Official records how-to · tested October 2026

EIN Lookup: How to Find a Company's or LLC's EIN

The IRS has no public EIN database. A company's EIN shows up only if it has landed in a public record kept for some other purpose, and which record that is depends on what kind of company it is. If the company is publicly traded, an LLC that filed a Form D, an employer with a retirement plan, a charity or nonprofit, or a company registered in Florida, there is a chance you can find it.

We checked 23 state registers and 5 public databases one by one. Below, with the evidence, is where an EIN actually appears and who the IRS will give the number to over the phone.

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Start here: whose EIN are you looking for?

Can the IRS give you a company's EIN by phone?

Short answer: to the company itself, yes; to anyone else, no. For an authorized person, the phone is the most official way to get an EIN, but the IRS does not list it as the first step.

Before you call: the IRS's own order

The IRS's "Lost or forgot EIN" steps (IRS EIN page, last reviewed July 17, 2026):

1. The notice the IRS sent after you applied (CP 575), or, if you applied by fax, the fax the IRS sent back.
2. Your company's bank records.
3. Agencies where you applied for state or local licenses.
4. The business's past tax returns.
5. If you still can't find it: 800-829-4933, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. your local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific time). TTY: 800-829-4059.

In the IRS's own words, it will give the number over the phone "if you're authorized to receive it."

Who the IRS will give the EIN to

The manual IRS employees work from (Internal Revenue Manual 21.7.13, effective October 1, 2026) names the authorized person separately for each type of entity.

Two finer points from the same manual:

• If the caller is a corporate officer other than the president, the IRS first asks whether they can legally bind the corporation. A personal assistant or secretary without that authority will not get the number.
• For a corporation formed in Delaware, the incorporator can also receive the EIN.

Source: IRM 21.7.13.

What the IRS asks on the call

Have these ready (IRM 21.7.1.4.7.1 and IRM 10.10.3.3.14):

• Your position in the company. This is the first question.
• Your full name, SSN or ITIN, address, and date of birth.
• The company's exact legal name (including LLC or Inc) and the address the IRS has on file.

Letter 147C and the digital CP575

• On the call, you can ask for Letter 147C (EIN Previously Assigned). The IRS gives the number verbally and sends the letter by fax and/or by mail to the address on file. By mail, expect it in 10 to 14 business days (IRM 21.7.1.4.7.1).
• Some businesses can now skip the phone and download a digital CP575 from their Business Tax Account. The IRS describes it as a substitute for Letter 147C (Understanding your CP575 notice).

• But single-member LLCs that report on Schedule C (the most common small-business setup) can't use Business Tax Account yet. For these owners, the phone call and Letter 147C are still the main route.

• IRS phone representatives can't see your Business Tax Account.

If you are not authorized

Customer, vendor, researcher, competitor: calling the IRS won't work. The manual gives the agent two options for an unauthorized caller (IRM 21.7.1.4.7.1, revised October 1, 2026):

"Conference the taxpayer into the call, or Have the taxpayer call personally."

In other words, either you get the company on the line, or the company calls itself. For sole proprietors the manual is even stricter: the IRS will not tell an unauthorized person whether an EIN exists at all (IRM 21.7.13.5.1.2).

Does Form 8821 or Form 2848 get around this? Only if the company itself signs it. If the company is willing to sign, it is quicker for it to hand you the EIN on a W-9.

EIN lookup by state: which registers show an EIN (23 tested)

What to know first: the IRS does not give EINs to state business registers (the Secretary of State). The law allows IRS information to go only to a state's tax agencies, and only for tax work (IRC §6103(d)(1)). A business register is not a tax agency. Florida's own filing help names the IRS as the source of the number: "The Federal Employer Identification Number is a 9-digit identification number assigned to a business entity by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)" (Sunbiz annual report help).

So if you see an EIN on a state record, the company reported it itself. It can be blank, "APPLIED FOR," out of date, or wrong. The IRS has not verified it.

How we tested: on October 15, 2026, we opened each state's official business search page and checked three things: (1) whether there is an option to search by EIN, (2) whether the record of a well-known company formed in that state shows an EIN field, and whether the field is filled in, and (3) whether any other tax number appears.

Last tested: October 15, 2026.

Florida: the one register that shows a filled EIN

• The Sunbiz record has a FEI/EIN Number field, and it is filled in: Publix Super Markets, Inc., Document Number 112252.

• "FEI/EIN" is not a different number. It is the EIN the IRS assigned: the number on Publix's Sunbiz record (59-0324412) matches the EIN on SEC EDGAR exactly.
• Why Florida is different: the law. Listing the EIN on the annual report is a legal requirement for both LLCs and corporations. A company without an EIN only has to say whether it has applied for one.
  • LLCs, Fla. Stat. 605.0212(1)(d): "The company's federal employer identification number or, if none, whether one has been applied for."
  • Corporations, Fla. Stat. 607.1622(1)(d): "The corporation's federal employer identification number, if any, or, if none, whether one has been applied for."
  • Fla. Stat. 119.092: Florida's registration records must be searchable directly by FEIN, and the Department of State must keep an FEIN registry for every business registered with it. That is the legal basis for Sunbiz's search-by-FEI/EIN option.

• The online annual report offers "Applied For" and "Not Applicable." So if the field reads "APPLIED FOR," the company had no EIN yet when it filed that report (Sunbiz annual report instructions).

• Sunbiz's "Search by" list includes FEI/EIN Number. If you already have an EIN, you can find which Florida company it belongs to (Sunbiz search).

