Getting an EIN in Delaware is free, and as of 2026 the IRS issues it the same day you apply online with Form SS-4. The state of Delaware doesn’t issue the number; the IRS does. Form your Delaware LLC first so the name on the confirmation matches, then file the one-page application at IRS.gov. If the LLC operates in Delaware, the state tax work, a business license and gross receipts tax, comes only after the EIN is in hand.
How to Get a Delaware EIN, Federal First and State Second
A Delaware EIN, formally an Employer Identification Number, is a free nine-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS, not by the state. An approved Delaware LLC can get one the same day by filing Form SS-4 online, and if it operates in Delaware, the state follow-up comes after: a Delaware business license and gross receipts registration through Delaware One Stop.
Every multi-member LLC and every LLC with employees needs one, and single-member LLCs almost always should too.
- Cost: $0 when filed directly with the IRS; third-party services may charge for help with the same form
- Form and portal: Form SS-4 through the IRS online EIN Assistant, with fax and mail as backup options
- Who needs one: every Delaware LLC with employees, every multi-member LLC, and most single-member LLCs that need banking or state tax registrations
- State follow-up: a Delaware business license and gross receipts tax registration through Delaware One Stop; Delaware has no standard sales tax seller’s permit
- IRS contacts: Business and Specialty Tax Line, 800-829-4933; applicants based outside the U.S. can use 267-941-1099
Does Your Delaware LLC Need an EIN?
Most Delaware LLCs need an EIN, and the few that technically don’t usually want one anyway. A single-member LLC with no employees is a disregarded entity for federal tax, so the IRS doesn’t strictly require a separate number. Banks, though, ask for one before they’ll open a business account.
| Business type | EIN required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single-member Delaware LLC, no employees | No, but recommended | Disregarded entity; needed for a bank account and to keep your SSN private |
| Single-member LLC with employees | Yes | Payroll and Delaware withholding require it |
| Multi-member Delaware LLC | Yes | Taxed as a partnership by default |
| LLC electing S-corp or C-corp | Yes | Form 2553 or Form 8832 follows the EIN |
| Sole proprietor, no LLC | Sometimes | Only with employees or certain excise taxes |
| Partnership | Yes | Always |
Owners still weighing structure can compare Delaware LLC options before filing, since the EIN follows the entity, not the other way around.
How to Apply for Your Delaware LLC EIN Online
The fastest route is the IRS online EIN Assistant, and it’s the one most Delaware founders use. You’ll need the LLC approved first and the responsible party’s SSN or ITIN ready. Here’s the catch: the session can’t be saved and times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, so finish it in one sitting.
- Confirm the LLC is approved: the Certificate of Formation must clear the Delaware Division of Corporations before you apply.
- Open the online application: the IRS online EIN Assistant runs Monday to Friday 6am to 1am ET, Saturday 6am to 9pm, and Sunday 6pm to midnight.
- Pick the right entity type: the screen that trips people up; choose LLC, then enter Delaware and the member count.
- Match the legal name exactly: mirror the Certificate of Formation, and list any trade name separately.
- Name the responsible party: a natural person with an SSN or ITIN, never a registered agent or nominee.
- Give the reason and submit: usually “started a new business.”
- Download the CP 575 right away: the IRS won’t resend this confirmation letter once the page closes.
Delaware EIN Approval: Save Your CP 575 Before Delaware One Stop Registrations
Once the IRS approves your Delaware LLC EIN, the confirmation screen gives you the CP 575. This is the official IRS EIN confirmation letter, and it is the document banks, payroll providers, and Delaware tax registrations may ask to see before they accept the number.
The CP 575 is federal proof of your Delaware LLC’s EIN.
It should show the LLC name you entered, the assigned nine-digit EIN, and IRS confirmation details. Check it against your Delaware Certificate of Formation before using the number anywhere else.
- ✓ Legal name should match the Delaware Division of Corporations record.
- ✓ The EIN is federal, not a Delaware file number or business license number.
- ✓ Use it before setting up Delaware One Stop, gross receipts, withholding, or payroll accounts.
If online isn’t an option, fax Form SS-4 to 855-641-6935, which the IRS returns in about four business days when you add a return fax number, or mail it to Cincinnati for roughly four-week processing. The EIN is free through every channel; paying a service buys help with the form, not the number.
One rule catches people off guard: the IRS issues only one EIN per responsible party per day, no matter which channel you use.
Delaware is the state I watch non-U.S. founders pick most, and the EIN is where the wheels come off. The online EIN Assistant is built for applicants with a U.S. principal place of business and a responsible party who has a valid SSN, ITIN, or EIN, so a founder in Lagos or Lisbon usually cannot use it.
No, you do not need a U.S. partner to get around that. What works is using Form SS-4 correctly: put “N/A” on line 7b when the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN, then apply through the IRS international EIN route.
