Your Federal Tax ID Number is a nine-digit code that the IRS gives your business. It looks like this: 12-3456789. Think of it as a Social Security number, but for your company.
If you’ve ever applied for a business bank account or hired an employee, you already have one. You just might have forgotten where you filed it. Don’t worry—I’ve done that too.
The most obvious spot: your official IRS confirmation letter
When you first applied for your EIN, the IRS sent you a letter called CP 575. It’s the golden ticket. That letter has your number printed right on it, usually in the top-left corner.
Did you toss it in a drawer? Taped it to your fridge? (Hey, no judgment—I once kept a tax document under a pizza box.) Check your filing cabinet, your email inbox, or even your car’s glove compartment. Desperate times, right?
Irony alert: I know a guy who laminated his CP 575 and lost it in a pile of old business cards. He found it three years later, still shiny, under a stack of takeout menus. True story.
