TAKE A NUMBER

Do you have employees? Do you operate your business as a corporation or a partnership? Do you file any Employment, Excise, or Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms tax returns:?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes,” then you need an Employer ID Number [EIN] from the Internal Revenue Service. Most business people know what an EIN is and how it functions, yet many small business owners do not bother to get one. Operating much like a personal “Social Security Number” it is a means by which the federal government keeps track of the revenues of interest that passes through your business.

The brief list of conditions that make an EIN is not exhaustive. The IRS requires you to have an EIN If you withhold taxes on income, other than wages, paid to a non-resident alien or if you have a Keogh plan.

Also, your business is required to have an EIN if it is involved with Trusts[ except certain grantor-owned revocable trusts], IRAs, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Returns, Estates, Real estate mortgage investment conduits, Non-profit organizations, Farmers' cooperatives or Plan administrators.

This link will take you the SBA’s site on EINs for a fuller briefing on who needs an EIN and when. It will also tell you how to apply for an EIN and how to close out an account with the IRS and discontinue your EIN.