Corporate & Securities Law

Getting a Tax ID Shouldn?t Be That Taxing

By sbl

Recently, while perusing the web for services offered to small business owners, I came across a company that offered, as one of their services, the application for and procurement of an EIN (Employer Identification Number — commonly known as a “tax ID”) for their clients. Their charge for this? $150. Such a charge for such a service is, in no uncertain terms, ridiculous. There are a lot of tasks to do and a lot of decisions to make and a lot of things to consider when forming a small business. For some of these, professional advice is well worth the price of admission. When it comes, however, to the act of requesting a number the government so that your business can properly identify itself for taxation purposes, anything other than a nominal charge is probably the sign of a charlatan. There is no doubt that getting your EIN is important: you definitely need it if your going to hire anyone and you probably need it just to start a bank account for your business. Your EIN application may also include some tax considerations for which professional advice is reasonable. Just don’t let anyone charge you for the actual act of applying for an EIN for you until you’ve seen for yourself how the process works. See it for yourself if you’ve got 3 minutes: IRS EIN Application

Good luck and please remember the information here is very general and may not apply to your specific situation. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. For information on your situation, contact your lawyer or the appropriate government agency.

Full post as published by St. Louis Small Business Lawyer on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).