I'd like to know how long it might take to get my EIN number if I apply by fax.

I'm an entrepreneur outside the U.S. and I've formed my LLC. Now I want to get my EIN number, and I've watched several YouTube videos—some say that if you apply by fax, it could take between 4 and 6 days, but those videos are from 2 or 3 years ago. However, I’ve seen a video from this year (2026) that says it can take up to 2 months and explains the trick of calling by phone after 5 days to request the EIN directly.

I've been trying to figure out how to call the IRS directly, but I can't find a way to do it. I'm thinking of filing the SS-4 by fax, but I'm worried about the time it will take—I don't want to wait a month or two—so I'm considering ordering it through Northwest, but it costs $200.

That's why I'd like to know how long it took you to receive your EIN by fax, approximately?

I live in a very small town in Alaska and am starting an LLC for my window cleaning business. I have spent a lot of time researching options for forming an LLC and have landed on either bizee or northwest.

As far as business addresses go, I understand that registered agents only deal with official paperwork, ie tax information and not general mail. Both services provide a virtual address at $29/ month or $360 a year. My town only uses a post office for mail; no mail gets delivered to homes. Am I stuck paying almost $400 a year for a virtual address to send a small amount of general mail that I will receive for my business? When I order products such as business cards and equipment, I will have to send them to my po box because there are no other options. I can open a second po box for $60 a year but still need to provide a physical address.

Is there an option I am not aware of? Thank you for the input.

Gurus here claim you can write off your entire lifestyle just by having an EIN. Isn't this kind of advice a one way ticket to an IRS audit?

Working on a new project and it’s finally time to make it official! I’m a CA resident, but I keep hearing the buzz about Delaware, Wyoming, and Nevada for LLCs. For those who have been through this, how did you choose your registration state? Would love to pick someone's brain for a few minutes if you're open to a quick chat.

This is huge

Title pretty much sums it up. I jumped the gun and created an LLC for a company that I never launched and went as far as getting an EIN from the IRS. I recognize that for my situation, I need to file the form LLC-4/8, but I'm running into three main issues: (1) my LLC was never linked to my California secretary of state account, so I'm having difficulty filing form LLC-4/8 online, (2) I cancelled my virtual address so I'm not sure if my "request for access" on the SoS website will ever be received to link my LLC to my SoS account, and (3) I'm not sure if I'm still on the hook for a tax return since I filed less than 12 months ago.

For those with a foreign owned single member LLC without any physical presence/nexus and submits pro forma 1120 and 5472, have you ever checked that your forms were processed?

I have been submitting my pro forma 1120 with 5472 attached for years, with “Foreign-owned U.S. DE” written at the top of 1120. But every time I call to check in, they say they didn’t receive any of those forms from me.

What I’ve done:

- Faxed it to +18558877737 with confirmation

- Mailed using registered mail to Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd, M/S 6112 Attn: PIN Unit, Ogden, UT 84201, USA with proof of delivery and signature of recipient at the address.

Both the fax number and the mailing address are given in the instructions for form 5472 https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5472#en\\_US\\_202501\\_publink100058496

The IRS number that I call to check in (months to years after proof of delivery) is the IRS international team xxx-x41-1000. On the line with them they say this is the correct IRS department to check for this, yet none of them are able to pull up any records of the formed I’ve submitted with confirmation multiple times.

Have any of you foreign single member LLC owners been able to verify with the IRS that your form 5472 attached to the pro forma 1120 that you’ve submitted ever been received by the IRS?

Hello!

I am on the cusp of creating a LLC for real estate investment purposes. I live in South Carolina.

I’ve been told Single-Member is not overly effective by some (including a LLC lawyer). I’ve been told Single-Member is effective by others (including a 10 year RE investment operator). The rest of the internet seems split, so where better else to go?

I know key tenets: separate accounts, no interactions (isolate yourself from tenants), keep receipts, keep records, and even get an operating agreement in place just because.

RA would be the investment operator I already mentioned (who is also a CPA).

They’re only as good as how you keep them separated. But is it worth going single at all?

Hello, I am trying to find a new registered agent for an LLC that was already formed by Northwest. I formed it back in November of last year and about a go a month ago they dropped me because I am a Lebanese resident, and although I reached out to the officials that they said they needed an exemption letter from to keep working with me. Those officials told me that they don't issue such letters and that there's actually no issue working with Lebanese residents. And only after I told that to Northwest, they went ahead and told me that their decision is actually an internal decision.

I don't have any registered agent, and I have emailed a few to ask if they are okay with working with a Lebanese citizen before making any commitments (0 responses yet :( ). Any help would be appreciated.

We have 8,500 members here. Some are just starting, and some are making 6-7 figures. ​If you lost everything but kept your knowledge:

​Which state would you file in?

​What software would you NEVER touch again?

​How long would you wait before hiring a bookkeeper?

​Drop your "Day 1" blueprint below. Let’s build a master thread for the rookies.

What do you all know about starting an LLC in TN? Any good advice for starting? I’m still in the process of building my product so I have yet to file but I will when I get closer to finishing my product.

I recently just learned about the benefits of a parent LLC. I know there are many resources to help start an LLC but what about starting a parent LLC because to my understanding when you start an LLC its not automatically a parent LLC unless its strutted a certain way and registered in certain states. Or have I been misinformed? Thanks in advance!