Have you recently registered a company in New York, or are you thinking of forming a new company in New York? If so, you will most likely need to apply for, and obtain an EIN number. EIN stands for “Employer Identification Number.”
It doesn’t matter if you are forming a new New York Corporation (Inc) or registering a New York Limited Liability Company (LLC). The next step after this is to obtain your federal tax ID number.
To obtain your EIN number in New York you have to know how to complete an SS4 form and submit it to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If you are comfortable filling out forms, specifically government ones, then you should be able to successfully complete and submit form SS4 yourself to obtain your federal tax ID number.
Here is the latest IRS SS4 application form (last revised in December 2019).
However, most people that don’t like filling in forms (that’s most of us!), or do not know what needs to be entered on an SS4 EIN application form prefer to use the services of a company that specializes in obtaining your EIN number for your New York company.
This makes life much easier, it ensures your form is not rejected by the IRS and means that there is one less worry when forming your new business and getting your New York EIN.
If you want to apply for your company’s EIN online yourself, you can click HERE and you will find a link that takes you to the IRS online process.
Learn How to Get an EIN Number in New York
The process through which you obtain your New York EIN can seem daunting at first, but if you know what you are doing and follow the instructions, or if you decide to hire a specialist company to apply for your federal tax ID, the task of receiving your employer identification number becomes a much more straightforward process.
Navigating US government forms and making sure you complete them correctly can be challenging, and if it is not something you are comfortable with or have not done before, we strongly recommend using the services of a professional document filing service, and someone that is a registered agent for the IRS to help you.
If you are a foreign national and do not have a U.S. social security number, ITIN, or legal residence in the U.S., the process is much more challenging if you try to do it by yourself – but you can still obtain an employer identification number for your NY company without a social security number or an ITIN.
Once you have been issued your tax ID number, the IRS will send you a notification and you will receive via mail, your official EIN number New York confirmation.
After receiving your federal employer identification number for your New York company, you are now in a position to open up a business bank account. To open a corporate bank account, you will need to take your New York certificate of incorporation or LLC registration along with your EIN confirmation letter that you received from the IRS.
The bank you choose to use will need to make a copy of both original forms, and you should also take your photo ID and anything else they ask you to bring. If you do not have a U.S. driver’s license, a passport will usually suffice.
How to Get Your New York EIN
The other challenge most people have is that the process you have to go through (when applying yourself) to get your New York EIN has to be done online and you have to apply for your EIN in one session.
What does this mean? Well, if you go to the EIN Online IRS Page, you will have to fill everything out in 15 minutes or less otherwise your session will end and you’ll have to start the process all over again.
If you are a foreign national and do not have a U.S. social security number and are not a legal resident of the U.S., then you cannot apply online, you must print the SS4 form and fill it out first.
Yes, I need help applying for my EIN number and would like a professional document filing company to do this for me. Please complete the form below and we will get back to you promptly:
If this all sounds quite difficult and stressful for you, then you should seriously consider having a professional document filing company take care of your New York EIN for you for an affordable (fixed) fee. Ultimately, it will save you time and money, and also a lot of anguish.
Additionally, these companies are typically enrolled agents with the IRS who have earned the privilege of representing you before the Internal Revenue Service through either passing a three-part comprehensive test or through experience as a former IRS employee.
I am a Foreign National – How do I get an EIN number in New York?
This is a question that gets asked often and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Many foreign nationals are advised that if they do not have a U.S. social security number or ITIN, that they cannot apply for a New York EIN.
This is not true, but what is true, is that you cannot apply for an EIN number in New York in the same manner that a U.S. citizen or someone with a U.S. social security number can. The process is different. If you are a foreign national, please do not try to go through the online process on the IRS website – it will not work.
If you are going to attempt to apply for your company’s EIN yourself, which has its own challenges, then you must download the SS4 application form (a link for this is further up the page), and fill the form out first. Once completed, you must either call the IRS and apply by telephone, reading off the information you have filled in, or you can fax or mail the form to the IRS.
Neither of these scenarios is ideal because getting hold of the IRS on the phone is not always the easiest thing to do (if you are overseas you also have time zone issues to deal with), faxing can be a challenge because fax machines are rarely used nowadays, and sending forms in the mail can take a long time and you run the risk of your SS4 application being “lost in the mail.”
In addition to this, you will find yourself having to chase up the IRS to find out the status of your application, and it can be a tedious and frustrating process.
The easiest and most hassle-free way for a foreign national to apply for an EIN Number in New York is to use the services of a professional document filing company, that for one affordable fee they will take care of everything for you.
These companies are doing this all the time and specialize in helping foreign nationals and will fax your SS4 form and application directly to the IRS, handle all the communication back and forth with them, chase them if there are any delays or issues, and mail you the original forms once they are received.
The service is a complete “no-hassle” process and you will have your New York EIN in no time (usually within a few weeks). You can then open your business bank account.
SS-4 Fax Number
If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident that resides in the U.S. and your principal business, office, or agency is in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia, then you should mail or fax Form SS-4 to the following:
Internal Revenue Service Attn: EIN Operation Cincinnati, OH 45999 Fax: (855) 641-6935
If you have no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency in any US state, essentially, if you are a foreign national, then you should mail or fax Form SS-4 to the following:
Internal Revenue Service Attn: EIN International Operation Cincinnati, Ohio 45999 United States Fax: (855) 215-1627 (within the US) Fax: (304) 707-9471 (outside the US)
Doing Business in New York
There has never been a better time for doing business in New York. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to launch or expand your business, you could not have considered a better place to do so.
There’s a multitude of different reasons as to why you should do business in New York, whether it’s tax-based, business resources and support, training for global business expansion, industry/university partnerships, the booming technology industry, and/or financial support required when helping grow a business. There is so much that doing business in New York has to offer.
