An EIN, which stands for employer identification number, is a tax ID provided to a business by the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes. All businesses, including those in South Carolina, are required to have an EIN.

Locate the notice sent to you by the IRS when you applied for an EIN, if the business whose EIN you are looking for is your own. The EIN will be clearly stated on the correspondence.

Contact the IRS' Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and ask an IRS employee to look up the EIN.

Contact the South Carolina Department of Revenue for help obtaining a business's EIN (see Resources). Call 803-898-5000 and ask an agent for assistance.

Warning

The IRS and South Carolina's revenue department will provide a business's EIN only to persons who are authorized to receive it. When you call the IRS or the state revenue department, the agent will ask security questions to confirm your identity.