How much does an EIN cost from the IRS?
An EIN costs $0 from the IRS on every route. Online costs $0, fax costs $0, phone costs $0, and mail costs $0. No route carries a filing fee, an expedite fee, or a processing fee.
The EIN is an assignment, not a licence. The IRS assigns the 9-digit number so it can match returns, deposits, and information filings to one entity. Charging for that number would put a price on the government’s own record-keeping, so the IRS does not charge for it and never has.
The 4 routes differ in speed, not in price. Fifteen minutes and 4 weeks cost the same $0, which is the single most useful fact on this page. Speed is what a paid service sells; the number itself is not for sale.
| IRS route | Time to the number | IRS fee | What it needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS online EIN Assistant | 15 minutes | $0 | An SSN or an ITIN for the responsible party |
| IRS fax, Form SS-4 | 4 business days | $0 | A return fax number on the form |
| IRS phone, 267-941-1099 | During the call | $0 | An international applicant on the line |
| IRS mail, Form SS-4 | 4 weeks | $0 | Postal transit on top, in both directions |
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026.
Walk each route end to end on the how to apply for an ein page, or compare the clocks on the how long does it take to get an ein page.
Is the EIN application really free?
Yes, at the IRS. The application itself is free on all 4 routes, and nothing about the number expires, renews, or bills later. What is not free is anyone else’s time, and that is the only thing a paid service can sell you.
The question is asked because the search results make it hard to answer. Type the phrase into a search engine and most of the page is filled by companies charging for the filing, which reads as evidence that a fee exists somewhere. It does not. The IRS has never charged for an EIN, and there is no tier, no expedite option, and no premium queue to buy.
A third-party designee can file on the responsible party’s behalf, and that is still $0 at the IRS. The designee is authorised in the Third Party Designee block on Form SS-4, which sits below line 18 rather than being line 18 itself. The IRS caps a designee at 1 EIN per responsible party per day.
So the honest version: free is real, and free is also slower and less forgiving when something is wrong. Read the field-level detail at Form SS-4 before deciding whether your filing is one of the simple ones.
How much does an EIN cost per year?
An EIN costs $0 per year. It never renews and never expires, so year 2 costs $0, year 10 costs $0, and the IRS bills no annual fee, no maintenance fee, and no reinstatement fee at any point.
An EIN behaves differently from a state registration. A state charges an annual fee to keep a company in good standing, and that fee goes to the state. The IRS charges nothing to keep an EIN, because the EIN is a permanent entry in a federal record rather than a renewable licence.
Permanence runs in both directions. The IRS never reassigns a 9-digit EIN to a second entity, even after the first entity closes its account. That single rule removes the entire category of renewal, lapse, and reinstatement fees from the EIN, and it is why the year 2 column reads $0 on every table here.
One cost survives the first year, and it is a time cost. A business that changes its address or its responsible party files Form 8822-B, and a responsible-party change carries a 60-day deadline. The form costs $0 to file. Read it line by line on the Form 8822-B page.
How much do EIN filing services charge?
EIN filing services charge $59.99 to $200, verified July 2026. Rocket Lawyer charges $59.99, ZenBusiness charges $99, Northwest charges $200 at its no-SSN rate, and ein-number.com charges $69 or $99.
| Filed by | Price | Accuracy guarantee | Year 2+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yourself, direct to the IRS | $0 | Not stated | $0 |
| ein-number.com, Standard | $69 | Accuracy guarantee · 2–3 weeks total | $0 |
| ein-number.com, Fast | $99 | Accuracy plus 24-hour filing · 7 business days total | $0 |
| Rocket Lawyer | $59.99 | Not stated | $0 |
| ZenBusiness | $99 | Not stated | $0 |
| Northwest | $200 | Not stated | $0 |
Competitor prices verified July 2026. The Northwest figure reflects its no-SSN rate. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays.
Read the table as 6 rows quoting one identical output: a 9-digit EIN and an official IRS CP-575 letter. Every row files the same Form SS-4 to the same agency. The IRS charges $0 to all 6, so the entire spread sits on the service side of the line.