Want the Delaware LLC and EIN steps handled without mixing up the numbers?
The EIN is free through the IRS, but the filing still has to match your Delaware Certificate of Formation before you use the number for Delaware One Stop, banking, payroll, or tax accounts. ZenBusiness can help with Delaware LLC formation and optional EIN support so the legal name, responsible party, entity type, and CP 575 record stay organized from the start.
What Delaware LLC Owners Need Before Applying
A few details gathered up front keep the application quick and the CP 575 accurate. Nearly everything ties back to your approved formation paperwork, so the order matters.
- The exact legal name on your Certificate of Formation, matching the Division of Corporations record
- Your Delaware file number and formation date
- The responsible party’s name and SSN or ITIN
- The entity type and member count
- A business address and a reason for applying
Two things trip owners up. Your Delaware registered agent isn’t the responsible party; the agent takes legal mail, while the responsible party is the person who actually controls the LLC.
A signed Delaware operating agreement isn’t required for the EIN itself, but most banks want to see it when you open the business account, so it’s worth finalizing first.
And if the LLC isn’t approved yet, knowing how long Delaware formation takes keeps you from applying twice when the name later changes.
EIN vs Delaware File Number, Business License, and Franchise Tax
Searchers type “Delaware tax ID” to mean three or four different numbers, and sorting them out is the most useful thing this page can do. Mixing them up causes filing errors that don’t surface until months later.
| Number or account | Issued by | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| EIN / Federal Tax ID | Internal Revenue Service | Federal taxes, payroll, bank accounts, state registrations |
| Delaware file number | Delaware Division of Corporations | Entity record, franchise tax and annual tax, entity search |
| Delaware business license number | Delaware Division of Revenue | Operating in Delaware; gross receipts registration |
| Delaware withholding account | Delaware Division of Revenue | Employee income tax; keyed to your FEIN |
| Delaware UI tax number | Delaware Department of Labor | Unemployment insurance reporting |
Here’s the part owners miss: Delaware corporations pay a franchise tax, while LLCs pay a separate $300 annual tax, both to the Division of Corporations, not the IRS or the Division of Revenue. Your EIN pays neither, and neither one is a tax ID.
Forgot your file number? The Delaware business entity search returns it by company name in under a minute.
Delaware Business License and Gross Receipts Tax After Your EIN
With the EIN in hand, Delaware’s own registrations kick in, and they don’t look like other states’. There’s no sales tax permit here. Instead, most active businesses register for a business license and file gross receipts tax through Delaware One Stop.
The State of Delaware Business License
The Division of Revenue issues this license through Delaware One Stop, and it’s required once a business has property or a location in Delaware, employees working in Delaware, or sales generated in the state. The license fee generally starts at $75 for a first location, with a separate license for each distinct business activity.
Licenses expire December 31, and three-year licenses exist but aren’t discounted; you just prepay the three years. Lining the license up against formation and the annual tax shows what a Delaware LLC actually costs in the first year.
Delaware Gross Receipts Tax
This is Delaware’s stand-in for a sales tax, and the mechanics catch sellers off guard. Gross receipts tax is paid by the seller of goods or provider of services, not collected from the customer at checkout.
Rates run from 0.0945% to 1.9914% by activity, with no deductions for cost of goods, labor, or expenses. Activity-specific exclusions often start around $100,000 in monthly receipts, so a new LLC might owe nothing at first yet still has to register and file on a monthly or quarterly cycle.
That is the call I get most from Delaware owners. There is no sales tax, and that part is true, but it is not the same as no registration.
One client ran a Shopify store for five months before she learned she had owed a Delaware business license and gross receipts filings the whole time. Back-filing those periods cost her more in my hourly time than the tax came to in dollars.
Delaware Withholding for Employees
Delaware does tax wage income, so an LLC with staff registers as a withholding agent with the Division of Revenue on the Combined Registration Application, Form CRA, Part B. The Division of Revenue keys those accounts to your FEIN, which is exactly why the EIN comes first.
New employers generally file Delaware withholding returns monthly, and there’s a “withholding agent only” path for out-of-state companies that just need to withhold for Delaware residents.
Unemployment Insurance and Employer Accounts
Hiring also triggers an unemployment insurance account with the Delaware Department of Labor. File Form UC-1 within 20 days of your first business day; for 2026 the taxable wage base is $14,500 and the new-employer rate is 1.0%.
Employers with one or more workers also carry workers compensation, and most with 10 or more register for Delaware Paid Leave through LaborFirst.
Separate from the Revenue layer, every Delaware LLC owes the Delaware LLC annual tax of $300 to the Division of Corporations by June 1; miss it and the penalty is $200, even though the LLC files no annual report.
