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.
Can I get an EIN without a US social security number?
Yes, but not by the quickest self-service channel. That route is built around an applicant who already holds a US social security number, and an applicant abroad who does not hold one has to use a slower application path instead. The consequence is scheduling rather than eligibility. The employer identification number sits underneath the bank account, the payroll registration and the withholding filings, so everything downstream waits on it. We treat the SS-4 as the first task in a US expansion rather than a piece of administration to be picked up once trading has started.
Why is my EIN application taking so long to come through?
Usually because it went in on the slower path that an applicant without a US social security number has to use, and nobody upstream planned for that. It is also common for the delay to be caused by the application itself: an entity description that does not match the constitutional documents, or a responsible party whose details cannot be matched. We do not quote turnaround times, because they are not ours to promise. What we do instead is get the SS-4 right on the first attempt and start it early enough that the bank account and the withholding filings are not the things left waiting.
Do I need an EIN before I can open a US bank account?
In practice, yes. A US bank will want the employer identification number as part of opening the account, which is why the SS-4 tends to be the first scheduling constraint in an expansion rather than a late tidying-up step. The same is true of payroll registration and of the withholding filings a foreign entity with US obligations has to make. If you are building a timetable for a US launch, put the SS-4 at the front of it and work forward from the date the number actually arrives, not from the date you applied.
Does a foreign-owned LLC with no US income still need an EIN?
Often yes, because the requirement follows the filing duty rather than the profit. A foreign-owned LLC that has to file information returns needs a number to file them under, and that obligation does not wait for the entity to make money. Clients are frequently caught by this. They set the company up, leave it quiet, and then discover an information return was due for a period in which nothing happened at all. Treat the employer identification number as part of forming the entity, not as something triggered by the first invoice.
Who should I name as the responsible party on Form SS-4?
It has to be a real person who actually controls the entity, not a corporate shareholder and not the adviser filling the form in. Where the owner is an individual abroad with no US social security number, that is precisely the situation the SS-4 is asking about, and the entry has to be made in a way that can be processed rather than in a way that fits a domestic template. Mismatches here are one of the ordinary reasons an application comes back. We read the constitutional documents before completing the form, so the name on the SS-4 matches the structure those documents describe.
Can my adviser apply for the EIN on the company's behalf?
Yes, with the appropriate authorisation in place, and for a foreign-owned entity that is usually the sensible arrangement. The work is not in the form's length, which is short. It is in matching the entity type, the reason for applying and the responsible party to what the company's own documents actually say, and in choosing the application path open to an applicant with no US social security number. We agree a fixed fee in writing before anything is prepared. If you would rather talk it through first, the number is +1 (416) 619-0068.
I work remotely from another country for a company back home — who taxes me?
Usually the country you are physically in, because employment income is generally sourced where the work is done, with your residence country taxing it as well if you are resident there and giving credit. Three things follow: your employer may acquire withholding and social security obligations where you sit, a treaty tie-breaker may be needed if both countries call you resident, and a short trip that becomes a long stay can cross a residence threshold nobody was watching. See remote workers and digital nomads.
Which countries have a tax treaty with the United States?
Around sixty, including Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and most of western Europe — but the list matters less than the terms, because each treaty caps rates and allocates income differently. Two countries with treaties can produce opposite answers on the same pension or the same royalty. What decides your position is the specific article covering your income type. See our country guides.
