What is an EIN confirmation letter?
An EIN confirmation letter is the IRS document that proves a 9-digit EIN belongs to a named business. The CP-575 records the assignment, and the 147C confirms it afterwards. The IRS charges $0 for both.
The letter exists because an EIN by itself proves nothing. Nine digits typed into a form carry no evidence that the IRS assigned them, or that they belong to the entity signing the application. The confirmation letter supplies the missing half: it ties the number to an exact legal name held in IRS records.
That pairing is the whole product. A bank compliance officer is not checking whether the number looks valid. They are checking whether the number and the name on the account application came from the same IRS record. One document answers that question, and a screenshot of an online confirmation screen does not.
The IRS generates the CP-575 at the moment the EIN is assigned. It carries a notice date, the 9-digit number, the legal name from Form SS-4 line 1, and the return the IRS expects the entity to file. Read the document field by field on the cp 575 page.
Source: IRS, verified July 2026.
What does an EIN confirmation letter look like?
A CP-575 is 1 page carrying 8 identifying fields, and a 147C restates the same 9 digits in a different layout. Which one you are holding decides what a bank will accept, so the field-by-field breakdown lives on the page for each document rather than being repeated here.
See every field on the original notice at CP-575, including what CP 575 A, B and E mean and what a bank actually checks. See the replacement letter at 147C letter.
What is the difference between a CP-575 and a 147C letter?
The CP-575 is issued once, automatically, when the EIN is assigned. The 147C EIN verification letter is issued on request, any number of times, after that. Both state the same 9 digits and cost $0.
The distinction is timing, not authority. Institutions treat the two as equivalent proof because both are printed from the same IRS record. A business formed years ago that has moved offices twice has no CP-575 in a drawer, and the 147C is the document it produces instead.
| Attribute | CP-575 | 147C verification letter |
|---|---|---|
| When it is issued | At assignment, automatically | On request, at any later time |
| How many times | Once per EIN, never reprinted | No limit |
| Who requests it | Nobody, the IRS sends it | An authorized person |
| IRS cost | $0 | $0 |
| Delivery | Mail, to the Form SS-4 address | Mail or fax |
| Accepted by banks | Yes | Yes |
| States the 9-digit EIN | Yes | Yes |
| States the legal name | Yes | Yes |
| Replaces the other document | No | Yes |
Source: IRS, verified July 2026.
One row on that table changes behaviour more than the rest. The CP-575 is printed once, so it is worth storing as a scan the day it arrives. The 9-digit number itself is the part that never changes, and the 147c letter exists precisely because paper does not survive as long as an EIN does.
How do you get a replacement EIN confirmation letter?
You request a 147C letter. The IRS never reprints a CP-575, so the replacement is the only route once the original is lost, and it costs $0. The IRS releases it to an authorized person and confirms that authority on the call before sending anything.
The full request procedure — who qualifies as authorized, the phone line to use, what the IRS asks for, and how the letter is delivered — is set out step by step on 147C letter. International applicants call 267-941-1099.
A letter that never arrived and a letter that was lost take the same route. The IRS prints 1 CP-575 per EIN and mails it to the address on Form SS-4, so an entity that moved between applying and delivery has no original to recover. The 147C is the replacement in both cases, and the request does not ask which one happened.
Who asks for an EIN confirmation letter?
Banks, payment processors, payroll providers, online marketplaces, state licensing offices, and accountants ask for it. Each one is verifying the same thing: that the 9-digit EIN and the legal name came from one IRS record.
A bank asks at account opening, because federal customer identification rules require the institution to verify the entity behind the account. A payment processor asks before it releases payouts, since the EIN it reports on a year-end information return has to match IRS records. A payroll provider asks before it files a Form 941 in the employer name.
The pattern holds across all of them. Nobody is verifying the business. They are verifying the pairing. That is why an unhelpful answer such as a photograph of a laptop screen fails at every one of these checkpoints, while a 1-page letter from the IRS passes at each.
A client asking for the number rather than the document wants a Form W-9 instead, with the EIN on line 6. Read that request on the ein on w9 form page.
How long does an EIN confirmation letter take to arrive?
The CP-575 follows the application method. An online application issues the EIN in 15 minutes, a faxed Form SS-4 returns it in 4 business days, and a mailed application runs 4 weeks. A 147C is faxed during the call on request, otherwise mailed.
| Route | EIN issued | Letter received | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS online tool, SSN or ITIN required | 15 minutes | CP-575 by mail | $0 |
| Fax Form SS-4 to the IRS | 4 business days | CP-575 by mail | $0 |
| Mail Form SS-4 to the IRS | 4 weeks | CP-575 by mail | $0 |
| Request a 147C for an existing EIN | Already assigned | Days to weeks | $0 |
| ein-number.com files it for you | 2–3 weeks, or 7 business days at Fast speed | EIN and CP-575 | $69 or $99 |
Source: IRS, verified July 2026. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays.
