State Tax ID vs EIN: All 50 States Compared (2026)

What is the difference between a state tax ID and an EIN?

An EIN is one 9-digit number the IRS issues for $0 and it works in all 50 states. A state tax ID is a separate number a state revenue department issues for state sales tax, state payroll, or unemployment insurance.

The two numbers answer 2 different governments. The EIN answers the IRS: it goes on federal returns, on Form 1120, on Form 5472, and on the W-9 a US client asks for. A state tax ID answers a state revenue department: it goes on the monthly sales tax return and the quarterly payroll return for that state and nowhere else.

One business holds exactly 1 EIN for its whole life. The same business holds up to 3 state accounts in each state where it has nexus. A company selling in 4 states with staff in 1 of them holds 1 EIN and 5 or more state account numbers.

Federal column: IRS Form SS-4 and the Instructions for Form SS-4, published at irs.gov, retrieved 1 July 2026. State column: the registration application published by each state revenue department named in the 50-state table below, retrieved 1 July 2026. Every state figure on this page is a state agency figure, not an IRS figure, and the IRS does not publish it.

Do you need a state tax ID if you already have an EIN?

Yes, when the business collects sales tax, pays wages, or has nexus in that state. The EIN covers federal filings only. A state sales tax return and a state payroll return each require the state account number for that state.

Three triggers open a state account. The first is taxable sales into a state where the business has nexus. The second is paying wages to a person working in that state. The third is a state licence condition, which Delaware and West Virginia attach to a business licence rather than to a tax.

A holding company with no sales and no payroll opens 0 state tax accounts. It still needs the 1 federal EIN, because a US bank account, a Form 5472 filing, and a W-9 all require it. That is the split in one line: the EIN is about existing, the state tax ID is about trading.

Read what an EIN is for on the do I need an EIN page, or get started with your EIN now.

What are the 3 state tax accounts a business registers?

Sales tax, wage withholding, and unemployment insurance. 45 states levy a state sales tax, 41 states tax wage income, and all 50 states run an unemployment insurance account for employers. Each account carries its own number.

A business with taxable sales and staff registers 3 accounts in a full-tax state, 2 in a state with no income tax, and 1 in Alaska or New Hampshire. In every one of those 50 states the federal EIN count stays at 1.

Which states issue no sales tax permit and no withholding account?

Alaska and New Hampshire issue neither. 5 states levy no statewide sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. 9 states levy no tax on wage income, so those 9 open no withholding account.

How the account count is derived, so the number can be checked without trusting this page: 1 account for a sales tax permit if the state levies a sales tax, 1 for wage withholding if the state taxes wage income, 1 for unemployment insurance in all 50 states. The maximum is 3. Whether a state levies each of those 2 taxes comes from that state’s revenue department registration application, named per state in the 50-state table below, retrieved 1 July 2026.

No state on that list removes the federal EIN. A Wyoming LLC with no employees still files federal returns, still opens a US bank account, and still hands a W-9 to US clients. All 3 of those require the 9-digit EIN.

Wyoming and Delaware sit at the low end of that count for opposite reasons: Wyoming levies no income tax so no withholding account opens, and Delaware levies no sales tax so no seller’s permit opens. Both still leave the federal EIN untouched.

Which comes first, the EIN or the state tax ID?

The EIN comes first. Every state registration form requests the 9-digit federal EIN as an input field. A state cannot open a sales tax or withholding account for an entity that has no EIN on record.

The full order runs in 3 steps. Step 1 is state formation: the state approves the entity and prints an approval date. Step 2 is the EIN: line 1 of Form SS-4 copies the approved legal name character for character, and line 11 copies the approval date. Step 3 is state tax registration, which uses both the legal name and the EIN.

Applying for the EIN before state approval gets it rejected. The IRS issues EINs to entities that legally exist, and it reports the rejection by mail weeks later. Applying for a state tax account before the EIN stalls at the EIN field on the form.

Work through all 18 fields on the Form SS-4 checklist before you file.

How do you get the EIN without an SSN before a state registration?

Enter the word Foreign on line 7b of Form SS-4. The IRS issues EINs to responsible parties who hold no SSN and no ITIN. The application moves from the online tool to the fax line, and no passport is required.

Source: IRS, verified July 2026.

Line 6 of Form SS-4 asks for the county and state of the principal business location. Applicants with no US office enter the state of formation and its county from the formation document. That answer sets the state where the first tax registrations will happen.

State registration portals ask for the 9-digit EIN, not for an SSN, once the entity is formed. The EIN is the number that unlocks every downstream step.

The complete route is on the apply for EIN without SSN page, and the non-resident master guide is the EIN for foreigners hub.

Which number do banks and payment platforms ask for?

The 9-digit federal EIN, confirmed by the IRS CP-575 letter. Banks match the legal name on the CP-575 against the formation document. A state sales tax number does not open a US business bank account.

Source: IRS form instructions and published platform verification requirements, verified July 2026.

The CP-575 is the document that settles it. The IRS issues 1 CP-575 per EIN and never reprints it; a replacement arrives only as a 147C letter on request. Read what arrives and what banks check on the EIN confirmation letter page.

Does your EIN change when you move to another state?

No. One entity holds one 9-digit EIN for its whole life, and moving state changes nothing about those 9 digits. The state accounts do change: you close up to 3 accounts and open up to 3 new ones.

The IRS reissues an EIN in a short list of situations, and a change of address is not one of them. Changing the entity type is: an LLC that incorporates receives a new EIN, because the federal taxpayer is a new entity. A change of business name keeps the same EIN and updates the name on the IRS record.

A business that keeps its formation state and starts selling into a second state adds state accounts without touching the first set. Selling into 4 states with nexus in all 4 means 4 sets of state registrations and still exactly 1 EIN.

If the 9 digits are lost rather than changed, recovery is covered on the lost EIN number page.

What does a state tax ID cost compared with an EIN?

The EIN costs $0 from the IRS through every filing method, and $0 in year 2 and every year after, because an EIN never renews. Each state sets its own registration fee, published by that state's revenue department.

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. Holding an SSN means the IRS issues your EIN at irs.gov in 15 minutes for $0. The $67 exists for the applicants the online tool blocks: a paper form, a fax line with no tracking, and 18 fields that have to be right the first time. $97 moves that filing to 24 hours and adds the IRS call.

See the full price breakdown on the how much does an EIN cost page, or read the honest version of the price question on the free EIN number page.