How many situations require an EIN?

Eight. The IRS lists 8 triggers in the Form SS-4 instructions: employees, a corporation or partnership, employment or excise returns, non-resident alien withholding, a Keogh plan, trusts, estates, and non-profits. When 1 of the 8 applies, the entity needs a 9-digit EIN, and that number costs $0 direct from the IRS.

Does a sole proprietor need an EIN?

In 3 cases only: the sole proprietor hires 1 or more employees, files an excise or pension return, or sets up a Keogh plan. A sole proprietor with 0 employees files under an SSN and needs no EIN, though many open a bank account with 1 anyway. The sole proprietorship page covers the full rule.

Does an LLC need an EIN?

Every multi-member LLC needs an EIN, because the IRS taxes a 2-or-more-member LLC as a partnership. A single-member LLC with 0 employees files under the owner's SSN, yet needs an EIN to hire staff, elect corporation status, or open a business account. All 3 paths lead to the same $0 number.

Do I need an EIN with no employees?

Not automatically. With 0 employees you still need an EIN when you run a corporation or partnership, file 1 of the excise returns, withhold on a non-resident alien, or hold a Keogh plan. A sole proprietor meeting none of those 4 conditions files under an SSN and applies for no EIN.

Does a single-member LLC need an EIN?

A single-member LLC with 0 employees is a disregarded entity, so the IRS lets the owner file under 1 SSN. That LLC needs an EIN the moment it hires an employee, elects C-corp or S-corp status, or files an excise return. Banks also ask for the 9-digit EIN before opening an account.

Do I need an EIN for a trust or estate?

Yes, in most cases. A trust other than a grantor-owned revocable living trust needs its own EIN, and every estate that runs a business or files Form 1041 needs 1. The executor applies once, and the IRS issues the 9-digit number at $0. The trust and estate pages walk through each filing.

Does a non-profit need an EIN?

Yes, before anything else. A non-profit needs an EIN to file Form 990, open a bank account, and apply for 501(c)(3) status, even with 0 employees and 0 revenue. The IRS issues the 9-digit number at $0, and the organization keeps it for life. Apply for it as step 1 of formation.

How much does an EIN cost once I qualify?

The IRS charges $0 on all 4 of its routes: online, fax, mail, and phone. The number never renews, so year 2 and every year after also cost $0. ein-number.com charges $69 or $99 for preparation and a senior review, and states plainly that the IRS fee itself is $0.

Can I qualify for an EIN without an SSN?

Yes. A responsible party with no SSN and no ITIN writes Foreign on Form SS-4 line 7b, and the IRS issues the 9-digit EIN by fax in 4 business days at $0. The online tool closes without an SSN, so international founders use the fax line 855-641-6935. The without-an-SSN page covers each step.

How long does it take to get an EIN?

15 minutes on the IRS online route with an SSN, 4 business days by fax, and 4 weeks by mail. All 3 IRS routes cost $0. The IRS mails the CP-575 confirmation letter within 14 calendar days, and the 9-digit number is usable the moment it is issued.

Who Needs an EIN? The 8 IRS Triggers, Explained (2026)

The 8 IRS triggers, numbered, with the form each one points to.
#	You need an EIN if	IRS reference
1	You have 1 or more employees	Form SS-4, line 13
2	You operate as a corporation or a partnership	Form SS-4, line 9a
3	You file employment, excise, or alcohol, tobacco and firearms returns	Form 941, Form 720
4	You withhold tax on non-wage income paid to a non-resident alien	Form 1042
5	You have a Keogh plan	IRS Publication 1635
6	You are involved with a trust, IRA, or exempt-organization income return	Form 1041, Form 990-T
7	You are involved with an estate that operates a business	Form 1041
8	You run a non-profit, farmers' co-op, REMIC, or are a plan administrator	Form 990

Who must get an EIN according to the IRS?

Any entity that meets 1 of the 8 triggers above. The test is a checklist, not a judgment call: 1 matching row is enough, and 0 matching rows means no EIN is required at the federal level.

The IRS frames the question on a single page titled Do You Need an EIN, and repeats it at the top of the Form SS-4 instructions. Both list the same 8 conditions, and both point every applicant to the identical 9-digit identifier. The number costs $0 direct from the IRS on 4 routes, in all 50 states, and it never renews, so year 2 and every year after also cost $0.

Read the plain-English version of the test on the do I need an EIN page, which walks a single question through to a yes or a no.

Does hiring employees force you to get an EIN?

Yes. The moment you pay 1 or more employees, the IRS requires an EIN, because it identifies the employer on Form 941 payroll returns and on every W-2 the business issues at year end.

Trigger 1 is the most common of the 8. An EIN reports withheld income tax, the 6.2% Social Security share, and the 1.45% Medicare share under IRC 3111 on Form 941, filed 4 times a year. A business with 0 employees skips this trigger, but it re-applies the day the 1st hire starts, and the number stays $0 from the IRS.

Independent contractors are not employees, so paying a contractor $600 or more triggers a 1099-NEC rather than payroll, and does not by itself require an EIN. Line 13 of Form SS-4 is where the IRS asks how many employees the entity expects in the next 12 months.

Do corporations and partnerships need an EIN?