What does a paid EIN filing fee buy?
A paid filing fee buys preparation and accountability, not the number. Our $69 and $99 cover Form SS-4 preparation, a second review before submission, IRS monitoring, and a full refund if we make an error.
Break either fee into the 4 stages we track. Stage 1 is received. Stage 2 is verified and filed. Stage 3 is monitoring. Stage 4 is delivered. Each stage has an owner and a timestamp, which is what turns a promise into a record you can hold us to.
| Stage | What happens | Clock |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Received | Your details arrive and the file opens | Same day |
| 2. Verified and filed | Form SS-4 is double-checked against your formation document, then filed | 8 business days at $69, 24 hours at $99 |
| 3. Monitoring | We track the IRS response and chase it | Continuous |
| 4. Delivered | The 9-digit EIN and the official CP-575 reach you | 2–3 weeks at $69, 7 business days at $99 |
Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays.
The refund is the part that carries a price. A service with no written guarantee carries no cost when it sends a wrong form, so the error costs the customer alone. We attach both fees to the accuracy of the filing instead: every Form SS-4 is double-checked before submission, and if we make an error, the full $69 or $99 comes back with no conditions.
Who should not pay for an EIN?
Anyone holding an SSN or an ITIN. The IRS online tool issues the EIN in 15 minutes at irs.gov for $0. Paying makes sense when the responsible party holds no SSN, because the online tool refuses that application.
Have an SSN? irs.gov is free, and the online EIN Assistant finishes in 15 minutes. No SSN? The fax route works, or we file it. That is the whole decision, and it costs nothing to make.
We publish that sentence on a page selling a filing service from $69 because the alternative is worse for everyone. A customer who pays $69 for a free 15-minute task remembers it later. A customer who was told the truth and paid anyway bought a checked filing, and that purchase holds up.
One more group should not pay: a business that already holds an EIN and lost the paperwork. Recovery costs $0 through a 147C letter. Work through it on the lost EIN number page rather than filing a second application.
How much does an EIN cost without an SSN?
An EIN costs $0 without an SSN. Form SS-4 line 7b accepts the entry Foreign, and the IRS returns the number by fax in 4 business days. The fax lines are 855-641-6935 and 855-215-1627.
Applying without a Social Security Number
Form SS-4 line 7b accepts the word Foreign, so the IRS assigns EINs to responsible parties who hold no SSN and no ITIN. The application moves from the online tool to fax. Use 855-641-6935 for an entity based in a US state and 855-215-1627 for an international applicant. An international applicant also reaches the IRS by phone on 267-941-1099. No identity document is filed with Form SS-4, and no passport is uploaded anywhere.
Have an SSN? irs.gov is free, and the online tool issues the EIN in 15 minutes.
The price does not change, so the only thing that changes is the amount of work. The fax route requires a correct Form SS-4 on the first attempt, because a rejection restarts the 4-business-day clock rather than pausing it. That is the exact risk a double-checked filing removes at $69 or $99, and it is the only thing either fee removes.
Read the complete no-SSN reference on the ein without ssn page, and read the most common rejection code on the EIN reference number 101 page.
How much do EIN documents cost?
Every EIN document costs $0. The CP-575 costs $0, a 147C replacement letter costs $0, Form 8822-B costs $0, and a closure letter costs $0. The IRS attaches no fee to any EIN paperwork.
| Document | What it does | IRS fee | How many times issued |
|---|---|---|---|
| CP-575 | Confirms the EIN and the legal name at assignment | $0 | Once per EIN |
| 147C letter | Reissues a lost EIN to an authorized person | $0 | On request |
| Form 8822-B | Records an address or responsible-party change | $0 | On request |
| Closure letter | Closes the EIN account with the IRS | $0 | Once per account |
Source: IRS, verified July 2026.
The CP-575 is the document banks verify, and the IRS prints it exactly once. That single-print rule is why the 147C exists, and both cost $0. Read the anatomy of the letter on the CP-575 page, or request the replacement on the 147C letter page.
