What Happens to My Tax ID When I Close Down My Business?

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When you opened your business, you had to apply for EIN, an identification number that the IRS uses to keep track of a business’s tax obligations. Have you ever wondered what will happen to your tax ID when you are closing the business? If you dissolve your business entity or corporation, your EIN remains yours and no one else’s. EINs are treated like social security numbers, and the IRS will never assign the same number to another entity. Nor will it dissolve the tax ID number when you are closing your business. However, if you want to cover all your bases, you can contact the IRS and apply for the closing of the account.

What Happens When You Close the Account

As stated, when you are closing your business entity, you also choose to close your EIN or tax ID account. When you close your EIN account, your number will be “put aside,” ready to be used again should you ever decide to revive your business. If you do decide to revive your business, you need not submit another EIN number application.

How To Close Your Account

Just as you needed to submit a tax ID application and meet other requirements to obtain an EIN, you also need to submit an application and fulfill requirements while closing your account. To properly close your account, you must do the following:

  • Contact the IRS regarding your reasons for closing the account.
  • Include a photocopy of the identification assignment notification, which you received shortly after submitting your tax ID application.
  • Include your business’s name, address and EIN.
  • Complete IRS Form 966 and submit within 30 days of when your business assumes a resolve to dissolve or liquidate.

Be aware that in order to close your account, you must also be up to date on all federal taxes and have filed any final employment tax forms. Employers must also receive any final withholding and wage information before the IRS will consider your request. These are the prerequisites while closing your business entity too. There are additional requirements which you must meet in order to shut down your EIN, which your accountant can help you figure out.

Apply for a personal service corporation application or click here to learn more about a different entity.

 

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