Getting an EIN for Your Wyoming Corporation

An Employer Identification Number, or EIN, is a nine-digit number the IRS assigns to identify a business for federal tax purposes. Think of it as a Social Security number for your corporation. It's issued at no cost, directly by the IRS, and it stays with the corporation for its life.

Unlike an LLC — where a single-member owner can sometimes use their own SSN — a corporation always needs its own EIN. That's because a corporation is a separate taxpayer from its owners. The corporation files its own federal return, holds its own bank accounts, and pays its own employees, all under its EIN rather than any individual's Social Security number.

What you'll use the EIN for

• Opening the corporate bank account. Banks require the EIN to open an account in the corporation's name.
• Filing federal tax returns. A C-corporation files Form 1120 and an S-corporation files Form 1120-S, each under the corporation's EIN.
• Hiring employees. Payroll tax reporting and withholding run through the EIN.
• Making tax elections. The S-corporation election, for instance, references the corporation's EIN.
• Establishing business credit and identity. Vendors, lenders, and licensing bodies often ask for it.

Apply for the EIN after your Articles of Incorporation are accepted, not before. The IRS asks for the corporation's legal name and formation details on the application, and you want those to match the state's record exactly. Applying before the corporation legally exists invites mismatches that cause headaches later.

So the natural order is: file the Articles, wait for the state to accept them (usually same-day for online Wyoming filings), then apply for the EIN. With the EIN in hand and your bylaws adopted, you have what you need to open the corporate bank account and get operating. Founders who try to shortcut this — applying for the EIN before formation or before organizing the corporation — often end up redoing steps.

The fastest and most common way to get an EIN is the IRS online application, available on the IRS website. It's free — ignore any third-party site that charges a fee to "obtain" an EIN, because the IRS never charges for it.

The online process

• Go to the IRS EIN Assistant on IRS.gov during its operating hours (the tool isn't available around the clock).
• Identify the entity type as a corporation and provide the corporation's legal name, address, and formation state (Wyoming).
• Name the responsible party — the individual who controls or directs the corporation — along with their SSN or ITIN.
• Answer a short set of questions about the corporation's activities and expected employees.
• Submit, and the EIN is issued immediately. Download and save the confirmation letter (the CP 575) right away.

The whole thing takes about ten minutes, and you can use the EIN the same day. The responsible party must be a real person with a taxpayer ID; the IRS no longer lets entities be listed as the responsible party for a new EIN in the online tool.

Wyoming's popularity with international founders means a lot of people forming corporations here don't have a US Social Security number or ITIN. You can still get an EIN — the online tool just won't be the path.

The Form SS-4 route

If the responsible party doesn't have an SSN or ITIN, you apply using Form SS-4 submitted by fax or mail to the IRS rather than the online assistant. On the responsible party's taxpayer ID line, foreign applicants who lack an SSN or ITIN generally enter "Foreign" as instructed. Fax is faster than mail — the IRS typically returns the EIN by fax within a couple of weeks, while mail takes longer. Some international applicants also call the IRS's international line to obtain the number, but the faxed SS-4 is the reliable standard path.

Plan for the extra time

The key practical point is timing: without an SSN or ITIN, getting an EIN takes days to weeks rather than minutes. If your business plan depends on opening a bank account or signing contracts under the corporation's EIN by a certain date, start the SS-4 process early so the delay doesn't hold up everything downstream.

A handful of avoidable errors come up again and again.

Mistakes to avoid

• Paying a third party for the number itself. The EIN is free from the IRS. Services can help you file, but the number carries no government fee.
• Applying before formation. Get the corporation on the state record first so the names match.
• Getting multiple EINs. A corporation needs exactly one. Don't reapply because you misplaced the confirmation — request a copy from the IRS instead.
• Losing the CP 575 confirmation letter. Save it immediately; banks and lenders ask for it, and getting a replacement is slower than keeping the original.
• Naming the wrong responsible party. It should be a real person who controls the corporation, with a valid taxpayer ID, not a nominee or an entity.

Where we fit

Mainstay Filing focuses on getting your corporation formed correctly and serving as your Wyoming registered agent. The EIN application itself is a free IRS process you can complete quickly once your corporation is on the record, and we'll point you to it at the right moment in the formation sequence. Because tax elections and the responsible-party choice can carry consequences, questions about how the corporation should be taxed are best answered by your accountant — our role is making sure the corporation exists cleanly first, so the EIN and everything after it line up.