No, if you are the only member
One member, no employees, no excise tax. The IRS calls that disregarded — the LLC files no return of its own and uses your name and Social Security number.
Key takeaways
Yes, at two or more members
In New York a married couple counts as two. Nine community-property states treat a couple’s LLC as one owner. New York is not one of them.
Yes, the day you hire
Take on one employee and the answer becomes yes. The IRS still expects most new single-member LLCs to get one.
Tell us who owns the LLC
This depends on who the members are rather than on whether you have employees. Tell us who they are and we will tell you whether you need the number. Call (212) 641-0673 or use the contact form. Open evenings and weekends.
The starting point
When a single member LLC does not need an EIN
Usually not, if you are the only member. The IRS states it plainly. A single member LLC that is disregarded, has no employees and has no excise tax liability does not need one. It should use the name and number of its owner instead.
A single member LLC is disregarded for income tax, which means the IRS looks straight through it to its owner. The LLC files no return of its own. Its income and expenses go on the owner’s personal return, on Schedule C, E or F, under the owner’s own Social Security number. Forming the LLC does not change that by itself.
The rule is narrower than it sounds. It holds only while all four are true: one member, disregarded, no employees, no excise tax. Five things end it.
01Five triggers
Five things that make a single member LLC need its own EIN
An LLC does need an EIN the moment any one of these is true.
A second member
By default, two or more members make the LLC a partnership for federal tax, and a partnership files Form 1065 under its own EIN. That changes the answer immediately.
An employee
Since January 1, 2009, the regulations have treated a disregarded LLC as a separate entity for employment tax on the wages it pays, so it reports under its own name and EIN rather than the owner’s.
An excise tax return
Excise taxes cover particular goods and activities: fuel, heavy trucks, wagering and similar. The regulations moved these to the LLC from January 1, 2008. Forms 637, 720, 730, 2290 and 11-C all go under the LLC’s number.
A corporate or S corporation election
Form 8832 or Form 2553 makes the LLC a separate taxpayer that files its own return, so it needs its own number rather than the owner’s. An LLC that already has an EIN keeps it through a change of election.
A foreign owner
A US LLC whose only owner is not a US person is still disregarded for income tax, but it has to file an annual information return, Form 5472, and you file that under an EIN.
Not sure which of the five applies to you? Send us the structure and we will say. Call (212) 641-0673.
02Married couples
The married couple LLC files a partnership return in New York
Two owners, even a spouse, defaults to a partnership return unless you are in a community-property state.
Default rule
An LLC owned by a husband and wife is a multi member LLC, so the default is a partnership return and an EIN.
- File Form 1065 under the LLC’s own EIN.
- Each spouse gets a Schedule K-1.
- New York separately requires an IT-204 partnership return.
Exception — community property
Nine community-property states can treat the couple’s LLC as one owner under Revenue Procedure 2002-69. New York is not one of them. A couple’s LLC formed here files as a partnership and needs its own number.
A married couple running an unincorporated business together can elect to be taxed as two sole proprietors instead of a partnership. That election is a qualified joint venture, and it is not open to an LLC, because the LLC is a separate entity created under state law.
03Sole proprietors
Does a sole proprietor need an EIN?
A sole proprietor faces almost the same test, with one addition: employees, excise returns or a Keogh plan each require an EIN. The difference is that an LLC comes with a state registration, so more third parties ask for a federal number.
Employees
Same rule as an LLC — hire your first one and you need an EIN
Excise tax returns
Same rule as an LLC — filing one requires an EIN
A Keogh plan
The one addition — this retirement plan test has no LLC equivalent
04Why most get one anyway
Why most single member LLCs get an EIN anyway
An EIN for a single member LLC is optional on paper, but close to standard in practice, for three reasons.
Banking
The account is in the LLC’s name, and that changes what a bank asks for. Which number a bank needs has its own page.
Keeping your SSN off client paperwork
This works only if the IRS issued the EIN in the owner’s own name. An EIN issued to a disregarded LLC does not go on the W-9. That form is a separate question.
State registration
Some state tax registrations require a federal EIN even where the IRS does not, and the IRS says as much.
If you already got one you did not need, that is fine. The IRS cannot cancel an EIN. Once the IRS issues it, the number stays with that entity and is never reused, though the IRS will deactivate it on a written request if you no longer need it.
Get a second opinion before you decide
The answer changes the first time anything about the business changes, and the change is easy to miss. Call (212) 641-0673 or use the contact form. No charge for the conversation.
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On planning ahead, and on year-after-year care
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One quick call settles the EIN question
Get the EIN question answered in one call
Send us the structure — sole member, married couple, foreign owner, anything else — and we will confirm whether you need the number. Call (212) 641-0673 or send the contact form. No charge for the conversation.
Reviewed by George Dimov, CPA, New York, NY. Serving clients in all 50 states, 15+ years advising owners on entity classification, federal registration and New York City and State tax. President of George Dimov, CPA, a New York City firm serving clients across the five boroughs and nationwide.