Yes, every one, from day 1. Trigger 2 makes the EIN mandatory for any corporation or partnership, with 0 employees and $0 in revenue, because the entity files its own federal return apart from its owners.

A C corporation files Form 1120, an S corporation files Form 1120-S, and a partnership files Form 1065, and each of those 3 returns carries the entity's own 9-digit EIN. Line 9a of Form SS-4 is where the applicant marks the entity type. A multi-member LLC counts here too: the IRS taxes a 2-or-more-member LLC as a partnership by default, so it needs an EIN before its 1st filing.

A single-member LLC is the 1 exception worth naming: with 0 employees it is a disregarded entity that files under the owner's SSN, until it hires staff or elects corporation status. See the EIN for an LLC page for all 3 LLC paths, and the EIN for a business page for the entity-by-entity view.

Which federal returns require an EIN to file?

Employment, excise, and alcohol-tobacco-firearms returns, which is trigger 3. Filing Form 941, Form 720, or a Keogh-plan return requires an EIN regardless of entity type or employee count.

Excise tax under trigger 3 rides on Form 720, filed 4 times a year on fuel, air transport, and about 20 other taxed categories. Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms filers add their own returns on top. Trigger 5, the Keogh plan, is a self-employed retirement plan that requires its own EIN even for a 1-person business.

Every one of these returns names the entity by its 9-digit EIN, never by an SSN, which is why the IRS treats a first excise or payroll filing as an automatic trigger. Line 10 of Form SS-4 asks the reason for applying, and 1 of its checkboxes is compliance with IRS withholding rules.

Does paying a non-resident alien trigger an EIN?

Yes, when you withhold tax on non-wage income. Trigger 4 requires an EIN the moment a US payer withholds on interest, rent, royalties, or a dividend paid to a non-resident alien and reports it on Form 1042.

The standard withholding rate is 30% under IRC 1441 unless a tax treaty lowers it, and the withholding agent files Form 1042 and Form 1042-S under an EIN, not an SSN. This trigger reaches landlords, licensors, and investment payers who never hire a single employee, yet still need the 9-digit number the day the 1st payment clears.

A non-resident founder who needs an EIN for the entity itself, rather than for withholding, applies with the word Foreign on Form SS-4 line 7b. The EIN without an SSN page and the EIN vs SSN page cover the difference between the 2 numbers.

Do trusts, estates, and non-profits need an EIN?

Yes, in most cases, covering triggers 6, 7, and 8. Trusts, estates, exempt organizations, farmers' cooperatives, and plan administrators each file under their own EIN rather than under any person's SSN.

A trust other than a grantor-owned revocable living trust needs its own 9-digit EIN and files Form 1041. An estate that runs a business or earns $600 or more in a tax year needs 1 as well, and the executor applies once on the estate's behalf. A non-profit needs an EIN before it files Form 990, opens a bank account, or applies for 501(c)(3) status, even with 0 employees and 0 revenue.

Each of these has its own spoke: the EIN for a trust page and the EIN for an estate page walk through Form 1041, and the estate rule turns on the $600 income threshold in the tax year.

Who does not need an EIN at all?

One clear group: a sole proprietor with 0 employees who meets none of the other 7 triggers. That person files Schedule C under an SSN and needs no EIN for federal tax purposes.

A single-member LLC with 0 employees sits in the same place, taxed as a disregarded entity under the owner's SSN. Both skip the EIN until 1 event changes the picture: a 1st employee, an excise filing, a Keogh plan, or an election to be taxed as a corporation. Any 1 of those 4 flips a no into a yes.

Many sole proprietors still apply for the free number by choice, because a bank asks for a 9-digit EIN rather than an SSN to open a business account, and because it keeps the SSN off invoices and W-9 forms. The EIN for a sole proprietorship page lays out when the number is required against when it is optional.

Begin My Application from $69

No SSN. No passport upload. Every filing double-checked before submission.

How do you get an EIN once you qualify?

File Form SS-4 with the IRS at $0. With an SSN, the online EIN Assistant issues the 9-digit number in 15 minutes; without an SSN, the fax route returns it in 4 business days.

The 4 free IRS routes to the number, once a trigger applies.
Free route	Speed	IRS cost
IRS online EIN Assistant	15 minutes	$0
Fax Form SS-4	4 business days	$0
Mail Form SS-4	4 weeks	$0
IRS phone, 267-941-1099	On the call	$0

Source: IRS EIN application pages and Form SS-4 instructions, verified on irs.gov, July 2026.

International applicants without an SSN call 267-941-1099, and the fax line 855-641-6935 returns the number in 4 business days. Line 7a names the responsible party on the form. The IRS mails a CP-575 confirmation letter within 14 calendar days, reprints it later as a 147C letter, and the 9-digit number is usable the same day it is issued. Read the line-by-line walkthrough on the how to apply for an EIN page, review the fields on the Form SS-4 page, and compare the IRS $0 fee against paid options on the EIN cost page.

With an SSN and a clean entity name, the free online route is the right call, and paying for it is paying for nothing. ein-number.com charges $69 or $99 when a line rejects, when there is no SSN, or when a wrong filing would delay a bank account, and states plainly that the IRS fee itself is $0.