Cost-effective Form SS-4 — EIN application

Form SS-4 — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. United States (IRS). Cost-effective SS-4 with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

  • 15+Years of cross-border experience
  • 18,000+Clients served
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  • 4Global offices — India, USA, Canada & UAE

Secure a fixed quote

Your own file sets the fee. Send it over, and a written quote arrives before anything is prepared.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • 24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
In 60 words

Form SS-4 is an identifier or registration: Applies for the employer identification number a US entity or a foreign entity with US obligations needs. New US entities, foreign entities with US withholding or filing duties, and foreign-owned LLCs that need a number to file their information returns.

Who has to deal with this

New US entities, foreign entities with US withholding or filing duties, and foreign-owned LLCs that need a number to file their information returns.

The question below is the one that actually determines the outcome. A foreign applicant with no US social security number cannot use the fast online route, so the number that everything downstream depends on — bank account, payroll, withholding filings — becomes the first scheduling constraint of the whole expansion.

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

Transparent, fixed pricing for form ss-4 EIN application

An SS-4 is priced on who the responsible party is and what the entity is. A US applicant with an existing tax number is a short piece of work; a foreign applicant shut out of the faster route, or an entity whose classification has to be settled first, is more. The fee is agreed in writing beforehand.

1120-F / 5472 filing — fixed-fee price

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The foreign corporation's US return with the related-party information reporting, filed on time so deductions and treaty positions are preserved rather than argued for.
See the full fee page

US state nexus review — fixed-fee price

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

A state-by-state review of sales, transactions, employees and inventory against each state's own tests, with the registration and collection start dates identified.
See the full fee page

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The corporate return and its cross-border schedules as one engagement, so the group files a consistent position everywhere.
See the fee schedule

Transfer pricing documentation

From $2,500

fixed, quoted before work starts

Documentation for transactions between related companies: the method, the comparables and the file an authority asks to see.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Employer registration and withholding for staff on assignment, arranged before the first pay run rather than corrected after it.
See the fee schedule

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for people whose tax position did not stay in one country, including the years residence itself is in question.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The information returns that carry the heaviest penalties — foreign accounts, foreign property, foreign affiliates — prepared from one asset list.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — all of it on a single page, so the number you compare is the number you pay.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form SS-4 applies
What the identifier unlocksDocuments required
The obligationApplies for the employer identification number a US entity or a foreign entity with US obligations needs.
Who it bindsNew US entities, foreign entities with US withholding or filing duties, and foreign-owned LLCs that need a number to file their information returns.
Jurisdiction and authorityUnited States — IRS
Category of filingIdentifier or registration

When it is due

There is no annual deadline; there is a sequencing one. Everything downstream — filings, refunds, treaty claims, bank instructions — waits on the identifier, so it sits at the front of the project plan. The date is confirmed for your year at the start of the engagement, not assumed from last year's.

What late or missed filing costs

The cost of delay is not a penalty, it is a stalled file: a refund that cannot be claimed, a treaty rate that cannot be documented, a remittance a bank will not process. Where years are already missed, the route chosen for the earliest year affects the relief available for the rest — so the sequence is decided before anything is filed.

A worked example

This is what the rule produces when you put figures through it.

Credit relief on one stream of income

Take C$158,000 of income taxed in both countries. Assume the other country charged 20% on it and the home country would charge 38% on the same amount.

Credit relief on one stream of income
ItemAmount
Income taxed in both countriesC$158,000
Tax paid abroad (assumed 20%)C$31,600
Home tax on the same income (assumed 38%)C$60,040
Credit available (lesser of the two)C$31,600
Home tax still payableC$28,440

The credit absorbs C$31,600 and leaves C$28,440 payable at home, because the home rate on this income is the higher of the two. The balance is real cash and it is due on the home timetable, which is why instalments get raised in the first meeting. The shape of that result holds; the size of it depends entirely on your own numbers and dates.

An illustration, not a client file. The sums are chosen for legibility and the thresholds are stated for the example alone — nothing reaches a filing until it has been confirmed at source for your own year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Form SS-4 is quoted with the rest of the year's filings so you see one number rather than a list of add-ons. If the scope changes we come back to you before doing the work. See the CRA voluntary disclosures program — offshore and unreported income for comparable engagements.

How the engagement runs

  1. 1We start with the chronology: dates, countries, and what has already been filed
  2. 2You get the scope and the fee in writing before we touch anything
  3. 3The work is prepared and reviewed by a named person, not a queue
  4. 4Nothing is filed until you have read it
  • Every statutory figure in your file is verified for your own year at source.
  • Fixed fees agreed before any work starts, so the number in the quote is the number on the invoice.
  • Consultations scheduled to your working day rather than ours.

