Lost EIN Number: How to Find Yours Again (2026)

Which documents print a lost EIN number?

Thirteen documents print an EIN in a fixed field. The CP-575 carries it in the top block, Form 1120 in box B, Form 1065 in box D, Schedule C on line D, and every W-2 you issued in box b.

Work down the table. Each row names the exact field, so you check a document in seconds instead of reading it. The first 11 rows cost $0 and finish inside 5 minutes each.

Source: IRS forms 1120, 1120-S, 1065, 941, 940, W-2, 1099-NEC, W-9 and Schedule C, verified July 2026.

Two rows deserve attention. A signed Form W-9 sits with every client who ever paid your business, which makes it the fastest route when your own files are gone. And your bank checked the EIN against the CP-575 before it opened the account, so the bank file holds a number that was verified once already.

One warning: a W-2, a 1099, and a W-9 all copy the number from your own records. A digit typed wrong 3 years ago repeats on all 3 forms. Treat matching numbers across 2 independent sources as confirmation, and treat a single form as a lead.

How do you ask the IRS for a lost EIN number?

You call the IRS and request Letter 147C, the official replacement for the CP-575. The IRS charges $0, asks 5 verification questions, and sends the letter by mail or fax. International applicants reach the IRS on 267-941-1099.

The call fails on preparation, not on eligibility. Have these 5 answers open before you dial, in this order.

Source: IRS, verified July 2026.

Step 2 decides the call. The IRS matches the legal name you speak against the name recorded from line 1 of your original Form SS-4. LLC and L.L.C. are 2 different names in that record, and so are a trailing Inc and Inc. with a period. Read the formation document out loud rather than reciting from memory.

Letter 147C carries the same 9-digit EIN as the CP-575 beside the same legal name. Banks, Stripe, PayPal and Amazon accept it in place of the original. Read what the original document contains on the EIN confirmation letter page.

What proof of authority does the IRS require?

The IRS releases an EIN to an authorized person only. That is a sole proprietor, a partner, a corporate officer, a trustee, an executor, or a representative named on a filed Form 2848. Everyone else is refused.

Two IRS forms extend that circle, and they do different jobs. Form 2848 is a power of attorney: it lets a named representative speak to the IRS and act for the entity. Form 8821 is a tax information authorization: it lets a named person receive information without acting. A bookkeeper who only needs to read the number belongs on Form 8821, not Form 2848.

Two worked examples

A trustee taking over a family trust. The grantor died, the CP-575 is missing, and the bank wants the EIN before it moves the account. The trustee is an authorized person in their own right. They call with the trust's exact legal name, the trustee name from line 3 of the original Form SS-4, and the address from line 4a. No Form 2848 is needed, because the trustee is a party, not a representative.

A foreign owner of a single-member LLC needing the EIN for Form 5472. The owner is the responsible party named on line 7a and holds no SSN. Authority comes from ownership, not from a tax ID, so the IRS releases the number after the same 5 questions. The owner reaches the IRS on 267-941-1099 and asks for the 147C by fax to keep the international mail delay out of the timeline.

Related reading: the how to get an ein for an llc page covers the same entity from the application side.

How do you check that the EIN number you found is right?

Run 3 checks. Confirm the number is 9 digits printed as 2, a hyphen, then 7. Confirm the legal name beside it matches your formation document. Then confirm the same 9 digits appear on a second, independent document.

The 2-digit prefix answers nothing. It once identified the IRS campus that assigned the number, and it stopped mapping to a location when the IRS centralized EIN assignment in 2001. Two businesses formed in the same state in the same week carry unrelated prefixes.

How do you recover a lost EIN number without an SSN?

The same way anyone does. All 13 document routes read paperwork you hold, and Letter 147C verifies authority over the entity, not a Social Security Number. A new EIN takes the word Foreign on line 7b of Form SS-4.

Source: IRS, verified July 2026.

Line 7b is the field that decides the route on a new application. It takes an SSN, an ITIN, or the word Foreign. Foreign on line 7b blocks the IRS online assistant and sends the form to one of the 2 fax numbers above. The IRS asks for no identity document with Form SS-4, and no passport is required at any step.

Field-by-field rules for all 18 numbered fields sit on the Form SS-4 page, and the honest price answer sits on the free EIN number page.

What does applying for a duplicate EIN number cost you?

A second application creates a second EIN, and both stay assigned permanently. Your filing history then splits across 2 IRS records, banks verify against 1 of them, and the IRS mails notices about the account you stopped using.

The IRS charges $0 for the second number, which is exactly what makes the mistake easy. The cost lands later, in 4 places.

A change in the business does sometimes require a genuinely new EIN, and that is a different situation from a lost one. A sole proprietorship that incorporates is a new entity to the IRS. A partnership that converts to a corporation is a new entity. A move to a new state, a new trade name, or a new address is not: Form 8822-B reports an address or responsible-party change, and the IRS requires it within 60 days.

Weighing whether the business needs an EIN at all? The benefits of an ein page sets out banking, privacy, and credit reasons side by side.

Can you recover the EIN number of a closed business?

Yes. The IRS never reuses an EIN and never issues it to a second business, so the number stays recoverable for the life of the record. An authorized officer requests Letter 147C the same way, at $0.

This matters more than it sounds. A dissolved company still has to file a final return, answer an audit letter, and hand its EIN to a buyer during an asset sale. Corporations that adopt a resolution to dissolve file Form 966, and the IRS requires it within 30 days of that resolution. Every one of those steps needs the 9 digits.

Three people commonly need a closed entity's EIN years later: an executor settling an estate, an accountant filing a late return, and a buyer verifying what they bought. Each is an authorized person or is named on a filed Form 2848, so each can request the 147C.

A closed IRS business account is not a cancelled EIN. Closing the account stops the filing obligations the IRS expects. The number itself remains attached to that legal name permanently, and reopening the account restores the same EIN rather than issuing a new one.

How much does recovering a lost EIN number cost?

Recovery costs $0. The IRS charges $0 for Letter 147C and $0 to assign an EIN in the first place. An EIN also costs $0 in year 2 and every year after, because an EIN never renews and never expires.

Competitor prices verified July 2026. Northwest reflects the no-SSN rate. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays.

Read this before paying anyone, including us. If your business already has an EIN, nothing on this page needs a payment. Work the 13 documents, then call the IRS. The $67 exists for one situation only: an entity that has never held an EIN, whose responsible party holds no SSN and no ITIN, and whose application therefore runs on paper and fax with no tracking number.

For that case, einnumber.co prepares all 18 fields of Form SS-4, verifies the legal name character by character, and files by fax within 5 business days of your completed details on Standard, $67, landing 12–14 business days total. Fast files within 24 hours for $97 with the IRS call included, landing under a week. Support runs on live chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, plus a dedicated post-purchase chat and email. Ready? get started.