Employer Identification Number: Difference between revisions
Removed re-added advertisements. Please see the talk page for more. |
|||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
==Tax Exempt, Charity Non Profit Organizations and EINs== |
==Tax Exempt, Charity Non Profit Organizations and EINs== |
||
The issuance of an EIN to a non-profit organization is separate and distinct from the organization actually obtaining tax exempt status with the IRS. Each chapter of a national non-profit organization must have its own EIN, but the central organization may file for a group exemption. |
The issuance of an EIN to a non-profit organization is separate and distinct from the organization actually obtaining tax exempt status with the IRS. Each chapter of a national non-profit organization must have its own EIN, but the central organization may file for a group exemption. |
||
==Verifying EINs== |
==Verifying EINs== |
||
Revision as of 20:37, 8 May 2007
Applicable to the United States, an Employer Identification Number or EIN (also known as Federal Employer Identification Number or (FEIN)) is the corporate equivalent to a Social Security Number, although it is issued to anyone, including individuals, who have to pay withholding taxes on employees.
Other Names
Also known as the Tax Identification Number (TIN), Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or the Federal Tax Identification Number, the EIN is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to business entities operating in the United States for the purposes of identification. When the number is used for identification rather than employment tax reporting, it is usually referred to as a TIN, and when used for the purposes of reporting employment taxes, it is usually referred to as an EIN. This article will use the latter term.
Comparison to Social Security Numbers
Similar in purpose to the Social Security Number assigned to individuals, EINs are used by employers, sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, non-profit organizations, trusts and estates, government agencies, certain individuals and other business entities. The IRS uses this number to identify taxpayers that are required to file various business tax returns. Individuals who are employers may choose to either obtain an EIN or use their Social Security Number for the purpose of reporting taxes withheld on behalf of their employees. Contrary to some misconceptions, credit bureaus and credit issuers can tell the difference between SSN and EIN Numbers. SSN Numbers can be validated as to origin and state / year of issuance. The credit bureaus and issuers are highly trained in fraud detection, and increasingly sophisticated algorithms and protections are used.
EIN Format
An EIN is usually written in the form 00-0000000 whereas a Social Security Number is usually written in the form 000-00-0000 in order to differentiate between the two. There are EIN Decoders on the web that can identify which state the company had registered the EIN Number in. All businesses must have an EIN in order to file yearly tax returns. Those business that do not are considered proprietorships and the Owner / Operator SSN is used on the tax form.
Tax Exempt, Charity Non Profit Organizations and EINs
The issuance of an EIN to a non-profit organization is separate and distinct from the organization actually obtaining tax exempt status with the IRS. Each chapter of a national non-profit organization must have its own EIN, but the central organization may file for a group exemption.
Verifying EINs
Individual state governments rarely provide EIN searches on their web sites, so they may or may not be a starting point for more specific searches. At last check almost all states no longer display EIN's on the websites.
FreeERISA.com provides an EIN search on more than 6 million records. The first three searches are free. Additional searches are available on a for-pay basis. The data is simply a regurgitation of data from the SEC and the DOL. BOth those sites are searchable directly.
FEINSearch.com provides an EIN Search TAX ID Number search on more than 7.5 million Fedaral Tax ID's. You can also search IRS 990 Non Profits, and lookup Federal Business Tax Liens on [1]. Several major states have comprehensive coverage, and that list is expanding. Business details such as Revenue, are also shown where available. The first ten searches are free. Additional searches are available on a subscription basis.
Melissadata provides free searches, by organization name or ZIP code, of a database of over 1.3 million nonprofits' EIN numbers.
GuideStar maintains a free searchable database of more than one million nonprofits. The information returned used to include the EIN number, but a recent attempt to use this service indicates that the EIN is now only available to paid subscribers. Basic information such as the name and type of the non-profit is still available without charge, as well as copies of many filed IRS 990 forms.
KnowX provides for-pay lookup function, displaying company names and locations associated with a given EIN.
EIN Expiration
EINs do not expire. Once an EIN has been issues to an entity, it will not be reissued.
See also
- Cage Code issued by the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) to identify suppliers to the Department of Defense.
- D.U.N.S. number issued by Dun & Bradstreet and required for certain U.S. government contractors and federal grant recipients
- Confidential T.P.I.N. number issued by the Central Contractor Registry of the U.S. Government