The EIN itself costs nothing
The IRS issues an EIN for free and tells you on the application page never to pay a fee for one.
The short answer
Paid services sell convenience, not the number
Prices run $10 to $300 for typing your answers into the same free form, or for bundling it with a real state filing.
New York formation is the real bill
$200 to the Department of State, a $50 certificate, and a newspaper bill that varies by county — none of it an EIN charge.
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Why the question comes up
Free by law, priced by everyone standing next to it
There is no fee for an EIN, and the IRS says so on the page where you apply, alongside a warning about sites that charge for it.
So the questions worth answering are what the paid services are selling, and what a New York business does pay for.
01Every route
The IRS charges nothing, by any route
The cost to apply for an EIN is zero on all four routes.
Route · who it is for · how long
| Route | Who it is for | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Online | An entity formed in the US or a US territory, with its principal place of business there, and a responsible party holding an SSN or ITIN | Minutes, the number is issued in the session |
| Fax Form SS-4 | Applicants in or outside the US, using the correct fax number | About 4 business days if you give a fax number |
| Mail Form SS-4 | Applicants in or outside the US, using the correct address | About 4 weeks |
| Phone, 267-941-1099 | A principal place of business outside the US, and the line is not toll free | The length of the call |
You can get one EIN per responsible party per business day whichever route you use, and the cap counts numbers issued rather than applications sent. A founder setting up three entities is doing it over three days whichever way they apply. The full rules are in the Instructions for Form SS-4.
02The free application
What the free EIN application asks of you
Applying online is free, but the form gives you one attempt in one sitting. That is what the paid services sell against.
You get one sitting, and it times out after fifteen idle minutes. The form cannot be saved and returned to. Fifteen minutes without activity ends the session, though there is no limit on how long you take overall. Have the entity name, formation date, responsible party details and business activity in front of you before you start.
It is not open around the clock. The tool runs Monday to Friday from 6am to 1am the next morning, Saturday 6am to 9pm, and Sunday only from 6pm to midnight, all Eastern time. Sunday morning is the gap to watch for.
Download the notice before you close the tab. There is one chance to view, print and save the EIN assignment notice at the end of the session. The IRS no longer posts back a Form SS-4 marked with the number.
The number works before it is on file. You can open a bank account or file a paper return straight away. Allow up to two weeks before the EIN reaches the permanent records, and before you can e-file, pay electronically or pass TIN matching.
The form costs attention rather than money. The current session rules and opening hours are on the IRS online application page.
03$10 to $300
What paid EIN filing services are selling
Prices run from $10 to $300 because the sellers are not offering the same thing. The cheapest do data entry. The most expensive register the entity with a state and include the free EIN in the package.
Data entry
Someone types your answers into the IRS form. The form asks perhaps a dozen questions and most of them are your own name and address.
Speed that is slower than doing it yourself
Several services advertise a 24 hour or 72 hour turnaround. The online application returns the number before you close the browser, so a 24 hour promise is slower than applying yourself.
A formation bundle
The higher prices usually include registering the entity with a state, which is a real service with a real cost. The EIN inside that bundle is still free and is often listed as though it were a line item.
A lookalike website
Some of these sites are built to read as though they were the IRS. The IRS says so itself on the page where you apply: beware of websites that charge for an EIN, and you never have to pay a fee for one.
04What people get wrong
Who gets named as the responsible party
The belief
Paying a service is just buying convenience. Worst case you overpaid for something free.
What is true
The application has to name a responsible party, meaning the person who controls the entity and its assets. That person has to be an individual rather than a company. Some services put their own details in that field, and the IRS says nominees cannot apply for an EIN.
Why it matters
If the wrong person is recorded, correcting it means filing Form 8822-B afterwards, and you have 60 days to report a change of responsible party. Until it is fixed, an unauthorized person stays on the IRS record for your business.
Not sure whether you need one at all?
Tell us what you are setting up and we will say so in one call. Call (212) 641-0673.
05Real judgment, not data entry
When the fee actually buys judgment
In a few cases the fee buys real judgment rather than data entry.
No SSN or ITIN
A responsible party without a US identifying number cannot use the online tool at all, which is a different problem with its own route and its own page.
The entity does not exist yet
The IRS asks you to register the entity with your state before applying, and warns that skipping that step can delay the application. If the LLC is not filed, the EIN is not the thing to sort out first.
An election is going with it
Form 2553 or Form 8832 changes how the business is taxed, and both carry deadlines. That is a decision with money attached and the EIN is incidental to it.
The entity is a trust or an estate
Who the responsible party is, and whether a grantor trust needs its own EIN at all, are questions worth getting right once rather than twice.
06Where the money goes
What a New York business pays for, beyond the EIN
While the EIN is free, setting up a business in New York comes with real costs. None of them is an EIN charge, but together they are what people mean when they ask what it costs to start.
Where the money goes when a New York LLC forms around a free EIN
Articles of Organization
$200
Filed with the New York Department of State
Newspaper publication
Varies
Two newspapers, once a week for six weeks, designated by the county clerk
Certificate of Publication
$50
Filed once the newspapers give you their affidavits
Annual filing fee
$25+
Flat $25 if disregarded; a partnership pays on last year’s New York source gross income
$250 minimum before the newspaper bill, which in New York County is usually the largest line on this list.
- $200 to file Articles of Organization with the New York Department of State.
- Publication of a formation notice in two newspapers, once a week for six consecutive weeks, within 120 days of formation. This is required by section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law, and the newspapers are designated by the county clerk for the county named on your Articles.
- $50 to file the Certificate of Publication with the Department of State once the newspapers give you their affidavits.
- An annual New York State filing fee after that, for LLCs with New York source activity. An LLC that is disregarded pays a flat $25. One treated as a partnership pays on last year’s New York source gross income, and an LLC that elected corporate treatment does not file the form at all.
The newspaper bill is the least predictable of these and, in New York County, usually the largest. It is a market price rather than a government fee, set by each county’s designated papers, and rates upstate can run well below the $200 filing fee. Add $9 every two years for the Biennial Statement the Department of State requires after formation.
07FAQ
How much is an EIN FAQs
Do you have to pay for an EIN number?
No. The cost to apply for an EIN is zero, and the IRS says on its own application page that you never have to pay a fee for one. Anything you are quoted is somebody’s charge for handling a free application, not a government fee.
Is there an EIN application fee for a second entity?
No. There is no EIN application fee at all, and none for a second, third or tenth entity. A sole proprietor generally needs only one EIN however many trade names they run under, although incorporating or taking on a partner does require a new one.
Can somebody else apply on my behalf?
Yes, up to a point. A third party designee can be authorized on Form SS-4 to receive the number and answer questions about the form, and that authority ends the moment the EIN is assigned. What they cannot do is stand in as the responsible party.
Why is the IRS charging me for an EIN?
It is not. The IRS charges nothing by any route, so a fee means you are on a filing service’s site rather than irs.gov. Check the address bar before you pay.
What is the cheapest way to get an EIN?
Applying yourself. Every route is free, and the online application at irs.gov returns the number in the same session.
Can I get an EIN immediately?
Yes, online. You get the number before you close the browser, if your principal place of business is in the US and the responsible party holds an SSN or ITIN. Fax takes about four business days and mail about four weeks.
[ Tell us what you are starting ]
If the business does not exist yet, the EIN is the easy part and the order of the other steps matters more. Send us a line about what you are setting up and where. Call (212) 641-0673 or use the contact form. No charge for the conversation.
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Get a clean quote for what your setup actually costs
If the business does not exist yet, the EIN is the easy part and the order of the other steps matters more. 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 founders on entity setup, 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.