IRS Form SS-4
The application form for obtaining a federal EIN from the IRS, used by non-residents via the fax-application path.
Definition
Form SS-4 is the IRS's official EIN application form. The online application at irs.gov requires the responsible party to enter a valid SSN or ITIN, which excludes most non-residents. Non-residents file Form SS-4 by fax to the IRS international EIN unit, with 'Foreign' in the SSN field for the responsible party.
Context
Form SS-4 is updated annually but field numbers and structure remain consistent. The form has 18 lines plus signature. For a non-resident single-member LLC, the key fields are Line 1 (LLC legal name), Line 7a-b (responsible party name and SSN field with 'Foreign'), Line 8a (LLC checkbox), Line 9a (entity type), and Line 10 (reason for applying).
Example
Delewarellc prepares Form SS-4 for every customer during Days 6-8 of the 8-10 day timeline. The form is filled with the founder's full legal name as on passport, 'Foreign' on Line 7b, and 'Started new business' as the reason. Faxed to the IRS international EIN line, the EIN comes back in 1-2 business days.
Common pitfalls
- Passport number in SSN field: most common DIY rejection.
- Wrong entity classification on Line 9a: 'Other' for single-member disregarded entities, 'Partnership' for multi-member.
- Missing signature on Line 18: silent rejection.
- LLC name on Line 1 not matching the Certificate of Formation exactly: rejection.