Line 10: select one reason for applying
Check only one box. The IRS says a selection is required and specifically says not to enter “N/A.” If the choice asks for a description—such as the type of new business, banking purpose, new organization type, trust type, pension-plan type or an “Other” reason—add a concise, accurate explanation.
- Started new business: identify the type of business being started. Do not use this merely for another location of a business that already has an EIN.
- Hired employees: use it when an existing business is requesting an EIN because it hired or is hiring employees—not when an EIN already exists.
- Banking purpose: state the actual banking purpose rather than pretending the request is for an employment-tax filing.
- Other: explain the specific reason. The current instructions tell a foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity requesting an EIN for Form 5472 to check “Other” and enter “Foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity filing Form 5472.”
Line 11: date the business started or was acquired
Enter the operational date requested by the form in month-day-year format. If an existing operating business was acquired, use the acquisition date. If ownership changed into a new form, the instructions call for the date that the new ownership entity began.
The instructions add that a foreign applicant uses the date it began or acquired a business in the United States. Do not automatically apply that phrase to every domestic U.S. LLC simply because its owner lives abroad. “Foreign owner,” “foreign entity” and “foreign applicant” are not interchangeable labels. Formation, acquisition and operational facts can differ, so resolve a genuine ambiguity before signing.
Line 12: closing month of the accounting year
Enter the final month of the applicant’s accounting or tax year. A calendar year closes in December. A fiscal year generally consists of 12 consecutive months ending in another month, and the instructions also recognize a 52–53 week year.
Do not choose a convenient month without checking the rules that apply to the entity. Partnerships, personal service corporations, trusts and other applicants can be subject to specific tax-year rules. Form SS-4 records the answer; it does not grant permission to adopt an otherwise unavailable tax year.
Lines 13 and 14: expected employees and Form 944
Line 13 has separate boxes for agricultural, household and other employees. Enter the highest number expected in each category during the next 12 months, including zero in every category where none are expected. Do not leave the boxes ambiguous merely because the owner is the only person working in the business.
If no employees are expected, the form directs the applicant to skip line 14. If employees are expected, line 14 asks whether an eligible employer wants to file Form 944 annually rather than Forms 941 quarterly. Under the December 2025 instructions, eligibility is tied to expected annual employment-tax liability of $1,000 or less; the form explains the corresponding general wage thresholds. Checking the box has continuing filing consequences until the IRS instructs otherwise, so it should not be treated as a casual preference.
Line 15: first date wages, annuities or covered income were paid
If the applicant has employees, enter the first date it began to pay wages or annuities. For a foreign applicant, the instructions refer to the first date wages were paid in the United States. If the business does not plan to have employees, enter “N/A.”
A withholding agent has a different instruction: enter the date it began or will begin paying income, including annuities, to a nonresident alien. That can apply even when the ordinary employee description does not fit. Use the withholding rule only when the applicant actually has that role.
Lines 16 and 17: describe the principal business activity
Line 16 requires one box for the category that best describes the applicant’s principal activity. The form lists construction, real estate, rental and leasing, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, finance and insurance, health care and social assistance, accommodation and food service, two wholesale categories, retail and “Other.”
Line 17 is not a repeat of the entity’s legal name. Describe the principal merchandise sold, construction work performed, products produced or services provided with enough detail to make the activity intelligible. The IRS instructions say an entry is required. “Consulting,” for example, may be less informative than a truthful description of the field and service actually offered.
Line 18: answer for the applicant entity, not the owner
Line 18 asks whether the applicant entity shown on line 1 has ever applied for and received an EIN. It does not ask whether the foreign owner has ever owned another company, had an ITIN or been connected with an EIN belonging to a different entity.
If the answer is yes, the current form asks for the previous EIN. Do not request a second EIN merely because the original confirmation is missing. The IRS can verify a previously assigned EIN for an authenticated, authorized requester, and Letter 147C can confirm a number already assigned.
Run a cross-field consistency check
- Compare the line 10 reason with the fields that page 2 of Form SS-4 says to complete for that scenario.
- Reconcile lines 13–15: zero employees, a Form 944 choice and a wage date should not contradict one another.
- Make the line 16 category and line 17 description describe the same principal activity.
- Compare the line 11 start date with the state record and the actual operational or acquisition facts.
- Confirm that line 18 refers to the exact entity on line 1, not an owner, affiliate or predecessor.