The hypothetical applicant
We will use “Northstar Data LLC,” a fictional Wyoming LLC. Its sole owner and responsible party lives and runs the business in Colombia. The entity has no U.S. legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency, and the fax will be sent from outside the United States.
“Foreign-owned” does not tell you every SS-4 answer. Formation jurisdiction, number of members, tax elections, employees, business activity, mailing address, and the responsible party’s taxpayer-ID eligibility all matter separately.
Lines 1–7b: identity, addresses and responsible party
Legal name of entity
Use the legal name exactly as it appears on the entity’s organizing document. Do not put the owner’s name here when the applicant is the LLC.
Change it: replace the fictional name with the exact legal entity name.
Trade name
This fictional LLC has no trade name. The IRS instructions say not to enter “dba” as part of a trade name.
Change it: enter the trade name only if the entity actually uses one.
Executor, trustee or “care of” person
The example does not designate another individual to receive tax information. This line also has specific uses for trusts and estates.
Change it: complete it when the IRS line 3 instruction applies to your entity or designated person.
Mailing address
This is a fictional foreign correspondence address. For an address outside the United States or its territories, the IRS requires the city, province or state, postal code, and country name without abbreviating the country.
Change it: use the real address where the entity can reliably receive IRS correspondence.
Street address, if different
The IRS asks for the entity’s physical address here only when it differs from the mailing address. A P.O. box is not permitted on line 5.
Change it: provide the actual physical address when it differs; do not substitute an unrelated address.
Primary physical location
The form labels this field “County and state where principal business is located,” while the current instructions say to enter the entity’s primary physical location.
Change it: enter your entity’s actual primary physical location.
Responsible party and taxpayer ID
Except for government entities, the responsible party must be a natural person who ultimately owns or controls the entity or exercises ultimate effective control.
The IRS permits “foreign” or “N/A” on line 7b only when that person both lacks an SSN or ITIN and is ineligible to obtain one. An entry is required.
Change it: if the responsible party has an SSN or ITIN, use the applicable number instead. Do not use this example to decide eligibility.
Lines 8a–10: LLC facts, entity type and reason
LLC information
Line 8a asks whether the applicant is an LLC. Line 8b asks for the number of members. Line 8c asks whether the LLC was organized in the United States.
Change it: answer from the actual entity structure and organizing jurisdiction. The owner’s foreign residence does not make a Wyoming LLC foreign-organized.
Type of entity
This exact example follows the IRS instruction for a U.S. disregarded entity wholly owned by a foreign person that requests an EIN for Form 5472.
The IRS also warns that line 9a is not itself an election of federal tax classification.
Change it: a partnership, corporation, elected classification, foreign entity, or EIN requested for a different purpose can require another answer.
Reason for applying
The IRS says to check only one reason and not enter “N/A.” It gives this wording for a foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity required to file Form 5472.
Change it: choose the one reason that truthfully explains your application.
Lines 11–18: dates, employees and activity
Date business started or acquired
For the hypothetical facts, this is the date business began. The IRS says that for foreign applicants it is the date the applicant began or acquired a business in the United States.
Change it: determine the correct date from your actual history; do not automatically copy the formation date.
Closing month of accounting year
The example assumes a calendar year. The correct closing month depends on the applicant’s permitted tax or accounting year.
Change it: confirm the actual year-end that applies to your entity.
Highest employee count expected in 12 months
The IRS requires a number, including zero, in each of the three boxes.
Change it: enter the highest number genuinely expected in each category.
Form 944 election question
The IRS says to skip line 14 when no employees are expected. Employers considering the annual Form 944 option must apply the separate eligibility instruction.
Change it: evaluate this line if your line 13 answers include employees.
First date wages or annuities were paid
The example does not plan to have employees. The IRS instructs a business with no planned employees to enter “N/A.” Separate rules apply to withholding agents.
Change it: enter the applicable U.S. wage or income-payment date when required.
Principal activity category
The applicant must check one activity box. The example uses “Other” because its activity is not one of the more specific boxes shown on the form.
Change it: choose the listed category that best describes your principal activity, or use “Other” and specify it.
Detailed principal line of business
An entry is required. Give a useful description more specific than the category on line 16.
Change it: describe what your business principally does.
Prior EIN for this applicant entity
The hypothetical applicant entity has never received an EIN. The question is about the entity applying, not simply whether its owner has ever been associated with another EIN.
Change it: check the entity’s records before answering.
Third-party designee and signature
- Third-party designee: blank in this example Complete it only if you want to authorize the named individual to answer questions about this SS-4 and receive the newly assigned EIN. The IRS says that authority ends when the EIN is assigned and released.
- Signature: complete the actual form The authorization is not valid without the required signature. The IRS instructions identify who may sign for each entity type; foreign applicants may have a duly authorized person sign.
- One application method per entity Do not send duplicate applications by multiple methods merely because one response is not immediate.
Route the completed example correctly
The IRS fax number is not chosen from the LLC’s formation state alone. It first depends on whether the applicant has a legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency in one of the 50 states or D.C. If not, the physical origin of the fax determines which international-case number applies.
No qualifying U.S. location, and the fax transmission originates outside the United States.
When a return fax number is provided, the IRS says the EIN can generally be returned by fax within four business days. “Generally” is not a guarantee, and fax numbers may change without notice.
Five mistakes this example is designed to prevent
- Putting “foreign” on line 7b merely because the owner lives abroad, without applying the IRS eligibility condition.
- Calling line 8a the state-of-formation field; it actually asks whether the applicant is an LLC.
- Treating line 9a as a tax-classification election.
- Using the domestic fax number for an applicant that fails the IRS U.S.-location test.
- Copying a generic business activity or date rather than describing the applicant’s actual facts.