Getting an EIN for a Pennsylvania Limited Partnership

The IRS issues each business a nine-digit federal tax ID known as an Employer Identification Number. It functions as the business equivalent of a Social Security number: it identifies your entity on tax filings, bank paperwork, and payroll accounts.

For many single-owner businesses, an EIN is optional. For a limited partnership, it is not. An LP by definition has multiple partners, which means it files a federal partnership return (Form 1065) and issues Schedule K-1s to the partners. That partnership return requires an EIN — full stop, regardless of whether the LP has a single employee. There is no version of a Pennsylvania LP that can skip the EIN.

What you'll use it for

• The federal partnership return. Form 1065 is filed under the LP's EIN every year.
• Schedule K-1s. The partnership's EIN appears on the K-1s issued to partners.
• The business bank account. Banks require the EIN to open a partnership account.
• Payroll, if the LP has employees, and various state tax registrations.

Apply for the EIN after your Certificate of Limited Partnership is accepted by the Pennsylvania Department of State, but before you try to open a bank account or file anything.

The reason to wait until the LP is officially formed is that the EIN application asks for the entity's legal name and formation details. Applying before the state has accepted your certificate risks a mismatch between the name on your EIN and the name on your actual entity — a headache to untangle later. Once the certificate is on record, the entity's identity is fixed, and the EIN application will line up cleanly with it.

In practice the sequence is: form the LP, get the EIN, open the bank account, then handle everything else that depends on having both. The EIN issues immediately when you apply online, so it does not add real delay — it just needs to come in the right order.

The IRS issues EINs at no cost. The fastest route is the online EIN Assistant at IRS.gov.

Online application

• Go to the IRS EIN Assistant and select partnership as the entity type — this is the correct choice for a limited partnership.
• Provide the LP's legal name exactly as it appears on the Certificate of Limited Partnership, its Pennsylvania address, and formation details.
• Identify the responsible party (covered below) with their Social Security number or ITIN.
• Submit. The EIN is issued immediately, and you can download the confirmation letter (CP 575) right away.

The online application must be completed in one session — it does not save partway through — and it is available during the IRS's posted hours. Set aside about ten uninterrupted minutes.

If you can't apply online

A responsible party without a U.S. SSN or ITIN cannot use the online tool. In that case, apply by fax or mail using Form SS-4. Fax is considerably faster than mail, typically returning the EIN within a few business days; mail can take several weeks.

Watch for paid look-alike sites

Because the EIN is free, be wary of sites that charge a fee "to obtain your EIN" and mimic the look of an official service. Applying directly at IRS.gov costs nothing. It is reasonable to have a formation service obtain the EIN as part of a package that saves you time, but you should never pay a standalone government-style fee for the number itself.

The IRS requires every EIN application to name a responsible party: a real individual who ultimately controls or manages the entity. For a limited partnership, the responsible party should be a general partner — the general partners are the ones who actually control and manage the LP, so it is one of them, not a passive limited partner, who belongs in that field.

What this means in practice

• The responsible party must be a natural person (not another entity), with a valid SSN or ITIN, unless applying by mail/fax where an entity responsible party may be handled differently.
• Naming a limited partner as the responsible party misrepresents who controls the LP and can create confusion; keep it a general partner.
• If the responsible party ever changes — say the general partner who applied leaves the partnership — the IRS asks that you update it using Form 8822-B.

This is a small field with outsized importance for an LP, because it reflects the core distinction of the structure: general partners control, limited partners invest. Getting it right at the EIN stage keeps the federal record consistent with how your partnership is actually run.

Once the number is issued, a few immediate steps follow:

• Save the confirmation letter (CP 575). It is the official proof of your EIN, and getting a replacement later is more cumbersome than saving it now. Store it with your partnership formation documents.
• Open the partnership bank account. Bring the EIN confirmation, the accepted Certificate of Limited Partnership, the limited partnership agreement, and ID for the signers.
• Register for any required Pennsylvania tax accounts relevant to your activities, and for payroll accounts if you will have employees.
• Give the EIN to your accountant. They will need it for the Form 1065 and the partners' K-1s.

With the EIN in hand and the bank account open, your limited partnership is operational — able to transact, get paid, and keep its finances cleanly separate from the partners' personal accounts, which is essential to preserving the structure's integrity.