Which EIN costs are not real?
Five EIN charges do not exist: a renewal fee, a reinstatement fee, a state EIN fee, an IRS expedite fee, and a fee to change your address. The IRS charges $0 for all 5, in every year.
An annual EIN renewal fee. No renewal exists, so no renewal fee exists. An EIN issued in 2026 stays valid with no payment in 2027 and in every year after.
A reinstatement fee after inactivity. An EIN does not lapse through inactivity. A business that files no return for several years keeps the same 9 digits, and the IRS charges $0 to resume using it.
A state fee for the EIN itself. No state issues EINs, so no state charges for one. A state charges for company registration, which is a separate filing with a separate fee that never reaches the IRS.
An IRS expedite fee. The IRS sells no faster lane. The online tool takes 15 minutes and the mail route takes 4 weeks, and both cost $0, so no payment shortens either clock.
A fee to change the address or responsible party. Form 8822-B costs $0. A responsible-party change carries a 60-day reporting deadline, and missing the deadline still does not create a fee for the form.
One real cost hides behind those 5 phantom ones: a second EIN. A change of entity type creates a new entity, and a new entity needs its own EIN. The IRS still charges $0, and the work starts over. Check which changes trigger it on the do i need a new ein page.
Why do EIN service prices differ so much?
The spread runs 3.3 times, from $59.99 to $200 for the same Form SS-4. Two variables drive it: whether a service handles applicants with no SSN, and whether it guarantees the accuracy of the form in writing.
An application with an SSN is nearly automatic, because the online tool does the work in 15 minutes. An application without an SSN is manual: line 7b reads Foreign, the form goes by fax, and somebody has to watch the 4-business-day window and re-file after a rejection. The higher prices in the market attach to that manual work.
The second variable is scarcer than the first. Every price in the table above buys a filing. Only 2 rows buy a written guarantee, and a form that is right the first time is what a bank appointment, a marketplace verification, or a payroll cutoff actually rests on. We price that second review into both tiers, at $69 and at $99, and refund in full when we get it wrong.
Entity type changes the paperwork without changing either price. An LLC files the same Form SS-4 as a trust. Read the entity-specific detail on the ein for llc page and the ein for trust page.
What is the total lifetime cost of an EIN?
The total lifetime cost of an EIN is $0 when you file it yourself, $69 when we file it at Standard speed, and $99 at Fast speed. Year 2 and every year after cost $0.
| Route | Year 1 | Years 2 to 10 | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| You file at irs.gov, with an SSN | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| You file by fax, with no SSN | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| ein-number.com files it, Standard | $69 | $0 | $69 |
| ein-number.com files it, Fast | $99 | $0 | $99 |
Source: IRS fee schedule and the ein-number.com rate card, verified July 2026.
Read the 10-year total as the honest comparison. The paid route bills $69 or $99 in year 1 and $0 in each of the next 9 years. The free route bills $0 in all 10. Neither total carries a hidden tail, because the IRS bills nothing after assignment on either route.
Which EIN route costs you the least?
The IRS online tool costs the least at $0 and 15 minutes, requiring an SSN or an ITIN. Without one, the fax route costs $0 over 4 business days, and our filing costs $69 or $99 with accuracy guaranteed.
Money is one axis and certainty is the other. The $0 routes carry no guarantee of any kind, because the IRS publishes processing times rather than commitments. A fax sent today returns in 4 business days when the form is correct and returns nothing when it is not.
Choose on the risk you actually face. A straightforward form with no fixed date means the free route wins on every measure. A bank appointment or a marketplace review changes the calculation, because a rejected Form SS-4 costs more than $69 in every business we have filed for.
The IRS charges $0 for an EIN through every method, and we say so on the page where we ask for money. The $69 Standard fee covers preparation, a second review, fax filing within 8 business days, and IRS monitoring; the $99 Fast tier files within 24 hours with the IRS call included. You can get started with us or file it yourself for nothing.