How to Get an EIN Number in Texas for Your Business

To get an EIN in Texas, form your entity with the Texas Secretary of State first, then apply directly with the IRS at irs.gov/EIN. The application is free, takes about 15 minutes, and the IRS issues your nine-digit number as soon as the online form is approved.¹

Do You Actually Need an EIN

Any Texas business organized as a partnership, LLC, or corporation needs an EIN, whether or not it has employees. The same is true for tax-exempt organizations, estates, trusts, and certain retirement plans.²

A sole proprietor with no employees can generally use a Social Security Number instead. That changes the moment you hire an employee or are engaged in a U.S. trade or business.³ Many sole proprietors get an EIN anyway so they don’t have to put their SSN on invoices and W-9s, and most banks want one before they’ll open a business account.

Register With Texas First

Form your LLC, corporation, or other entity with the Texas Secretary of State before applying to the IRS. The federal application expects a legal entity already in place.² The Texas filing fee for a certificate of formation for an LLC, corporation, or similar entity is $300.⁴

What to Have Ready Before You Apply

The online session times out after 15 minutes of inactivity and your progress cannot be saved, so gather everything first.⁵

The exact legal name on your Texas formation documents, plus any DBA.
Your entity type (LLC, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, trust, estate, or other).
The responsible party’s full legal name and SSN or ITIN. This must be an individual who owns or controls the business and its funds, not another entity or an existing EIN (government entities are the only exception).⁶
A physical U.S. street address for the business. A P.O. box is not accepted on the physical address line, though you can use one as a separate mailing address.⁷
Your reason for applying (starting a new business, hiring employees, changing structure, and so on).²
The date you started or acquired the business, and the closing month of your accounting year (December for calendar-year filers).

One formatting quirk: the IRS system only accepts letters, numbers, hyphens, and ampersands in business names. Spell out or replace anything else. “Jones.Com” becomes “Jones Dot Com,” and slashes become hyphens. The street address field caps at 35 characters.²

The IRS also limits EIN issuances to one per responsible party per day across all application methods. If you’re forming several entities, spread the applications across business days.⁸

How to Apply

Domestic applicants have three options. Phone applications are no longer accepted for U.S. businesses.⁷

Online

The online application at irs.gov/EIN is by far the fastest route. You answer the same questions that appear on Form SS-4, and the system assigns your EIN as soon as the application clears validation.¹ The tool is available in Eastern Time:

Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. (the following day)
Saturday, 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, 6:00 p.m. to midnight

Fax

Complete Form SS-4 (revised December 2025) and fax it to the IRS service center for your area. Include a return fax number and the IRS will fax back your EIN in about four business days.²

Mail

Mail the completed SS-4 to the address in the form’s instructions. Processing runs about four weeks, so the IRS suggests submitting the form four to five weeks before you actually need the number.⁸

If You Don’t Have a U.S. Address

The online tool requires that the responsible party have a legal residence, principal place of business, or office in the United States or a U.S. territory. If yours doesn’t, call the IRS international line at 267-941-1099 (not toll-free), Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The caller must be authorized to receive the EIN and answer the SS-4 questions.⁷

If the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and isn’t eligible for one, write “foreign” or “N/A” on Line 7b rather than leaving it blank. Mailing the form to the EIN International Operation in Cincinnati is also an option, with the usual four-week wait.

After the IRS Assigns Your EIN

The IRS mails a confirmation notice called the CP 575, showing your EIN, the legal name and address of the business, and the assignment date. Keep it. The IRS will not reissue the CP 575 if you lose it, though you can request a replacement letter (a 147C) by calling the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933.

If a return or deposit is due before your EIN arrives, write “Applied For” and the application date in the EIN field. For a deposit, send the payment to the IRS service center for your area along with your name, address, type of tax, period covered, and the date you applied.⁷

Texas State Registrations Still Apply

A federal EIN doesn’t cover your state obligations. Texas has no personal income tax, but businesses are subject to the Texas franchise tax, and if you sell taxable goods or services you also need a sales tax permit from the Texas Comptroller. The Comptroller’s application will ask for your EIN or SSN.⁹ The franchise tax applies to most LLCs, corporations, partnerships, and other legal entities formed or doing business in Texas, and your EIN is a key identifier on those filings.¹⁰

When a Change Requires a New EIN

Most everyday changes, including a new business name, a new address, or adding a DBA, do not require a new EIN. Ownership and legal structure changes usually do. The specific triggers by entity type:¹¹

A sole proprietor who incorporates, forms a partnership, or declares bankruptcy needs a new EIN.
A corporation needs a new EIN when it receives a new charter from the secretary of state, converts to a partnership or sole proprietorship, or merges to create a new corporation.
A partnership needs a new EIN when it incorporates, dissolves and starts a new partnership, or one partner takes over as a sole proprietor.
An LLC needs a new EIN when it terminates and forms a new corporation or partnership, or when a single-member LLC must begin filing employment or excise taxes.

Ignore Paid EIN Websites

The IRS charges nothing for an EIN. Third-party sites that mimic government portals routinely charge $50 to several hundred dollars for the same application you can complete free at irs.gov. Confirm you’re on a .gov site before entering any personal or business information.¹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number Requirement
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Texas Secretary of State. Business Filings and Trademarks Fee Schedule
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National Taxpayer Advocate. When Taxpayers Struggle to Obtain an EIN, Everyone Loses
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Internal Revenue Service. Responsible Parties and Nominees
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 (12/2025)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 (Rev. December 2025)
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Texas Comptroller. Texas Online Tax Registration Application
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Texas Comptroller. 2024 Franchise Tax Instructions
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Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN