how to find a llc ein [Fact Checked]

Last updated : Aug 3, 2022

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hey everybody i'm destiny and i also go by the traveling hair boss so if you haven't already go ahead and subscribe to my channel because my channel is about building our businesses having multiple side hustles and also self-care so if those topics interest you make sure you go ahead and subscribe and as you can already tell by today's thumbnail this video is going to be about your ein which is your employer identification number also known as your federal tax id number so i'm going to be telling you what exactly a ein number is reasons to get one and also showing you step by step how to apply for one for free so go ahead and stay tuned so what exactly is the ein so ein is your employer identification number which is also your federal tax id number a ein number is a nine digit number that the irs created to separate businesses from each other so it's very similar which is actually pretty much the same thing as a social security number for your business and the reasons you will want to get an ein number is one you plan on having employees so if you are a single member llc or a sole proprietor you might not need one but i'm going to tell you reasons that even people who do have a single member llc and sole proprietor decide to get one one of the main reasons is to separate your finances so you're going to want to separate your business accounts from your personal accounts and you'll do that with your ein number so with your ein number you'll be able to open up a business checking account and you'll use that to keep your finances separate from your personal account so the second reason businesses apply for their ein number is to establish business credit that way when you're applying for loans for your business it won't be in your personal name it'll be in your business name and it won't require your social security number because i know a lot of places like especially like what what's going on now with the payment protection programs they're requiring you to have your business bank account and also your ein number so we're going to go on to me actually showing you how to set it up step by step and before i switch over my computer screen i did want to say the ein or anytime you're applying for it it is free through irs.gov and i've been seeing a lot of people go through legalzoom or someone else and they're charging them a couple hundred dollars to apply for something that's free so for my new business owners you want to pay close attention to this because it could save you a couple hundred dollars so i'm going to go ahead and flip the screen around and we're going to walk through it step by step so we're going to pull up the home page of irs.gov and we're going to go ahead and follow the prompts we're going to go to employer id number and then this is just giving you some basic information that you can choose about your ein and then at the bottom we're gonna go ahead and select apply for ein online so this is just some basic information and then we're going to click apply online now and you can exit that out and this and then this is just some more basic information that they're providing you and we're going to begin our application and it gives you all the different ein options that you can choose and since i have a llc i'm going to go ahead and select the limited liability company and click continue and then this is just giving you information about your llc if you have time to go ahead and read through that and then once you're done go ahead and select continue how many members does your llc have mines is one and then i'm going to go ahead and select the state that i'm located in which is michigan and this is just confirming your selection then you're going to go ahead and select continue next you're going to choose why you're requesting the ein and for me it's because i started a new business but it does give you other options so i'm going to go ahead and select that and then click continue and then you'll start filling out your personal information and this information is self-explanatory so i'm going to go ahead and enter mine in and of course i'm going to block out my social security number and then once i'm done i'm going to select continue and then i'm going to fill out my address which i'm going to enter my store address and my store phone number and once all of this information is entered we're going to go ahead and select continue okay now you're gonna just put in your legal name is exactly how it appears on your llc and for mines is destiny adams and company llc you're gonna choose your location and then your llc start date and from here you're just going to answer the questions as it applies to your business and since none of these apply to mine i'm going to go ahead and answer no for all of them and then you're going to choose the type of business that you have and for me mines is retail but for whatever business you have you'll go through and find it in the list and then select continue and this is self-explanatory since i have retail now i'm going to select receive letter online since i wanted it right away but you do have the option to receive it by mail so i hope you found this video to be extremely helpful today and it could potentially save you a couple hundred dollars depending on who you're going through to actually set up your ein number because this is a quick and easy way to do it for free so if you have any comments drop them in the comment section below or if you have any other suggestions for any videos that you want to see in the future you can also drop that in the comment section below don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and also subscribe to my channel you can follow me on my social media pages my personal account is i am destiny adams on facebook social media snapchat and instagram or my business page which is the traveling hair boss and we're on facebook and instagram so yeah stay tuned for the next video thank you you

Thanks for your comment Amal Ikeard, have a nice day.
- Roni Kabba, Staff Member

okay so in this video i want to cover some public options that you might have if you're trying to find a company's ein right so the ein or employer identification number it's a business tax id number that's assigned to entities and this is issued by the irs it's assigned to both u.s entities and uh foreign entities if they need or want one as well now there's currently no public database for all eins right so it's for the most part private information the irs doesn't have a portal or a website where you can just search for an en ein online but in some cases you can find eins on other databases if they are made public but it's limited as certain types of entities so we've got a list here go through this and maybe you can use one of these avenues to try to find an ein so the first one is sec registered and publicly traded companies the ein is disclosed on the front of the 10k right and you can also find it on 10 qs so if you go to the sec edgar database or any publicly traded company they're going to post uh their annual and quarterly reports on their website you'll see it right on there on page one right they'll have their ein that's assigned to the entity the second one is if you're an employee of a company and you're trying to find the din uh you can just look at the w-2 right so w-2s are furnished to employees if they work for the company during the year and earn income have payroll taxes taken out and on the w-2 you'll find the ein assigned to uh that company so that's that's one way to find the ein if you're looking for it for your uh your employer uh the next on the list is non-profit organizations so nonprofits are tax-exempt entities under uh section 501 c3 of the internal revenue code and these entities are generally required to publish their eim in a couple of places so the first is um they want to have it on their website and and this is because on their website they also want to indicate what type of public charity they are so you have name of the charity address ein and then it's very often attached to any kind of confirmation receipt if you have a donor that's contributing cash or other types of property and that's because the donor is going to want to take a charitable tax deduction for their contribution and as part of their record keeping they're supposed to have this information on file in case the irs ever asked the other thing with tax exempt entities is they generally are required to publish their tax return so the form 990 990s are for operating uh charitable organizations and then you have 990 pfs for uh private foundations they also generally publish that data and so if you look at the form 990 for the company you can find the ein on there also the irs has a has a search on their website for taxes identities that's a link to that one and then um the other some other websites as well catalog the tax return data and propublica.org is another governmental agency organization that that publishes that data also so if you're looking for the ein for a tax exempt uh non-profit charitable organization uh you can find it using one of those methods and the last on the list is um certain types of state databases so some states will collect this information and put it into public record and so for example florida is one of them right so florida if you go to the sunbiz.org website this is where florida entities are created and it's also where there's a public database where you can search by entity name you can search by registered agent uh llc owners corporate owners and the ein is a field that is available in that database and so when you're a florida entity and you publish your annual report to renew the company one such field that florida asks you to key in is what is your ein it's not actually required but if you do have it you're supposed to publish it and so that is one additional way where you could find an ein if you're working with a florida entity right a florida entity should be publishing that information in the florida database so so that covers it um you know again there's no there's no comprehensive public database for all company eins but there are ways to find an ein through a variety of different methods depending on what type of entity uh you are searching for so thank you for watching if you have any questions please leave me a comment below and i look forward to seeing you again on the next video thank you

Thanks Ikhanselat your participation is very much appreciated
- Roni Kabba

About the author

Roni Kabba

I've studied geometric number theory at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer and I am an expert in civil engineering. I usually feel hot. My previous job was clinical sociologist I held this position for 10 years, I love talking about softball and fly tying. Huge fan of Bruce Springsteen I practice football and collect plants.