What Is an EIN Confirmation Letter? Explained for Founders Abroad
What is an EIN confirmation letter, and why does every bank, payment processor, and accountant seem to want one? An EIN confirmation letter is the official document from the IRS that proves your business has been assigned its Employer Identification Number. If you are forming a US company from abroad, this single piece of paper does a lot of heavy lifting, and knowing exactly what it is saves you a surprising amount of confusion. This explainer walks through it as a plain checklist.
What is an EIN confirmation letter?
An EIN confirmation letter is the IRS document that confirms your Employer Identification Number has been issued and ties that number to your specific business entity. It states your legal business name, your nine-digit EIN, the IRS office that processed it, and the date the number was assigned. Think of it as the birth certificate for your company's tax identity: the EIN is the number, and the confirmation letter is the proof that the number is real and belongs to you.
The letter exists because a raw nine-digit number on its own proves nothing. A bank or a payment platform cannot verify an EIN just by looking at it. The confirmation letter is the paperwork they accept as evidence that the IRS, not you, generated that number for your business.
What does the IRS actually call this letter?
The IRS calls the original document the CP 575 notice, and the replacement version the 147C letter. The CP 575 is the one-time letter the IRS sends when your EIN is first assigned. You cannot request another original CP 575 once it is gone, which is why so many founders end up needing the 147C instead.
Here is how the two compare:
- CP 575: the original EIN assignment notice, issued once when the number is created. It is your first and best proof of the EIN.
- 147C: the official replacement letter you request from the IRS if the CP 575 is lost, never received, or misplaced. It carries the same legal weight for verification purposes.
Both documents confirm the same EIN. If anyone asks for your "EIN confirmation letter" and you no longer have the CP 575, the 147C is the accepted substitute.
Why do founders abroad need an EIN confirmation letter?
Founders abroad need an EIN confirmation letter because almost every third party that interacts with a US business will ask to see it before moving forward. You are not physically present to walk a number into a branch, so the letter becomes the document that does the talking for you. It is requested far more often than people expect.
Common situations where the letter is required include:
- Applying to open a US business bank account, where the bank verifies the entity behind the EIN.
- Setting up a payment processor such as Stripe or PayPal that needs to confirm your tax identity.
- Onboarding with marketplaces, suppliers, or wholesalers who require tax documentation.
- Giving your accountant or bookkeeper a clean record for filing federal returns.
- Completing tax forms such as a W-9 where the business name and EIN must match IRS records exactly.
Consider a founder in Lyon, France, who set up a US LLC to sell software to American customers. When the payment processor flagged a mismatch between the typed business name and IRS records, the confirmation letter was the only document that resolved it cleanly, because the letter shows the exact legal name the IRS has on file. Without it, the account stayed frozen.
How do you get an EIN confirmation letter without an SSN?
You get the EIN confirmation letter by first obtaining the EIN itself, and you can do that without a Social Security Number by filing Form SS-4 with the IRS by fax or mail. Non-resident founders are not eligible for the IRS online EIN tool, so the SS-4 route is the standard path, and the IRS issues the CP 575 confirmation letter once the application is processed.
CORPBOLT is a U.S. business formation service for non-resident founders that files your Wyoming LLC and gets the EIN without an SSN. Plans start from $349/year, with the EIN included from $599. (corpbolt.com)
A few facts worth fixing in your mind here. The EIN is free from the IRS; you only ever pay to prepare and file the application, never for the number itself. The IRS controls the timing, so no one can promise a delivery date. By fax, the assignment typically takes a few weeks, and the confirmation letter follows once the number is on record. CORPBOLT handles the SS-4 filing for non-resident founders so the application is completed correctly, but the IRS remains the only authority that issues the EIN and the letter.
What information appears on the confirmation letter?
The confirmation letter shows the core identifying details the IRS associates with your business, and every field matters when a third party cross-checks it. Reading it correctly prevents the mismatches that stall bank and processor applications.
Expect to see the following:
- Your legal business name exactly as registered, including any formatting the IRS recorded.
- The nine-digit EIN, usually formatted as two digits, a hyphen, then seven digits.
- The date the EIN was assigned.
- The form or tax obligations the IRS expects the entity to file.
- The IRS service center that processed the application.
The single most common problem is a name mismatch. If your bank application types the company name even slightly differently from the letter, the verification can fail. Always copy the name as it appears on the document, character for character.
How does the confirmation letter fit into forming a Wyoming LLC?
The confirmation letter is one of the final pieces in the formation sequence, arriving after the company legally exists. You form the entity first, then apply for the EIN, then receive the confirmation letter, and only after that can you confidently approach banks and processors. The order matters because the EIN application references your registered entity.
For a non-resident founder, a typical sequence looks like this:
- Register the Wyoming LLC with the Wyoming Secretary of State, which creates the legal entity.
- Appoint a registered agent with a physical Wyoming address to receive official mail.
- File Form SS-4 with the IRS to obtain the EIN without an SSN.
- Receive the CP 575 confirmation letter as proof of the assigned EIN.
- Use a US business or mailing address and the confirmation letter to prepare for opening accounts.
CORPBOLT brings the Wyoming LLC, the EIN without an SSN, the registered agent, and a US business address together in one process built for non-resident founders, all fully remote with no US visit required. The banking step is preparation only: CORPBOLT helps you get bank-ready, but the bank or platform always makes the final decision on opening an account.
What should you do if you lose your confirmation letter?
If you lose your confirmation letter, you request a 147C letter from the IRS, which serves as the official replacement and confirms the same EIN. You do not lose your EIN when you lose the paper; the number stays assigned to your business permanently, and the 147C simply restores your proof of it.
The practical steps are straightforward. Contact the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line, verify your identity and your authority to act for the business, and ask specifically for the 147C letter. The IRS can send it by mail or, in some cases, by fax. Keep the replacement somewhere safe and digital so you never have to repeat the process. For founders abroad, allowing extra time for international mail is wise, since the IRS controls how the document is delivered.
Frequently asked questions
Is an EIN confirmation letter the same as the EIN itself?
No. The EIN is the nine-digit number, while the confirmation letter is the IRS document that proves the number was assigned to your business. You need the letter to verify the number with banks and processors.
Can I get an EIN confirmation letter if I do not live in the US?
Yes. Non-resident founders obtain the EIN by filing Form SS-4 with the IRS by fax or mail, and the IRS issues the CP 575 confirmation letter once the application is processed. No SSN and no US visit are required to do this.
How long does the IRS take to send the confirmation letter?
The IRS controls the timing, so no provider can promise a specific date. When the SS-4 is filed by fax, the EIN assignment typically takes a few weeks, and the confirmation letter follows once the number is on record.
Does an EIN confirmation letter cost money?
The EIN and its confirmation letter are free from the IRS. You only pay a service to prepare and file the application correctly, never for the number or the letter itself.
Will a payment processor accept the 147C instead of the original?
Generally yes. The 147C is the official IRS replacement and confirms the same EIN, so it carries the same verification value as the original CP 575 for most banks and processors.