EIN by Fax: The Complete Form SS-4 Fax Process (2026)

How do you get an EIN by fax?

Getting an EIN by fax takes 4 steps: complete every Form SS-4 field that applies, sign the unnumbered Sign Here block, add a return fax number, and send the 1-page form to the IRS. The IRS fee is $0.

Form SS-4 is a single page carrying 18 numbered fields plus 2 unnumbered blocks beneath them. Line 18 is a question, not a signature: it asks whether the entity on line 1 has ever applied for and received an EIN before. The Third Party Designee block and the Sign Here block sit under line 18, and the IRS numbers neither of them.

Only the fields that apply to the entity need an entry. Line 3 and lines 13 through 17 stay blank for most applicants, and a field the IRS does not require is not a defect. The IRS accepts the completed form by fax, by mail, and through the online assistant, and issues the identical 9-digit EIN on all 3 routes. Fax exists because 2 of those 3 routes reject an applicant whose responsible party holds no SSN and no ITIN.

Sign the form before sending it, in the Sign Here block below line 18. An unsigned Form SS-4 fails at the IRS intake step, and the IRS returns nothing, so the applicant learns about the failure only after the 4-business-day window passes with no reply.

Print the return fax number on the form itself, in the box the IRS reserves for it at the top right. That number decides the difference between a 4-business-day answer and a 4-week wait for a mailed letter.

Send the form once. A duplicate fax of the same Form SS-4 opens a second application for the same entity, and the IRS assigns 2 separate EINs to 1 business, which then takes a written request to close.

Which IRS fax number do you use for Form SS-4?

Use 855-641-6935 when the entity's principal office sits in one of the 50 US states or Washington DC. Use 855-215-1627 when the entity has no US principal office. Both lines cost $0 to file.

The 2 numbers route the application to 2 different IRS units. The 855-641-6935 line reaches domestic EIN processing. The 855-215-1627 line reaches the international unit that handles Form SS-4 with the word Foreign on line 7b.

The deciding fact is the entity's principal business address, not the owner's passport or the owner's home country. A Wyoming LLC owned by a founder in Lagos with a Cheyenne principal office faxes 855-641-6935. A company with its principal office in Lagos faxes 855-215-1627.

Both lines accept faxes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. IRS staff process the queue on business days only, which means Monday to Friday excluding US federal holidays, so a Saturday transmission enters the same queue position as a Monday morning one.

A third route exists alongside fax. International applicants reach the IRS on the phone at 267-941-1099 and complete the application live. The page on how to apply for ein by phone covers the hours and the script for that call.

Source: IRS, verified July 2026. These 3 numbers are the only IRS EIN contacts.

What do you send when you apply for an EIN by fax?

Send 2 pages: a cover sheet with the sender name, the return fax number, and the page count, plus the signed Form SS-4. The IRS requires no passport, no formation certificate, and no supporting exhibits.

The cover sheet is a routing tool, not an IRS requirement. It carries 4 items: the sender's name, the return fax number, the total page count, and the words Form SS-4 EIN application. A missing page count is what makes a partial transmission look complete to the receiving unit.

Form SS-4 stands alone. The IRS does not request the articles of organization, the operating agreement, a lease, a bank letter, or any identity document with a faxed EIN application. Attaching extra pages adds transmission time and adds nothing to the file.

One exception applies. A Form 8821 or Form 2848 travels with Form SS-4 when a third party is authorized to receive the EIN. The unnumbered Third Party Designee block, which sits between line 18 and the Sign Here block, covers the simpler version of the same permission with 4 entries and no extra form.

Keep the transmission report. The fax confirmation page showing the destination number, the date, the time, and the page count is the only proof of filing that exists on this route, because the IRS issues no receipt and no tracking number.

What goes on Form SS-4 line 7b without an SSN?

Line 7b accepts the word Foreign when the responsible party holds no SSN and no ITIN. The IRS processes that entry through the international unit and issues the EIN, at a cost of $0.

