Form SS-4 is a single page with eighteen numbered lines, and most applicants complete it in one sitting. Everything below covers what the form asks, who has to file it and how to submit it. Legal and tax advice about which entity type to choose is out of scope: that decision belongs to a qualified professional.
What is Form SS-4 and who files it?
Form SS-4 is the application for an employer identification number — the federal tax number that identifies a business, trust, estate or other entity. The form itself runs to one page. Anyone who needs an EIN and cannot use the online assistant files it on paper.
An EIN is not a licence and not a permit. The number identifies the entity in federal tax filings, and banks and payment processors ask to see it because the IRS uses it to match returns to a taxpayer. Whether your entity needs one at all is answered in do you actually need an EIN?.
How can Form SS-4 be submitted?
Four channels exist, and they are not interchangeable. The Instructions for Form SS-4 open each one to a different group, so the first question is where the entity is based — not what passport the owner holds. 1,12
| Where the entity is based | Online | Phone | Fax and mail |
|---|---|---|---|
| One of the 50 states or D.C. | Yes, if the responsible party has a U.S. tax number | No | Domestic unit |
| A U.S. territory (PR, GU, VI, AS, MP) | Yes, if the responsible party has a U.S. tax number | No | International unit |
| Outside the United States and its territories | No | Yes | International unit |
Conditions checked against the IRS instructions in August 2026. Two details trip people up regularly: territories may apply online but never by phone, and the phone line exists only for applicants with no U.S. presence at all. The exact numbers and addresses are listed in IRS fax numbers for Form SS-4. 2
What does the form ask for?
Eighteen lines, grouped into four blocks. Nothing on the form asks for financial figures, and nothing has to be attached to it.
- Identify the entity — legal name, trade name, mailing and street address, county and state (lines 1–6).
- Name the responsible party — the individual who controls the entity, plus their SSN, ITIN or the word Foreign (lines 7a–7b).
- Classify the entity — LLC questions, entity type, state or country of incorporation, reason for applying (lines 8a–10).
- Describe the activity — start date, accounting year, expected employees, principal activity, previous EIN (lines 11–18).
Line 7b is where applications from abroad most often stall, because leaving it blank is not allowed. That line is covered in detail in how to get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN. 7
How long does it take to get the number?
Turnaround is a property of the channel, not of the applicant. The published expectations, checked in August 2026, run from a single phone call to about a month. Filing season stretches all of them. 8,9,11
| Channel | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|
| Online assistant | Immediately, at the end of the session |
| Phone (international applicants) | During the call |
| Fax with a return fax number | About four business days |
| About four weeks |
What does the IRS charge?
Nothing, through any of the four channels. The number is issued free, and any fee you pay goes to a preparation service rather than to the government. The point is covered in full in does the IRS charge for an EIN?. 1
Watch for services that present themselves as the agency. A private company may help you prepare the form, but it cannot issue the number and it is not part of the IRS.
What happens after the EIN is issued?
The IRS confirms the number in a notice, and that notice is what banks and payment processors ask to see. Store it where you will find it in three years: requesting a replacement takes longer than the original application did.
The EIN itself never expires and is never reissued to another entity. What can change is the entity behind it — a new responsible party has to be reported within 60 days on Form 8822-B, and certain structural changes require a fresh application rather than an update.