Get your LLC's EIN in 72 hours. No SSN needed.
Filing yourself by fax or mail takes 4 to 12 weeks, and until the number arrives you cannot open a bank account. We file with the IRS for you and email you the official EIN letter: 99% of orders are done in 72 hours or less. If the IRS does not issue your number, you get every cent back.
- ✓ Real IRS-issued EIN, permanently tied to your LLC
- ✓ No SSN or ITIN required
- ✓ Official IRS 147c letter by email
- ✓ No account, no subscription
Typical IRS processing for foreign applicants without an SSN or ITIN, who cannot use the IRS online tool. Our figure is measured from payment to the 147c letter in your inbox. In the rare case an order takes longer, we reach out before you have to ask; usually it means a few more days.
You just formed your foreign-owned LLC. Why do you need an EIN now?
Congratulations, the company exists. It also cannot do anything yet. The Employer Identification Number is the federal tax ID of your LLC, and every next step starts with it: the bank, the payment processor, your first invoice, your first IRS filing. As a non-resident owner you are locked out of the IRS online application, which is why this step, and not the formation, is where most foreign owners lose a month or two.
- ✓Open a US business bank accountEvery US bank and fintech provider asks for the EIN and proof from the IRS before they open an account for your LLC. No EIN, no account, no payments in or out.
- ✓Set up Stripe, PayPal, and marketplacesPayment processors and platforms like Amazon, Shopify Payments, or Etsy verify your EIN before you can accept money under the LLC.
- ✓File the annual IRS formsA foreign-owned single-member LLC has to file Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 every year. Without an EIN the filing is impossible, and the penalty starts at $25,000.
- ✓Sign contracts, hire, and work with vendorsUS clients, payroll providers, and suppliers will ask for a W-9 with your EIN on it before they pay you or sell to you.
How it works
Three steps. You fill in a form once, we do the rest.
Enter your LLC details
LLC name and address, state and date of formation, owner name and address, number of members, and what the business does. About 5 minutes. No account needed. Already faxed an SS-4 to the IRS? Upload it and we work from that.
Pay $149 by card
Secure checkout through Stripe. You get an email with your order number straight away, and you can check your status on this site at any time.
Receive your EIN letter by email
We file Form SS-4 with the IRS as your third party designee and email you the IRS 147c letter with your EIN. 99% of orders arrive within 72 hours.
Why not the EIN add-on from your formation service?
Most company formation services sell an EIN as an extra. Their process for a foreign owner is the same one you could do yourself: fill in the SS-4 and fax or mail it to the IRS, then wait. The add-on buys you convenience, not speed.
| Filing yourself | Formation service add-on | SwiftEIN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to EIN (no SSN) | 4 to 12 weeks | 4 to 8 weeks, often "up to 30 business days" | 72 hours or less for 99% of orders |
| How you receive it | CP 575 by mail to the LLC address | Number by email when the letter reaches them, often weeks after assignment | IRS 147c letter by email, faxed by the IRS the day the number exists |
| Bank-ready proof | After the letter arrives by mail | After they forward the IRS letter | Same day you receive our email |
| If it takes longer | Nothing to do but call the IRS | Support ticket, "waiting for the IRS" | We reach out to you, usually a few more days; partial or full refund if it takes considerably longer |
| Status visibility | None | Usually "processing" | Status page with order number, email on every step |
| Already filed through them? | Wait it out | Upload the SS-4 they filed; we retrieve the number | |
Timelines for formation services are as published on their own sites for applicants without an SSN and vary by provider. We do not formally partner with any of them; we work directly with the IRS as your third party designee.
What you receive: the IRS 147c letter
The 147c is the EIN verification letter issued by the IRS. It shows your EIN, your LLC's legal name, and the address on file. We send you a scan of the fax we receive from the IRS.
The number is the real thing. We do not issue it, the IRS does: we file Form SS-4 for your LLC as your third party designee, the same mechanism law firms and CPAs use, and the IRS assigns the EIN to your LLC permanently. It is identical to the EIN you would get by faxing the form yourself, just weeks earlier.
Banks, Stripe, PayPal, and marketplaces accept the 147c as official proof of your EIN, so you can open accounts the day you receive it. The paper confirmation notice (CP 575) is mailed by the IRS separately and usually arrives 3 to 4 weeks later. You do not need to wait for it.
