax to the IRS's international number, with a fax number of your own for the reply. The IRS says that under its Fax-TIN program an EIN by fax generally comes within 4 business days. For a company owned from abroad, our estimate is six to eight weeks.
- By phone on the IRS's international line, 267-941-1099, if the caller can answer for the company. The number can be given on the call.
- By post to the EIN International Operation in Cincinnati, the slowest route.
The responsible party must be a person, not a company, even when a company owns the LLC. Form SS-4, line by line has the answer for every line, and how to get an EIN without an SSN covers the whole route. We prepare it from your order and file it the day your company exists.
Sources: IRS: instructions for Form SS-4.
Read next · guide · 6 minHow to get an EIN without a Social Security NumberWhat founders ask next.
- What do I write on Form SS-4 if I don't have an SSN?
- "Foreign" or N/A on line 7b, as the IRS instructions say. Don't borrow anyone else's number.
- What do I choose on line 9a for a foreign-owned single-member LLC?
- Other, with "Foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity-Form 5472" written beside it, which tells the IRS to expect Form 5472.
- Can I file Form SS-4 online?
- Not without an SSN or ITIN; the online application needs one. Without it, use fax, post or the international phone line.
03 · See also
- The EIN and IRS formsEINThe nine-digit tax number the IRS assigns to a business, and the first thing every US bank, payment processor and marketplace asks for.Read the term
- The EIN and IRS formsCP 575 letterThe IRS notice confirming a newly assigned EIN, posted once to the address on the application; the document banks usually ask to see.Read the term
- The EIN and IRS formsResponsible partyOn Form SS-4, the person who ultimately owns or controls the company: the owner of a single-member LLC, and never the registered agent.Read the term
- The EIN and IRS formsSSNThe US personal tax and benefits number for citizens and people authorised to work; not something a founder abroad has or needs to own a US company.Read the term
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