The EIN and the letter arrive on different clocks. An online applicant holds a usable 9-digit number after 15 minutes while the printed CP-575 is still in the mail. A bank that insists on the document rather than the number is waiting on the second clock, not the first.
Our own commitment covers the first clock and the document together: filed by fax within 8 business days at $69 or within 24 hours at $99, tracked through 4 stages, and double-checked before submission. If we make an error, full refund — no conditions.
Why does a bank reject an EIN confirmation letter?
Five causes account for most rejections: a legal name mismatch, a stale address, a DBA presented as the legal name, a screenshot in place of the letter, and a letter belonging to a different entity in the same group. Every one is a name-control problem wearing a different hat.
What a bank checks line by line is documented on CP-575, and the 4-character code the IRS matches your legal name against is explained at IRS name control. Confirm the pairing before an account opening rather than after, using the 6 routes on verify an EIN number.
A sixth case is not a defect in the letter at all: a reviewer who asks for the CP-575 by name and declines the 147C. The IRS prints 1 CP-575 per EIN and never reissues it, so a business formed years ago has no way to produce one. The 147C states the same 9 digits and the same legal name from the same IRS record, which is the pairing the review is testing. Escalating past the first reviewer resolves it, because the rule being applied is a branch habit rather than a bank policy.
What do you do when a detail on the letter is wrong?
File Form 8822-B. It corrects the business name, the mailing address, and the responsible party the IRS holds. The IRS requires notice of a responsible party change within 60 days. The EIN stays the same, at $0.
A wrong detail is a record problem, not a number problem. The 9-digit EIN survives a name change, an address change, and a change of the person answering for the entity. Nothing about those events creates a second EIN.
| What is wrong | The fix | Same EIN | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| The legal name changed | Form 8822-B, then request a 147C | Yes | $0 |
| The mailing address changed | Form 8822-B | Yes | $0 |
| The responsible party changed | Form 8822-B, within 60 days | Yes | $0 |
| A typo the IRS introduced | Return the tear-off stub with the correction | Yes | $0 |
| The entity type itself changed | A new Form SS-4 application | No | $0 |
Source: IRS Form 8822-B instructions and Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026.
Only the last row breaks the pattern. A change of entity type creates a new taxpayer in IRS terms, and a new taxpayer needs its own EIN and its own CP-575. Read the line-by-line filing on the Form 8822-B page.
How do you get an EIN confirmation letter without an SSN?
Form SS-4 line 7b accepts the entry Foreign, so the IRS assigns the EIN and issues the CP-575 to a responsible party holding no SSN. The application moves from the online tool to fax, at $0.
The online tool is the only route that requires an SSN or an ITIN. Every other route accepts Foreign on line 7b, and the letter that follows is identical. No identity document is filed with Form SS-4, and no passport upload is part of the process at any stage.
| Your situation | The honest route | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| You have an SSN | irs.gov, the online tool | 15 minutes | Free |
| You have no SSN | The fax route yourself, or we file it | 2–3 weeks, or 7 business days at Fast speed | $0, $69, or $99 |
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026.
Have an SSN? irs.gov is free, and the online tool issues the EIN in 15 minutes. No SSN? The fax route works, or we file it from $69, double-checked before submission, with the accuracy guarantee in writing.
The fax route, in detail
The IRS fax line is 855-641-6935 for entities based in a US state and 855-215-1627 for international applicants. Line 7b takes the word Foreign. Line 9a records the entity type, and line 10 records the reason for applying. The IRS returns the 9-digit EIN, and the CP-575 follows by mail to the address on lines 4a and 4b.
A non-resident who needs the letter later requests a 147C the same way any other business does. The IRS international line is 267-941-1099, and it releases the letter to an authorized person at $0.
What do you do when your situation requires a new EIN?
File Form SS-4. A confirmation letter proves an EIN that already exists, and an entity that never held one applies instead. The IRS charges $0, and line 7b accepts Foreign when the responsible party holds no SSN.
A new entity needs its own number and its own CP-575. A sole proprietorship that incorporates needs one. A single-member LLC that adds a second member becomes a partnership and needs one. In each case there is no old letter to recover, because there was never an old EIN.
| Filed by | Price | Accuracy guarantee | Year 2+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yourself, direct to the IRS | $0 | Not stated | $0 |
| ein-number.com | $69 or $99 | Accuracy, full refund on our error | $0 |
| Northwest | $200 | Not stated | $0 |
| ZenBusiness | $99 | Not stated | $0 |
| Rocket Lawyer | $59.99 | Not stated | $0 |
Competitor prices verified July 2026. Northwest reflects the no-SSN rate. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays.
The IRS charges $0 for an EIN through every route, and an EIN never renews, so year 2 and every year after cost $0 as well. The $69 Standard tier covers preparation, senior error review, fax filing within 8 business days, IRS monitoring across 4 tracked stages, and 2–3 weeks total. The $99 Fast tier files within 24 hours, adds the IRS phone follow-up, and runs 7 business days total. You can use the accuracy-guaranteed EIN filing service or file it yourself for nothing.