Delaware Gross Receipts and EIN Mistakes That Cost Owners Time
A handful of Delaware-specific errors send owners back to refile, and most are easy to dodge. They tend to surface at the bank, the Division of Revenue, or the IRS, well after the fact.
- Reading “no sales tax” as “no registration”: the business license and gross receipts filings still apply to active Delaware businesses.
- Treating the $300 annual tax as full compliance: that Division of Corporations payment never touches the business license or gross receipts accounts.
- Naming a registered agent or nominee as responsible party: the IRS wants the natural person who controls the LLC, not your agent.
- Letting the name drift from the Certificate of Formation: the CP 575 should mirror the Delaware record character for character.
- Filing a second EIN to fix a typo: request a 147C or a correction instead of stacking numbers on the same entity.
The name mismatch is the quiet one. It won’t block the EIN from issuing, but it resurfaces the day a bank sets your CP 575 next to your Certificate of Formation and the two don’t agree.
How to Recover a Lost EIN for Your Delaware LLC
Losing the confirmation letter is common and fixable. The number itself never expires, so recovering it is mostly a hunt for where it’s already written down.
Check the CP 575 first, then a past tax return, a bank application, or any Delaware filing that asked for it. If nothing turns up, track down a misplaced EIN by calling the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line for a 147C verification letter, which banks and Delaware agencies accept in place of the original.
Your Delaware file number is a separate trail; it lives with the Division of Corporations and is recoverable by company name, not through the IRS.
Business changes matter too. A real structural shift, like converting a sole proprietorship to an LLC or going single-member to multi-member, needs a new EIN; a name or address change doesn’t, since you update the IRS with Form 8822-B and adjust tax classification with Form 8832.
Delaware EIN Frequently Asked Questions
These are the questions Delaware founders hit most as they move from the federal EIN to the state’s tax accounts. Answers reflect IRS and Delaware guidance current as of 2026.
Is a Delaware EIN different from a federal EIN?
No, and there’s no such thing as a separate state-issued Delaware EIN. It’s the same nine-digit federal number from the IRS, used the same way in all 50 states. Any “Delaware EIN” a website offers to sell is just the free federal EIN with a markup attached.
Does Delaware have a sales tax permit?
No. Delaware levies no state or local sales tax, so there’s no seller’s permit or reseller certificate to chase. Active businesses register for a State of Delaware business license instead, and many owe gross receipts tax, which the seller pays rather than collecting it from the buyer.
Who pays Delaware Gross Receipts Tax, and do I need my EIN to register?
The seller of goods or provider of services pays it, and it never appears on a customer receipt. You register through Delaware One Stop using your EIN, and rates fall between 0.0945% and 1.9914% depending on the activity, with no deductions for the cost of doing business.
Is my Delaware file number the same as my EIN?
No. The file number comes from the Delaware Division of Corporations and identifies your entity on the state’s record and for franchise or annual tax. The EIN comes from the IRS for federal tax, payroll, and banking. You’ll use both, just with different agencies.
Can a non-U.S. resident get an EIN for a Delaware LLC without an SSN?
Yes. A foreign responsible party writes “N/A” on Form SS-4 line 7b and applies by fax, mail, or the international phone line at 267-941-1099, weekdays 6am to 11pm ET. The online Assistant isn’t open without an SSN or ITIN and a U.S. principal place of business, but the EIN itself is still free.
Does an out-of-state Delaware LLC need a Delaware business license?
Only if it actually operates in Delaware: property or a location in the state, Delaware employees, or sales generated there. A holding-type Delaware LLC with no in-state activity generally skips the business license and gross receipts tax, though it still owes the $300 annual tax to the Division of Corporations.
Is the Delaware LLC annual tax paid with my EIN?
No. The $300 annual tax is keyed to your Division of Corporations file number, not your EIN, and it’s due every June 1 regardless of income or activity. It sits apart from anything at the Division of Revenue or the IRS, and missing the deadline adds a $200 penalty plus monthly interest.
How long does it take to get an EIN for a Delaware LLC?
Online, the IRS issues it the same day once the application clears. Fax runs about four business days when you include a return fax number, and mail takes roughly four weeks. Before you e-file or make electronic tax deposits, the IRS asks you to wait up to two weeks for the new EIN to settle into its systems.
- Delaware unemployment insurance for employers (Department of Labor)
- Apply for an EIN online (IRS)
- IRS Form SS-4 and instructions
- Delaware One Stop business registration
- Delaware Gross Receipts Tax (Division of Revenue)
- Delaware business license requirements (Division of Revenue)
- Delaware franchise tax and LLC annual tax (Division of Corporations)
Looking for an overview? See Delaware LLC Services
Get Delaware EIN Filing Help with Harbor Compliance
Harbor Compliance can help prepare and file your EIN application accurately for your Delaware business, so your federal tax ID is ready for banking, tax accounts, and compliance steps without name or filing mistakes.
