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Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 7:03 AM
Subject: IR-2003-136 -- Businesses Using IRS.gov to Get Employer Identification Numbers
IR-2003-136, Dec. 8, 2003
Businesses Using IRS.gov to Get Employer Identification Numbers
WASHINGTON Businesses and tax professionals are turning to an online
application form on IRS.gov to get new employer identification numbers.
The Internal Revenue Service has issued more than 498,081 of the numbers
through its online application since it became available in April.
The online application form immediately issues a new employer
identification number, or EIN, eliminating both paperwork and the usual
four-to-10 day wait to receive an EIN through paper processes. The IRS
assigns the nine-digit numbers to identify taxpayers. The number is
required for a host of purposes and getting it quickly is important for
someone starting a business. A business cannot establish a bank account,
for instance, without a federal EIN.
Making EINs available to IRS customers on an immediate and permanent
basis is an important step in improving our partnership with the business
community, Commissioner Mark W. Everson said. "We want to reduce burden
for businesses and tax professionals wherever possible."
By the end of November 2003, the IRS was receiving 37.5 percent of all EIN
applications through the Internet. The online application mimics the paper
Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. EIN
applications can also be submitted by phone, fax or by mail. Applications
faxed or mailed are often incomplete, contain errors and frequently
require additional contact with the applicant by an IRS employee. The
online application requires that all information needed to process the
application be submitted before the EIN is assigned to the taxpayer.
The easiest way to get to the online EIN application is to type EIN in
the IRS Keyword search on the IRS.gov home page.
The online EIN application form joins several IRS Business Systems
Modernization products already working to reduce taxpayer burden and
improve IRS employees service to taxpayers. These new products and
services include:
Wheres My Refund? Provides taxpayers with their refund status over
the Internet. Taxpayers used the service more than 17.6 million times in
2003.
Wheres My Advance Child Tax Credit? Gives taxpayers the status of
their Advance Child Tax Credit checks over the Internet. So far, taxpayers
have used the service nearly 15 million times.
e-services A suite of products that provide tax professionals and
those who file select information returns, such as banks and other
financial institutions, with new choices for working electronically with
the IRS.
Customer Communications Modernized call systems cut by half taxpayers
call-waiting time and the number of abandoned calls. It also introduced
bilingual voice recognition capabilities, which helped double the number
of Spanish calls.
Customer Relationship Management Provided nearly 4,000 revenue agents
with direct laptop access to tax computation software.
HR Connect Allows 73,000 IRS users to perform many personnel actions
online.
Links on IRS.gov:
Online EIN Application
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf (PDF 28K)
Instructions for Form SS-4 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iss4.pdf
(PDF 71K)
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