Line 7a names the responsible party. Line 7b holds that person's SSN, ITIN, or EIN. The instructions to Form SS-4 direct an applicant with none of the 3 to enter Foreign, which is exactly why the paper route stays open when the online tool closes.

The responsible party is one natural person who controls the entity's funds and assets. A 2-member LLC names 1 of the 2, not both, and the IRS updates that name later through Form 8822-B within 60 days of any change.

Line 7b is the only field the online assistant cannot accept. The tool validates the entry against IRS records in real time, and the word Foreign fails that validation, which sends every no-SSN applicant to fax or phone.

Line 3 stays blank for most applicants. It names an executor, administrator, or trustee, and a foreign-owned LLC filing for banking access leaves it empty rather than repeating the responsible party's name.

How long does an EIN by fax take?

The IRS returns an EIN by fax in 4 business days when Form SS-4 carries a return fax number. Without one, the EIN arrives by mail in 4 weeks. Business days exclude US federal holidays.

The 4-business-day figure comes from the instructions to Form SS-4 and describes the IRS reply, not the round trip. Add 1 day when the fax lands after the unit closes on a Friday, and add every federal holiday that falls inside the window.

The 2 fax lines share one published window. The instructions to Form SS-4 state the same 4 business days for 855-641-6935 and for 855-215-1627, and the IRS publishes no separate processing figure for the international unit, so no honest page can quote one.

Mail costs the same $0 and takes 4 weeks from the day the form reaches the IRS, not from the day it is posted. The IRS publishes no transit estimate for international postage, so a Form SS-4 posted from Karachi or Lagos carries a delay ahead of that 4-week clock that nobody can quote in advance. That unquotable gap is the whole case for the 4-business-day fax route.

The EIN works the moment it is issued. It is valid immediately for opening a bank account. The instructions to Form SS-4 state that a new EIN takes up to 2 weeks to become part of the IRS permanent records, and until that happens an electronic return, an electronic payment, and an IRS TIN matching check each fail against the number.

What happens after you fax Form SS-4 to the IRS?

The IRS assigns the 9-digit EIN and faxes it back to the number on the form. The official CP-575 confirmation letter follows by mail to the address on line 4, and the IRS never reprints it.

Two documents arrive on 2 different clocks. The faxed reply carries the bare 9-digit number in 4 business days. The CP-575 letter, the document banks verify, is mailed to the address on line 4 and travels at postal speed, and the IRS publishes no delivery window for it.

The IRS issues exactly 1 CP-575 per EIN. A lost original never gets replaced by a second CP-575. The substitute is a 147C letter, which the IRS issues on request by phone and which banks accept in place of the original.

Banks and payment platforms check the legal name against the EIN record. Mercury, Wise, Relay, Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon each match the name on the CP-575 to the formation certificate, and a mismatch between LLC and L.L.C. stops an account opening at that step.

The EIN never expires. It stays attached to the entity for life, never renews, and costs $0 in year 2 and every year after. Closing a business closes the account through a written request, and the number itself is never reassigned to anyone else.

Why do EIN fax applications get rejected?

Six failures cause rejected fax applications: a missing signature in the Sign Here block, a blank line 7b, a wrong fax number, an illegible scan, a name that mismatches the state record, and a duplicate application.

An empty Sign Here block stops the application at intake. That block is unnumbered and sits below line 18, which is why it gets missed. The IRS accepts a signature from the owner, a general partner, a trustee, or an executor, and it accepts a Form 2848 representative, but never an unsigned form.

A name mismatch produces the error the online tool numbers 101. The legal name on Form SS-4 must match the state formation certificate character for character, including the punctuation in L.L.C. and the word The at the start of a company name.

An illegible transmission fails silently. Fax resolution degrades handwriting first, which is why a typed Form SS-4 in 12-point text clears the intake scan and a handwritten one in blue ink does not.

