How to Find Your EIN Number From Abroad

Many founders abroad assume that finding an EIN means logging into a government portal, typing in your details, and pulling up the number on a dashboard. The IRS does not work that way. There is no online lookup tool that lets you retrieve an Employer Identification Number after the fact, which is exactly why so many non-resident founders panic when they misplace the original confirmation. The good news: if your US LLC ever had an EIN, that number still exists, and there are concrete ways to recover it from anywhere in the world.

How do you find your EIN number if you already have one?

To find your EIN number, you check the documents the IRS already sent you or that referenced the number, because the IRS does not offer a public EIN lookup. The fastest source is the CP 575 notice, the original confirmation letter the IRS issues when an EIN is assigned. If you no longer have it, you work down a short list of secondary places the same nine-digit number was recorded.

Here is where the EIN almost always appears, in rough order of how reliable each source is:

  • The CP 575 confirmation letter from the IRS, sent when the EIN was first assigned. This is the definitive record.
  • A 147C letter, which is a replacement EIN verification the IRS issues on request if the CP 575 is lost.
  • Prior federal tax returns filed for the LLC, such as a Form 1120 or 1065, where the EIN sits at the top of page one.
  • Bank account opening paperwork, since US banks and payment platforms record the EIN when they onboard a business.
  • Any IRS notice or letter about the entity, which prints the EIN in the upper portion.
  • Past payroll or 1099 filings, if the LLC ever paid contractors or staff.

If you formed the company through a service, the formation provider often has the EIN on file too. Check your account records before assuming it is gone.

Is there an online tool to look up your EIN from abroad?

No, there is no IRS online tool that lets you look up your own EIN from abroad or anywhere else. The IRS deliberately does not publish an EIN search the way it once tested an online assistant for assignment. For a business that is not a publicly traded company or a registered nonprofit, the number is treated as confidential taxpayer information, so retrieval happens through verification, not a search box.

That distinction matters for non-residents. You will see third-party sites advertising "EIN lookup" services, but they are either pulling from public filings of large entities or charging you to do something you can do yourself for free. For a privately held Wyoming LLC owned by a founder overseas, the realistic paths are your own paperwork or a direct request to the IRS for a 147C letter.

How do you get a 147C letter from outside the US?

You get a 147C letter by phoning the IRS Business and Specialty Tax line and asking for EIN verification, after which the IRS sends the letter by mail or fax. The 147C is the official replacement when your CP 575 is lost, and it restates the same EIN with the registered business name. It is free, and it is the route the IRS itself points lost-EIN holders toward.

Before you call from abroad, line up a few things so the conversation goes quickly:

  1. Be ready to confirm the legal name of the LLC exactly as it was registered with the state.
  2. Have the responsible party's name and details on hand, since the IRS will verify you are authorized to receive the number.
  3. Know the registered US business address that was on the original application.
  4. Account for the time difference. The line operates on US Eastern hours, so a founder in Sao Paulo or further afield should pick a slot that overlaps.
  5. Decide how you want the letter delivered. Fax is usually faster than international mail, and many non-residents route a fax to a virtual fax service they can read online.

A founder in Brazil who had filed her LLC paperwork a year earlier and then lost the email thread spent twenty minutes on this call, confirmed her details, and had the 147C faxed to her the same day. The human-touch part was simply having someone walk her through which address the IRS expected, because the verification fails if the details do not match the original record.

What if the EIN application was never actually completed?

If you can find no EIN anywhere and no record of one being assigned, it is likely the application was never completed, which means there is nothing to recover and you need to apply fresh. This is common for founders who started a formation process, paid for some steps, but never finished the SS-4 that requests the EIN. In that case, finding your EIN number turns into getting one for the first time.

For a non-resident without a Social Security Number, the EIN is requested on IRS Form SS-4, which is filed by fax or mail because the online assistant requires an SSN or ITIN that most foreign founders do not have. The number itself is free from the IRS. By fax it typically takes a few weeks, and no provider can promise a specific date because the IRS controls the timeline.

Getting your EIN without an SSN as a non-resident founder

If you are a non-resident founder who needs the EIN handled rather than chased, the practical answer is to have the formation and the SS-4 filing done together so the number is recorded from day one. This avoids the lost-EIN problem entirely, because the confirmation lands in one place you control.

CORPBOLT is a U.S. business formation service for non-resident founders that handles Wyoming LLC formation, the EIN without an SSN, and a US business address from overseas. Plans start from $349/year, with the EIN included from $599. (corpbolt.com)

What that combination gives a founder abroad, compared with stitching the pieces together separately:

  • The Wyoming LLC formation and the EIN application move through one process, so the EIN confirmation is tied to records you can find later.
  • The EIN is obtained without an SSN, using the SS-4 fax or mail route that the IRS requires for founders without one.
  • A US business and mailing address is set up at the same time, which is the address the IRS will expect to match if you ever request a 147C.
  • A registered agent in Wyoming is in place, so state and federal mail has a fixed destination instead of being scattered across personal inboxes.
  • It is fully remote, with no US visit required.

On banking, the honest framing matters: CORPBOLT helps you get bank-ready and prepare to open an account, but the bank or platform always makes the decision. Keep your EIN paperwork organized, because that same number is what a bank or a processor like Stripe or PayPal will ask for during onboarding.

How should you store your EIN so you never lose it again?

You store your EIN by saving the CP 575 or 147C letter in at least two durable places and recording the nine-digit number somewhere you control directly, not only in an email thread. Losing an EIN is almost always a storage problem, not an IRS problem, since the number does not change once assigned.

A simple system that holds up for founders working across borders:

  • Keep a PDF scan of the EIN confirmation letter in cloud storage you own, labeled with the LLC name and the EIN.
  • Write the EIN, the legal entity name, and the formation date into your password manager or a secure notes vault.
  • Store a copy with whoever helps you with US taxes, so it is recoverable even if you switch devices.
  • Note the registered US address tied to the EIN, because you will need it to verify identity if you ever call the IRS.

Do this once and the question of how to find your EIN number stops being a recurring scramble. It becomes a thirty-second lookup in your own files.

Frequently asked questions

Can I find my EIN by searching a government database?

No, the IRS does not run a public database where a private LLC owner can search for their own EIN. Publicly traded companies and registered nonprofits show up in certain filings, but a privately held Wyoming LLC does not, so you recover the number through your own documents or a 147C verification.

Does the EIN ever expire or change if I lose the letter?

No, an EIN does not expire and does not change because you lost the confirmation letter. Once the IRS assigns the nine-digit number to your entity, it stays attached to that entity, which is why a 147C letter can simply restate the original number.

How long does a 147C letter take to arrive from abroad?

If you request it by fax, a 147C letter often arrives within the same call or shortly after, while international mail can take longer. The IRS controls timing, so treat fax as the faster option for founders outside the US and do not expect a guaranteed delivery date.

Is there any fee to recover my EIN from the IRS?

No, recovering your EIN through a 147C letter is free from the IRS, just as getting the original EIN is free. You only ever pay a service to prepare or file the application work, never for the number itself.

What documents do I need ready to verify my EIN by phone?

Have the exact legal name of the LLC, the responsible party's identity details, and the registered US business address from the original application. The IRS uses these to confirm you are authorized before it releases or restates the EIN.