On March 27, the IRS announced that taxpayers can no longer
request an employer identification number unless the
"responsible party" named on the application has a Social
Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. This
change goes into effect on May 13.
An Employee Identification Number (EIN) is a nine-digit taxpayer
identification number assigned to sole proprietors, corporations,
partnerships, estates, trusts, employee retirement plans and other
entities for tax filing and reporting purposes. Applicants can
apply for an EIN by completing an online EIN application or by
filing IRS Form SS-4. Under either method, the applicant must
provide the name of a "responsible party," which the IRS
defines as an individual (unless the applicant is a government
entity) who ultimately owns or controls the entity, or who
exercises ultimate effective control over the entity. Prior to this
rule change and on a pre-2018 iteration of the Form SS-4,
applicants were
