Fill out the IRS's official Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025), sign it, and download the PDF to fax or mail for your Employer Identification Number — free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
Lines 1–3.
Exactly as it appears on your formation documents — or your own name for a sole proprietorship.
Lines 4–6.
Lines 7a–7b — the person who ultimately owns or controls the entity. Must be an individual, not another entity, unless the applicant is a government entity.
An EIN only if the responsible party is itself an entity (a government entity, for example).
Lines 8a–8c.
Line 9a — check only one box. If 8a is “Yes”, see the IRS instructions for the correct box: a single-member LLC is usually a sole proprietor (disregarded entity), a multi-member LLC a partnership, unless it elected to be taxed as a corporation.
Line 10 — check only one box.
Lines 11–15.
13 — Highest number of employees expected in the next 12 months. Enter 0 if none; skip line 14 if you expect no employees.
Lines 16–17 — check the one box that best describes the principal activity.
Line 18.
Optional — only to authorize a named person (your accountant, say) to receive the EIN and answer questions about this form.
Under penalties of perjury, the signer declares that they have examined this application and that it is true, correct, and complete.
The owner, a partner, an officer, or a duly authorized person.
Prefer a pen? Leave the signature blank and sign the printed page.
December
Apply online if you can. The fastest way to get an EIN is the IRS's own online application at irs.gov, which issues the number immediately. This form is for everyone else: applicants outside the United States, responsible parties without an SSN or ITIN, anyone using a third-party designee, and anyone who simply prefers fax or mail.
The real form. This is the IRS's own Form SS-4, Rev. December 2025, the current revision. Your answers go into its fields, the result is flattened into a plain PDF, and by default only the one-page application is included — keep page 2, the "Do I Need an EIN?" chart, if you like. The EIN box in the top corner stays empty: the IRS fills it in.
Then fax or mail it. The IRS lists the current fax number and mailing address on its Where to File Form SS-4 page. Faxed applications with a return fax number are usually answered within about four business days; mailed ones take about four weeks. This tool doesn't send anything.
Private by design. The PDF is built right here in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and your draft lives only in this browser's storage. The taxpayer identification numbers and the signature are the sensitive part, so they are not stored at all unless you switch on Remember the TINs and signature on this device.
Sign it — or don't. Draw the signature with a mouse, finger or pen and it is placed on the signature line beside the date. Prefer ink? Leave it blank, print the PDF and sign by hand.
Lines 1–6 — the entity's legal name, trade name, addresses and location. Line 7 — the responsible party: the individual who ultimately owns or controls the entity, and their SSN, ITIN or EIN. Line 8 — whether the applicant is an LLC, how many members, and whether it was organized in the United States.
Line 9a — the type of entity; check one box. A single-member LLC is usually a disregarded entity (sole proprietor), a multi-member LLC a partnership, unless it has elected corporate taxation. Line 10 — why you're applying; check one box. Lines 11–15 — start date, accounting year, expected employees, whether to file Form 944 annually, and the first date wages were paid.
Lines 16–18 — the principal activity and product or service, and whether the entity has had an EIN before. Third Party Designee — optional; authorizes someone else to receive the EIN. Signature — the owner, a partner, an officer or an authorized person signs and dates.
Who needs an EIN? Any business with employees, every corporation and partnership, most LLCs, trusts, estates and nonprofits — and any sole proprietor who prefers not to give out their SSN. Page 2 of the form has the full chart.
Is this the official form? Yes — the IRS's Form SS-4, Rev. December 2025, filled in and flattened. The form and its separate instructions are at irs.gov/FormSS4.
Does this tool send the form to the IRS? No. It prepares the PDF; you fax or mail it, or apply online instead.
Is it really free? Yes — no sign-up, no watermark, no limit.
Where is my data stored? Only in this browser's local storage, on your device — and the TINs and signature only if you ask for them to be remembered. Start over erases everything.