Describe the situation in your own words; translating it into forms is our job.

Reviewed for accuracy for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Written as general guidance, not as a recommendation for your situation. Talk it through with us before acting on it.

Foreign account reporting — what this page covers

The subject here is SS-4, which is what people mean when they search for foreign account reporting. This page covers who it applies to, the filings it produces, and the fixed fee agreed before work begins.

A foreign applicant with no US social security number cannot use the fast online route, so the number that everything downstream depends on — bank account, payroll, withholding filings — becomes the first scheduling constraint of the whole expansion.

From first contact to filed return

  1. Documents first, questions second

    We read the file before asking anything, so the questions we do ask are the ones that matter.

  2. A quote you can hold us to

    Fixed in writing against a defined scope. No hourly meter, and no revision after the fact.

  3. The order of filing decided deliberately

    Which return goes first can decide whether relief is available at all. That is planned, not discovered.

  4. Nothing filed without your sign-off

    You see the completed work, ask what you need to, and approve it before submission.

What you are actually buying with form ss-4 EIN application

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

Tax treaty
A bilateral agreement allocating taxing rights between two countries, capping withholding rates, resolving dual residence and providing for relief from double taxation.
Ordinarily resident
A status used in some systems for someone habitually resident in the country, which can limit or extend the income within the charge independently of the residence test.
Newcomer
Someone who has become resident during the year. Property held on arrival is generally treated as acquired at that day's value, which is why arrival-value evidence is worth keeping.
Departure tax
The tax on the deemed disposition triggered when residency ends. Which assets are inside it, and which keep their domestic tax hooks instead, is the whole planning question.
form ss-4 EIN application: Our analysis

A foreign applicant with no US social security number cannot use the fast online route, so the number that everything downstream depends on — bank account, payroll, withholding filings — becomes the first scheduling constraint of the whole expansion.

Complexity changes the work, not the deal: the written fee and scope come first, a named practitioner signs off, and the filing follows your approval of the delivered file.

Fixed fees around form ss-4 EIN application

Where the employer identification number is the first step of a wider setup, with withholding registrations, payroll accounts and a classification election following behind it, the application is usually quoted as part of that sequence rather than on its own, because the ordering of the filings is what dictates the work.

Transfer pricing documentation

$2,500fixed, before work starts

Covers: Benchmarking and documentation for related-party dealings, prepared to the standard the reviewing authority applies.

See this fee page

Payroll & mobility setup

$999fixed, before work starts

Covers: The employer side of mobility — where to register, what to withhold, and what to report once someone works across a border.

See this fee page

Why choose Legal Quotient for form ss-4 EIN application

Filed with the authority, not just prepared

The engagement runs to submission and to the correspondence that follows it, including the queries that arrive months later.

Both sides prepared together

Two returns built against each other by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once and nothing falls between the two systems.

Late and missed years are ordinary work

An unfiled history is not a reason to wait longer. We assess what is still open and what relief the delay attracts before the first return goes in.

One team, not two firms billing separately

You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers with two sets of assumptions. One engagement covers each country the file touches.

The team at work in the open-plan office

From first call to filed return

Step 1

Establishing the facts

We start with the chronology: dates, countries, and what has already been filed

Step 2

Agreeing the fee

You get the scope and the fee in writing before we touch anything

Step 3

Drafting and review

The work is prepared and reviewed by a named person, not a queue

Step 4

Filing and follow-up

Nothing is filed until you have read it

Two of the firm’s advisers at the glass desk in the Delhi office

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Start with a conversation about the facts – Dates, residence, where the income arose. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to know what applies.
  • Step 2: Scope and price, both written down – You get the scope and the fixed fee together, so there is no question later about what was included.
  • Step 3: Prepared by one team, reviewed by a named practitioner – The same people see both sides of the file, and the reviewer signs their name to it.
  • Step 4: Filed, then followed through – Submission is not the end of the engagement — the queries that arrive afterwards are part of it.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

More of the same work, from other angles

Each of these carries its own guide, pricing pointers and FAQ.

The work we do for clients like this

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Which treaty wins when three countries apply The full guide to which treaty wins three countries, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form 35 — appeal to CIT(A) (India) Its own page: form 35 India — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Amending a filed return — all three countries Everything on amending a filed return three countries, at the same depth as this page.
Form 1042 — annual withholding return Form 1042 annual withholding return — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Deemed disposition on death The full guide to deemed disposition on death, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form 706 — US estate return Its own page: form 706 US estate return — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Pre-immigration tax planning Everything on pre-immigration tax planning, at the same depth as this page.

