EIN Lookup: How to Find a Company's EIN for Free

Not in the way most people hope. An Employer Identification Number is a federal tax ID, and the IRS treats it as taxpayer information. There is no official search box that returns the EIN of a private company, an LLC or a sole proprietor.

State business entity searches don't help either. A Secretary of State record shows a company's legal name, status, formation date, registered agent and a state file or entity number. That state number is not the EIN, and state databases don't store federal tax IDs.

What does exist is a short list of places where an EIN is legitimately public, plus the simple route of asking the business directly. Which one works depends on what kind of organization you are looking up.

Work down this list. Most people are done at step one.

1. Ask for a Form W-9. If you are paying a vendor or contractor, request a signed IRS Form W-9. It lists the payee's legal name, tax classification and taxpayer ID, and you need it on file anyway before you issue a 1099.
2. Check an invoice, contract or 1099. Businesses you already deal with often print their EIN on invoices, credit applications or the 1099 they sent you.
3. Search SEC EDGAR for public companies. Companies that file with the SEC print their "I.R.S. Employer Identification No." on the cover page of annual reports such as the 10-K. Search the company on EDGAR, open a recent annual report and look at the first page.
4. Use IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for nonprofits. The IRS's own tool lists tax-exempt organizations with their EIN, and nonprofits' Form 990 filings show it too.
5. Look at your W-2 if it is your employer. Box b of a W-2 is the employer's EIN.

If none of these apply, the business is private and has not given you its number. At that point the honest answer is to ask it.

If the EIN you need is your own, you have more options because you are the taxpayer.

• Your confirmation notice. When the IRS assigns an EIN it issues a confirmation, commonly the CP 575 notice. If you applied online, you were prompted to download it at the end of the application.
• Past tax returns and payroll filings. Any return you filed for the business shows the EIN.
• Your bank. Business bank accounts are opened with an EIN, so the bank has it on file.
• State and local agencies. If you registered for sales tax, payroll tax or a license, those applications usually asked for it.
• Call the IRS. The IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line can confirm the number to an authorized person after verifying identity, and can send a confirmation letter (Letter 147C) that banks and lenders accept.

Never apply for a second EIN just because you lost the first one. A business normally keeps one EIN for life unless its structure or ownership changes.

Search results for EIN lookup are full of sites that charge a fee or push a subscription. Some resell data from public filings that you can read for free on EDGAR or the IRS nonprofit tool. Others simply cannot deliver the EIN of a small private company, because that number isn't public.

The same goes for getting an EIN in the first place. Applying with the IRS is free. Our glossary entry at EIN explains when you need one and why you should not pay a third party to file for you.

People often search "EIN lookup" plus a state name when what they actually need is the company's state record. Use this to tell which one you need:

• You want to confirm a company legally exists, is in good standing, or who its registered agent is. That is a state business entity search with the Secretary of State or equivalent office. Our state-by-state guides at business name search walk through each state's official tool.
• You need a number to put on a 1099, a credit application or a W-9 backup. That is the EIN, and you get it from the business itself.
• You are checking whether a name is free before you form an LLC. That is a name availability search, also on the state entity search tool.