Nevada: the field exists, but it is empty

Nevada records have FEIN and IRS Registered Name fields. On both records we checked, both fields were blank ("-"): Wynn Resorts, Limited and Wynn Resorts Holdings, LLC. Seeing the field is not the same as finding the number.

Texas: search by EIN on the Comptroller site

• In Texas, the search we point you to is not the Secretary of State's. It is the Comptroller's Franchise Tax Account Status search. The search box label reads: "11-digit Comptroller's Taxpayer Number or the 9-digit Federal EIN."

• We entered Costco's EIN. The result was Costco Wholesale Corporation and its 11-digit Texas Taxpayer Number, which is made up of "1" + the 9-digit EIN + 1 more digit.

• One caution: the Comptroller's own help text says a Texas taxpayer number is "not the same as" the federal EIN, and numbers that start with "3" are not derived from an EIN (Whole Foods is one example). So we are not stating a rule that you can read an EIN from a Texas number. We are only reporting what we measured.
• Practical use: this is a good way to verify which Texas company an EIN you already have belongs to. The record itself does not show the EIN as a separate field.

State ID numbers that look like an EIN but are not

The mistake readers make most often is taking a state number for an EIN.

• Florida's Document Number, Washington's UBI, Nevada's NV Business ID, New York's DOS ID, and North Carolina's SOSID are all state registration numbers, not EINs.
• In Rhode Island, the record's web address contains the parameter FEIN=000015908 (Hasbro). That is Rhode Island's own record number, not an EIN.
• Alabama's official page says it plainly: the Entity ID "is NOT an EIN" (Alabama Secretary of State).
• Oklahoma asks for your name and email before it opens a record's details, so we could not measure it.

Federal sources where an EIN is public

Each source covers only certain companies. "I can't find it" often means you are looking in the wrong source. The table shows which is which.

SEC EDGAR (public companies and Form D filers)

• Public companies: the "Company Information" panel on the EDGAR company page shows the EIN (Apple Inc.).

• A less-known route: private LLCs that raise money and file a Form D also appear on EDGAR with an EIN. Example: 6700 Sloane Drive Investments, LLC.

• Watch out: some Form D filings show the EIN as 000000000. That means "not entered." It is not a real number.

DOL Form 5500 search (employers with a benefit plan)

• Enter the employer or plan name in the EFAST2 Form 5500 Search. In the results, the EIN/PN column shows the employer's EIN together with the plan number. Example: Costco Wholesale Corporation.

• The search box also lets you search by EIN.

IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and Form 990

• Tax Exempt Organization Search: search by name or EIN; the first column of the results is EIN. Example: American National Red Cross. The same search also returns local chapters, so tell the main record apart by its address.

• For copies of Form 990, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer shows the EIN in the profile header.

Federal Audit Clearinghouse

• Single audit reports of organizations that spend federal funds. The search box accepts "UEI or EIN." The results table shows the UEI; the EIN is on the report summary page, on the EIN: line.

EIN verification if you pay the business: W-9 and TIN Matching

• Form W-9: this is the route the IRS recognizes. The instructions put it this way: "Use Form W-9 to request the taxpayer identification number (TIN)" (Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9).
• TIN Matching: it tells you whether a name/EIN pair you already have matches IRS records. It does not tell you the EIN. From Publication 2108: "IRS will not divulge an entity's name or TIN."
  • Who can use it: payers that file information returns (1099s and similar) and their authorized agents.
  • Limits: 25 name/TIN pairs per interactive session, 100,000 per bulk file.
  • If you try different names with the same EIN, access is suspended for 96 hours after four attempts. In other words, you can't use TIN Matching to guess an EIN.

Paid "EIN lookup" sites

• Paid EIN lookup sites are not selling IRS data; the IRS publishes no such data set. What they sell is generally a mix of the public sources above, credit bureau data, and data they have compiled themselves.
• A common misconception is that "an EIN is public record." It isn't. An EIN becomes visible only when it ends up in another record, like the ones above.
• The IRS warns about websites that charge to apply for an EIN. Getting an EIN is free (IRS: Get an EIN).

EIN lookup FAQ

Is there a free EIN lookup?

The IRS has no free, general EIN search. The free official sources depend on the type of company: SEC EDGAR, the DOL Form 5500 search, IRS TEOS, and Sunbiz in Florida. If the company fits none of these, the most reliable route is to ask it for a W-9.

Can I look up an EIN by company name?

Yes, but only in the sources where an EIN appears: EDGAR, Form 5500, TEOS, and Florida's Sunbiz. We tested 23 state registers; 20 of them have no EIN field on the record.

Will the IRS tell me another company's EIN?

No. The IRS gives the EIN only to a person authorized to act for the company. Its manual tells agents to have an unauthorized caller conference the company into the call or have the company call itself.

How do I find my LLC's EIN?

Check the CP 575 notice, your bank, and past tax returns. If you can't find it, call 800-829-4933 and ask for Letter 147C. In a multi-member LLC, any member can call. Single-member LLCs that file Schedule C can't use Business Tax Account yet.

Is an EIN public record?

No. Federal law treats an EIN as confidential tax information. If the company has put it on another public record (an SEC filing, a Form 5500, a Florida record), you can see it there.

How do I verify an EIN?

If you are a payer that files 1099s, IRS TIN Matching verifies a name/EIN pair. For Texas companies, you can enter the EIN in the Comptroller search and check which company comes up. For Florida, search Sunbiz by FEI/EIN.

EntitySearch.us is not a government agency. We do not hold or sell EIN data. The statements on this page link to the official sources they rely on.