Apply for an EIN

An EIN (Employer Identification Number) is the IRS-assigned tax identification number for a business entity. Palm handles the full application — collecting the required Form SS-4 data, submitting to the IRS, and returning the assigned EIN and confirmation documents.

Standalone vs bundled

Palm supports two modes for EIN applications:

Standalone — Apply for an EIN for any business already in Palm. The business doesn’t need to have been formed through Palm — it just needs a business record with the required vault fields.
Bundled with formation — Include an ein object in a formation request. Palm creates the EIN filing automatically and advances it to ready_to_file when the formation completes.

Both modes use the same filing lifecycle and return the same result.

Prerequisites

The business record must have these vault fields populated before submitting:

business.legal_name
business.entity_type
business.formation_jurisdiction
business.formation_date
business.address_line_1, business.city, business.region, business.postal_code

Optional fields forwarded to the IRS if present: business.address_line_2, business.country, business.dba_name.

If the business doesn’t exist in Palm yet, create it first via POST /v1/business with the required vault fields.

Submit an EIN application

Bash

POST /v1/filing/ein

Responsible party

Every EIN application requires a responsible party — the individual the IRS holds accountable for the entity. You can either reference an existing user or provide details inline:

Existing user — Pass user_id. The user’s vault must already have identity.first_name, identity.last_name, and identity.ssn.
Inline — Pass first_name, last_name, and ssn directly. Palm creates a user record, vaults the SSN, and links them to the business.

Required fields

Field	Type	Description
`business_id`	UUID	Business to apply for.
`responsible_party`	object	`user_id` or inline `first_name` / `last_name` / `ssn`.
`reason`	enum	Why the entity needs an EIN (e.g., `started_new_business`, `hired_employees`, `banking_purposes`).
`fiscal_year_end_month`	integer	1–12. Most entities use `12` (calendar year).
`expected_employee_count`	object	Employees expected in the next 12 months, split by IRS category: `agricultural` (integer), `household` (integer), `other` (integer).
`principal_activity`	enum	Business activity category (e.g., `finance_and_insurance`, `construction`, `retail`).
`principal_activity_detail`	string	Description of principal products or services.
`has_previous_ein`	boolean	Whether the entity previously had an EIN.

Optional fields

Field	Type	Description
`previous_ein`	string	Required if `has_previous_ein` is `true`.
`wage_date`	date	Required if total expected employees is greater than 0.
`trade_name`	string	DBA if different from legal name.
`form_944_election`	boolean	Elect annual filing (Form 944) if expected tax liability is $1,000 or less.
`metadata`	object	Your custom key/value pairs.

Example request

JSON

{
  "business_id": "987e6543-e21a-45b6-c789-012345678901",
  "responsible_party": {
    "user_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"
  },
  "reason": "started_new_business",
  "fiscal_year_end_month": 12,
  "expected_employee_count": {
    "agricultural": 0,
    "household": 0,
    "other": 5
  },
  "wage_date": "2026-07-01",
  "principal_activity": "finance_and_insurance",
  "principal_activity_detail": "Business compliance software",
  "has_previous_ein": false
}

Track the filing

The EIN filing follows the same status lifecycle as all Comply filings:

queued → ready_to_file → processing → filed → completed

For bundled EIN filings, Palm holds the filing in queued until the parent formation reaches completed, then advances it to ready_to_file. Check status at any time:

Bash

GET /v1/filing/{filing_id}

Or filter the filings list:

Bash

GET /v1/filing?type=ein&business_id={id}

Handle information requests

If Palm needs additional information to complete the application — for example, to resolve an IRS name mismatch or supply a missing detail — it opens a case on the filing describing what’s needed, and notifies you with a case.opened webhook. Respond via POST /v1/case/{case_id}/response. See Cases for the full lifecycle and field reference.

Retrieve the result

When the filing reaches completed:

EIN — Available on filing.result.ein_number.
Entity name — Confirmed name on filing.result.entity_name.
Documents — IRS confirmation letter (CP 575), downloadable from its url (see Download a document).

Palm also stores the EIN on the business record in the vault.

JSON

{
  "id": "fil_ein456",
  "object": "filing",
  "type": "ein",
  "status": "completed",
  "business_id": "biz_xyz789",
  "result": {
    "ein_number": "12-3456789",
    "entity_name": "Acme Holdings LLC"
  },
  "documents": [
    {
      "id": "doc_002",
      "object": "document",
      "type": "irs_confirmation_letter",
      "uploaded_at": "2026-06-05T10:15:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

Introduction

Get started

Onboard

Verify

Monitor

Comply

Webhooks

Standalone vs bundled

Prerequisites

Submit an EIN application

Responsible party

Required fields

Optional fields

Example request

Track the filing

Handle information requests

Retrieve the result

Next steps

​Standalone vs bundled

​Prerequisites

​Submit an EIN application

​Responsible party

​Required fields

​Optional fields

​Example request

​Track the filing

​Handle information requests

​Retrieve the result

​Next steps

Standalone vs bundled

Prerequisites

Submit an EIN application

Responsible party

Required fields

Optional fields

Example request

Track the filing

Handle information requests

Retrieve the result

Next steps