How to find a company's EIN

A snip.tools guide · runs alongside the EIN lookup

Looking up a company by its EIN sounds like it should be a single search box — enter the number, get the business. It usually isn't, and the reason is structural: unlike the UK's Companies House or many EU registries, the United States has no public directory that maps every EIN to a company. But two large slices are public and free to search, and there are reliable ways to confirm the rest. This guide covers what an EIN is, how to read it, and exactly where to find one for a public company, a nonprofit, or a private business. (To validate a number and reverse-look-up the public part instantly, use the EIN lookup.)

What an EIN is — and its format

An Employer Identification Number is the nine-digit federal tax ID the IRS assigns to a business, the way a Social Security Number identifies a person. It's written NN-NNNNNNN — a two-digit prefix, a dash, then seven more digits — and it's used to file taxes, run payroll, open a business bank account and apply for licenses. Two things are readable from the number itself. The format: exactly nine digits in that shape, so a number with the wrong length is simply invalid. And the prefix: the first two digits identify the IRS campus (or the online application system) that issued the EIN. Note that since 2001 EINs are mostly issued online and the prefix no longer reflects the business's location — treat it as provenance of the assignment, not geography. Unlike some IDs, an EIN has no check digit, so you can't detect a typo from the number alone; the shape is all you can verify without a lookup.

EIN vs SSN, ITIN, TIN and DUNS

The identifiers get muddled, so it's worth pinning them down:

• TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) is the umbrella term. An EIN, an SSN and an ITIN are all TINs.
• EIN identifies a business entity to the IRS.
• SSN identifies an individual; a sole proprietor with no employees can legally use their SSN instead of an EIN.
• ITIN is for individuals who need a tax ID but aren't eligible for an SSN.
• DUNS number (now the Unique Entity ID on SAM.gov) is a separate, non-IRS identifier used for credit and federal contracting — not a tax ID at all.

When someone asks for a company's "tax ID," they almost always mean its EIN.

Finding a public company's EIN (free)

Every company that files with the SEC discloses its EIN, so this is the easiest case. Two routes:

• Read the 10-K cover page. A public company's annual report (Form 10-K) shows the number on its cover, labeled "I.R.S. Employer Identification No." The same appears on 10-Qs and registration statements.
• Search SEC EDGAR. Look the company up on EDGAR (the SEC's free filing system), open a recent filing, and the EIN is on the first page. EDGAR's full-text search can even find filings by an EIN string.

This is exactly what the EIN lookup automates on the reverse side: give it an EIN and it checks SEC filings for a matching public filer.

Finding a nonprofit's EIN (free)

Tax-exempt organizations are public by law, so their EINs are wide open:

• IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) lets you search by organization name and returns the EIN and exempt status.
• Form 990 — a nonprofit's annual return, which is public — carries the EIN at the top. Aggregators like ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer and Candid/GuideStar index these by name and number.

Because this slice is fully public, a reverse lookup by EIN works for nonprofits too — the EIN lookup checks IRS tax-exempt data directly.

Finding a private company's EIN

This is the hard case, and it's where "free EIN lookup" sites overpromise. There is no public directory of private-company EINs, so the honest options are:

• Ask for a W-9. If you're doing business with the company — as a client, vendor or payer — request IRS Form W-9. It lists the legal name and EIN, and you're entitled to it for 1099 reporting. This is the cleanest, most authoritative route.
• Check documents you already have. The EIN often appears on invoices, contracts, a business loan or lease application, insurance certificates, or past 1099/W-2 forms.
• State business filings. Some states' business registries or licensing databases surface a tax or registration number; note a state entity number is not always the federal EIN.
• Paid business-data services. Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis and similar aggregate business records and may list an EIN — for a fee, and with uneven accuracy. Any site claiming a free universal EIN directory is guessing or reselling this data.

The bottom line: for a private company you generally confirm the EIN with the company, not from a public search. Treat a number found through a third party as unverified until a W-9 or IRS TIN match backs it up.

When you need to get an EIN, not find one

Often the real task isn't finding someone else's EIN — it's getting your own because you're starting a business. You apply directly with the IRS, and it's free: eligible applicants get an EIN immediately through the IRS online application, or by filing Form SS-4. You need one to hire employees, form a corporation or partnership, open a business bank account, or elect S-corp or C-corp taxation — and many single-member LLCs get one to keep business and personal finances separate. Company-formation services bundle the EIN application with incorporation and registered-agent service for convenience, but the EIN itself is never something you have to pay the IRS for.

Verify, don't just find

Finding a plausible EIN and confirming it belongs to the business you think it does are different steps. For a public company, cross-check the number against a current SEC filing; for a nonprofit, against IRS TEOS; for a vendor, use IRS TIN matching against the W-9 they gave you. The EIN lookup handles the first-pass work — it validates the format, decodes the issuing prefix, and reverse-looks-up the public slice (nonprofits and SEC filers) in one step. And once you know the business, its industry classification is a separate lookup: the NAICS code lookup finds the 2022 NAICS code for what a company actually does.