Lost Your LLC's EIN? How to Find It and Get Letter 147C
To find a lost EIN, look on the notice the IRS sent when you applied, on past business tax returns, and with your business bank. If you still cannot find it, call the IRS business and specialty tax line, which can give you the number if you are authorized to receive it, and request Letter 147C.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated:
Never applied for one? This page is for an EIN you already have. If your LLC has never been issued one, see our step-by-step EIN guide. If you are unsure whether the terms EIN, FEIN and TIN mean the same thing, see EIN vs TIN vs FEIN.
Where to Look First
The four places the IRS tells you to check.
The IRS page on EINs lists these steps for finding a missing EIN:
- Look for it on the notice the IRS issued when you applied for the EIN.
- Contact the bank that has your business account.
- Check with agencies where you applied for state or local licenses.
- Look on past business tax returns.
Our guide to opening an LLC bank account covers what banks ask for when you open an account.
Three Ways the IRS Confirms an EIN
From the IRS's EIN confirmation section.
When you need proof of an EIN you already hold, the IRS says there are three ways to confirm it:
| Option | What the IRS says |
|---|---|
| Entity transcript | An entity transcript verifies information in IRS records, such as the EIN, filing requirements and whether the business is a single-member or multiple-member LLC. Eligible business owners can get a business entity transcript through their business tax account or the IRS business line. |
| Digital CP 575 from a Business Tax Account | Eligible Business Tax Account users can download a digital CP 575, Employer Identification Number Verification Notice. The IRS says it can be used as a substitute for the original CP 575A-J notice series and for Letter 147C. The IRS says Business Tax Account isn't yet available for LLCs that file as sole proprietors (Schedule C or F), which includes most one-owner LLCs taxed by default, and not every user role in an account can download the notice. |
| Letter 147C by phone | Call the IRS business and specialty tax line and request Letter 147C, EIN Previously Assigned. |
Which of these you can use depends on your role in the business and what the IRS can verify, so read the IRS's own pages before you choose.
Calling the IRS to Get Your EIN or Letter 147C
The number and hours as the IRS prints them.
The IRS says that if you still cannot find your EIN, you can call 800-829-4933, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, and that residents of Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time. Its telephone assistance page lists this as the business and specialty tax line and EIN assignment line, for businesses, corporations, partnerships and trusts that need help with their business accounts, including employer identification numbers. Its page on EINs also gives TTY 800-829-4059.
The IRS says it will verify your identity and provide the number over the phone if you are authorized to receive it. The IRS page does not define “authorized” further, and we do not either. Be ready to explain your connection to the LLC, and if you are not sure you qualify, ask the IRS or a tax professional.
Other people, such as a tax professional, can get entity information if they have authorization on file. For a business entity transcript, the IRS says third parties with authorization to receive entity information can get it through the Practitioner Priority Service Line by submitting Form 2848 or Form 8821, entering “Business entity transcript” or “Entity information” on line 3. If someone else will call the IRS about Letter 147C for you, ask the IRS what authorization it needs on file before the call.
Letter 147C and the CP 575 Notice
Two documents that show your EIN.
Letter 147C, which the IRS titles “EIN Previously Assigned,” is a way to confirm an EIN the IRS has already issued. The CP 575 is the notice the IRS issued when the EIN was assigned, and the IRS describes the digital CP 575 in a Business Tax Account as a substitute for the original CP 575A-J notices and for Letter 147C. If a bank or other requester asks for proof of your EIN, ask it which document it accepts.
If you applied online, the IRS issues the number on the confirmation screen at the end of the application, and our EIN guide tells you to download that confirmation. If you did not keep it, the steps above apply.
Do Not Apply for a Second EIN
The IRS says one entity should have one number.
The IRS says a business entity should have only one EIN. It also says you need a new EIN, in general, when you change your entity's ownership or structure, and that you do not need a new one to change your business name, address or responsible party. A lost number is not a reason to apply again. If you already have more than one EIN and are not sure which to use, the IRS says to call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and it will tell you which number to use.
Once You Find It
Keep it where you can find it again.
Store the EIN confirmation with your other company records, such as your operating agreement. For how an LLC's tax classification affects which number appears on its returns, see the LLC tax guide and, for a one-owner LLC, the single-member LLC guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It describes rules that can differ from state to state, and fees, rates, forms and deadlines can change after we review them. It cannot tell you what applies to your own business: that turns on where the business is formed, where it operates and how it is taxed. Confirm anything you rely on with the state or federal agency concerned, or with a licensed attorney or CPA, before you act on it.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.
- irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/employer-id-numbersIRS: Employer identification number (EIN confirmation, and Lost or forgot EIN)
- irs.gov/businesses/telephone-assistance-contacts-for-business-customersIRS: Telephone assistance contacts for business customers
- irs.gov/businesses/get-a-business-tax-transcriptIRS: Get a business tax transcript
- irs.gov/businesses/business-tax-accountIRS: Business Tax Account
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.