Illustration of the letter layout. The real document is issued by the IRS on their letterhead.
One price, no surprises
You pay once when you order. If we cannot obtain an EIN for your LLC, you get every cent back.
- ✓ EIN application (Form SS-4) prepared and filed with the IRS
- ✓ IRS 147c verification letter delivered by email
- ✓ Works without SSN or ITIN, for any US state
- ✓ Status updates by email and on this site
- ✓ Cancel by email any time before the EIN is issued
Refund promise: if the IRS does not issue an EIN for your LLC, we refund the full $149. No forms, no arguing.
Common questions
How fast will I get my EIN?
99% of our orders are completed in 72 hours or less, measured from your payment to the 147c letter in your inbox. The clock runs on business days, Monday to Friday: weekends and US federal holidays do not count, because the IRS unit we file with is closed then. We file the application with the IRS through our established process and contacts and follow up until the number is issued. If your order is among the few that take longer, we reach out to you before you have to ask. Usually it means a few more days. See the next question.
Do the 72 hours include weekends and holidays?
No. We count business days, Monday to Friday, because the IRS office that handles these applications is closed at the weekend and on US federal holidays, and nothing moves there on those days. The clock starts when your payment goes through and pauses from Friday evening until Monday morning, and for the whole of a federal holiday. So an order paid on Monday is normally with you by Thursday, an order paid on Friday by Wednesday, and an order placed over the weekend starts counting on Monday. A public holiday in that window adds a day.
What happens if it takes longer than 72 hours?
It happens to roughly 1 in 100 orders, usually because the IRS needs a second look at a name that does not quite match the state record or an EIN that already exists for the entity. When it does, we reach out to you to tell you where the application stands and what, if anything, we need from you, and we keep working on it at no extra cost. In most of these cases the letter arrives a few days later than planned. If an order takes considerably longer than that, we offer a partial or full refund depending on the situation, because we would rather lose a fee than leave you with a bad experience. You never have to chase us for an update, and you can also cancel for a full refund at any time before the EIN is issued (see below).
Is the EIN you get a real, official number for my LLC?
Yes, completely. There is only one kind of EIN: the one the IRS assigns. We do not generate numbers, we do not use a pool of numbers, and we do not register anything in our own name. We prepare Form SS-4 for your LLC and submit it to the IRS as your third party designee, which is the mechanism printed on the IRS form itself and used by law firms and CPAs every day. The IRS reviews the application, assigns the EIN to your LLC, and the 147c letter you receive is the IRS confirming that number on its own letterhead. The number is permanently tied to your LLC, works with every bank, payment provider, and government agency, and is exactly the same EIN you would have received by faxing the form yourself, just weeks earlier.
I just formed my LLC. Do I really need an EIN right away?
For a foreign-owned LLC, yes, and the sooner the better. Without it your LLC cannot open a US bank account, cannot set up Stripe, PayPal, or a marketplace seller account, cannot give clients a W-9, and cannot file the Form 5472 that every foreign-owned single-member LLC owes the IRS each year (penalty from $25,000). In other words, the company exists on paper but cannot take or send money. Everything else you plan to do with the LLC starts after the EIN arrives, so it is the first thing to sort out after formation.
What exactly do I receive?
You receive the IRS EIN verification letter, Form 147c, as a scan of the fax we receive from the IRS. It is an official IRS document on IRS letterhead and shows your EIN, the LLC name, and the LLC address on file. We deliver only the 147c letter. The original IRS confirmation notice (CP 575) is mailed by the IRS to your LLC address and usually arrives within 3 to 4 weeks. You do not need to wait for it.
Will ordering from you interfere with the application I already sent?
No. Your existing application is not cancelled, withdrawn or put on hold, and you do not need to do anything to stop it. We work with the application that is already in the system and push it along, so the effect is that it gets expedited rather than replaced. Because the IRS assigns one EIN per entity, the number you receive from us is the number the IRS associates with your LLC permanently. There is no second application competing with the first, no duplicate record, and nothing for you to undo afterwards.
Ready to get your EIN?
Takes 5 minutes to order. 99% of orders are done in 72 hours or less. $149, refunded in full if we cannot get your number.