Sending to the wrong number costs 4 business days. A form with Foreign on line 7b sent to 855-641-6935 lands in the domestic queue, which routes it onward to the international unit and restarts the clock.

Silence is the hardest failure to read. The IRS confirms nothing, so an applicant who hears nothing at day 5 cannot tell a rejected form from a slow queue, and that gap is the entire operational problem with the fax route.

How do you fax Form SS-4 with no fax machine?

An online fax service sends Form SS-4 as a PDF from a browser to 855-641-6935 or 855-215-1627. The IRS accepts it exactly as it accepts a fax from a physical machine, and the EIN fee stays $0.

The IRS reads the incoming transmission, not the sending hardware. A PDF sent through an internet fax gateway arrives at 855-641-6935 or 855-215-1627 in the same format a 1990s machine produces, and the receiving unit treats the 2 identically.

Resolution decides the outcome. The IRS publishes no minimum fax resolution for Form SS-4, so the only standard that matters is the intake scan: the line 7b entry and the hand signature have to survive the transmission. Sending at the fine setting rather than the standard one is what keeps them legible.

A phone-camera photo of the form fails more than a scan does. Shadows and page curl blur the 18 numbered field boxes, and a flatbed scan or a scanner app producing a flat black-and-white PDF clears the intake step cleanly.

Keep the sent-confirmation email. Online fax services return a delivery report with the destination number, the timestamp, and the page count, which is the same proof a transmission report gives and the only record either method leaves behind.

Who should skip the EIN fax route entirely?

Anyone whose responsible party holds an SSN or ITIN should skip fax and use the free IRS online assistant. It issues the same EIN in one 15-minute session, at $0, with no 4-business-day wait.

Have an SSN? irs.gov is free — really. The online assistant runs Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, validates the responsible party instantly, and returns the EIN on screen before the session closes. Faxing in that situation adds 4 business days and buys nothing.

ITIN holders clear the same validation. An ITIN is checked against IRS records exactly as an SSN is, so a non-resident who already holds one skips fax and finishes online in 15 minutes.

Fax is the right route for one group: applicants whose responsible party holds neither number. For that group the online tool never opens, and Form SS-4 by fax is the fastest legitimate path the IRS provides.

The tradeoff is visibility, not legality. Fax provides no tracking number, no receipt, and no status page, and that silence, rather than the filing itself, is what einnumber.co charges from $67 to remove.

How does an EIN by fax compare to the other routes?

Fax returns an EIN in 4 business days and accepts applicants with no SSN. The online assistant is faster at 15 minutes and rejects them. Mail takes 4 weeks. Every IRS route charges $0.

Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026. The IRS fee is $0 on all 4 routes. The 4 business days on the fax row is the IRS reply to a form you send yourself; einnumber.co Standard sends the fax within 5 business days and the row shows the total.

What does an EIN cost when someone files the fax for you?

The IRS charges $0 on the fax route no matter who sends it. Filing services charge for the execution: einnumber.co $67 or $97, Rocket Lawyer $59.99, ZenBusiness $99, and Northwest $200 at the no-SSN rate.

Competitor prices verified July 2026. The EIN itself is free from the IRS on every route, and an EIN never renews, so year 2 costs $0 in all 6 rows.

Doing it yourself costs $0 and 4 business days of silence. The complete no-SSN walkthrough sits on the apply for ein without ssn page, and the free online path sits on the irs ein assistant page.

What else do people ask about getting an EIN by fax?

Rather not send the fax yourself?

Have an SSN? Use irs.gov and keep your money — it takes 15 minutes and costs $0. Without one, we prepare Form SS-4, enter Foreign on line 7b, and send it to the correct IRS fax line within 5 business days for $67, or within 24 hours for $97 with the IRS call included. You receive the 9-digit EIN and the CP-575.

No SSN. No passport upload. · apply for your EIN number online