Who we bring this work to

Technology & SaaS — what we charge Everything on technology & saas what we charge, at the same depth as this page.
Civil & structural engineers — your filing calendar Civil & structural engineers your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Nurses working abroad — what we charge The full guide to nurses working abroad what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Airline pilots — relief you're probably missing Its own page: airline pilots relief you're probably missing — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Crypto traders — your filing calendar Everything on crypto traders your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.
Software developers — what we charge Software developers what we charge — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Oil & gas rotational workers — what we charge The full guide to oil & gas rotational workers what we charge, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for crypto traders Its own page: crypto traders tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Airline pilots — what you owe in each country Everything on airline pilots what you owe in each country, at the same depth as this page.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

Pakistan tax for expats — country guide Everything on Pakistan tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
France tax for expats — country guide France tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Sweden tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Sweden tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Armenia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: armenia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Zimbabwe tax for expats — country guide Everything on zimbabwe tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Canada–Mexico tax corridor Canada Mexico tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–Netherlands tax corridor The full guide to Canada Netherlands tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Jordan tax for expats — country guide Its own page: jordan tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Argentina tax for expats — country guide Everything on Argentina tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Files that look like this one

Case study 1

Fifteen Per Cent Held Back From a Fee for Services in Canada

A payer must withhold from fees paid to a non-resident for services rendered in Canada, whether or not any tax is ultimately owed. A waiver applied for before the work is invoiced avoids the withholding; after it, the money comes back through a return.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

One Employee in a State Nobody Had Registered In

A single person working from home can create payroll registration, withholding and sometimes an income tax filing for the company in that state. The review measures activity against each state's own threshold.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A US Citizen Settled in India, Filing on Both Sides

Residence in India and citizenship in the United States produce two annual returns for one income. The order decides the credit, and the Indian financial year and the US calendar year have to be reconciled before either is prepared.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Ten Years of Missed Returns Filed as One Engagement

Filing many years at once is a sequencing problem: carry-forwards, instalments and credits from the earliest year feed the latest. Filing them out of order is what turns a recoverable position into an assessed one.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

A Country-by-Country Report and Who Files It

The obligation sits with the group and the filing can fall on a surrogate where the parent's jurisdiction does not exchange. Establishing who files where comes before preparing anything.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

One Salary, Two Countries Claiming It

A US citizen resident in Canada, taxed in full on both sides because each return was prepared without the other in view. Deciding which country has the first right to the income, then claiming relief on the second return in the right order, is what stops the same dollar being taxed twice.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

A US Filer Married to Someone Outside the System

Electing to treat a non-resident spouse as a US filer buys joint rates and brings that spouse's worldwide income and foreign accounts into the return. The election is easy to make and hard to revoke, so both positions are modelled first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

A Pension Taxed Where the Treaty Did Not Intend

Pension and annuity articles allocate taxing rights differently from employment income, and a flat withholding often exceeds what a return would produce. The alternative filing is elective and has a deadline.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

Performance income is taxed where earned — Regulation 105 in Canada, withholding agreements in the U.S. — with special treaty articles overriding the usual rules.

Performance income is taxed where the performance happens, and the deduction is usually taken at source on the gross fee before expenses. Recovering the difference is a filing exercise in the other country, and it only works if the tour, the residency and the withholding certificates were documented while the work was being done.

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Form SS-4 — questions we are asked

Do I file Form SS-4 even if no tax is owed?

Identifier or registration obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. New US entities, foreign entities with US withholding or filing duties, and foreign-owned LLCs that need a number to file their information returns.

What happens if I have missed Form SS-4 for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form SS-4 the same as the other reports I already file?

No. Applies for the employer identification number a US entity or a foreign entity with US obligations needs. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Which country do I pay tax to first?

Generally the source country — where the income arises — taxes first, often by withholding before you receive it. Your country of residence then taxes the same income and credits what the source country took. That order is why timing matters: a residence-country return filed before the source-country tax is settled has nothing to credit yet. Getting the sequence right is most of the work. See international tax planning.

Do I pay tax when I inherit property abroad?

The inheritance itself is often not income to you, but three other things can create tax: the estate may owe tax where the deceased or the property was situated, some countries tax the recipient directly, and the gain from the date you inherit to the date you sell is yours. Reporting obligations can also attach to holding the asset. See inheriting property abroad.

How do you avoid double taxation?

You claim relief once, in the right country, in the right order. Usually the source country taxes first, the residence country then gives a credit for that tax against its own charge on the same income, and a treaty caps the source-country rate. Getting the order wrong is what produces a double charge you then have to unwind. The mechanism differs by income type, which is why we map the whole position before filing either return. See how to avoid double taxation.

No hourly billing, ever

Talk to us about Form SS-4

One call to the 24-hour helpline is enough to tell you what has to be filed, what it costs, and whether you need us at all.

  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file
  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • 18,000+ clients served

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068