Catalogue — REF A-1…E-2
- A-1 — EIN basics for non-residents
- A-2 — EIN vs. ITIN vs. SSN — the three numbers
- B-1 — Responsible-party rules
- B-2 — Application routes, compared
- B-3 — Form SS-4, annotated line by line
- B-4 — Reference numbers 101 and 102
- B-5 — When the responsible party changes
- C-1 — Lost CP 575 & the Letter 147C replacement
- C-2 — Wrong name or address on the CP 575
- C-3 — Closing an EIN — the IRS never cancels one
- D-1 — Form 5472 + pro-forma Form 1120
- D-2 — State tax IDs are not EINs
- E-1 — TIN matching and name control
- E-2 — How a bank verifies an EIN
- The Catalogue
- Find Your Answer
- Reference Desk
- Checklist Review
- Errata & Changes
- Enquiries (FAQ)
- Imprint & Method
- Contact — Request Slip
Lost CP 575 & the Letter 147C replacement
A bank asks for proof of your EIN. The letter that proved it is gone. This is the most fixable problem in the library — provided you ask the IRS for the document it actually issues.
Verified on November 4, 2026 against the IRS page “Employer identification number” and the IRS’s published telephone-assistance information for the Business & Specialty Tax Line, cited in full at the foot of this entry.
§ 1 —Two different documents
| Document | What it is | How it is obtained |
|---|---|---|
| CP 575 | The EIN confirmation notice, issued once when the EIN is assigned, showing the entity's legal name, EIN, and address of record. | Issued automatically at assignment. Never reissued — the IRS does not produce a duplicate CP 575. |
| Letter 147C | The EIN verification letter (“EIN previously assigned”): the IRS's later confirmation of the EIN, legal name, and address currently on its records. | Requested by phone from the IRS; sent by fax during or after the call, or by mail to the address of record. No online request exists, and the IRS does not email it. |
Internal Revenue Service · Department of the Treasury
Legal name
SPECIMEN ENTITY LLC1
Employer identification number
XX-XXXXXXX (redacted specimen)2
Address of record — as entered on Form SS-4, line 43
This notice confirms the number above was assigned to the entity named. It is issued once, at assignment.
EIN previously assigned
Legal name on IRS records
SPECIMEN ENTITY LLC4
EIN XX-XXXXXXX · Address currently on file5
Issued on request, by phone, to an authorised person — by fax during the call or by mail to the address of record. It may be requested again; the CP 575 may not.
Banks and payment platforms that ask for “your CP 575” accept Letter 147C for exactly this situation — it is the IRS's own replacement document.4 The thing that does not work is asking anyone, including a paid service, to produce a new CP 575. No one can; the IRS issues it once.
§ 2 —The request, step by step (reference walkthrough)
Call the Business & Specialty Tax Line: 800-829-4933, Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time. Callers outside the United States, for whom the toll-free number generally does not work, use the IRS international line, 267-941-1099 (not toll-free), Monday–Friday, 6 a.m.–11 p.m. Eastern time.
Be the right person. The IRS releases the letter to a person authorised for the entity — the owner or responsible party, an officer, or a representative holding a power of attorney (Form 2848) or tax information authorisation (Form 8821) on file. Have the entity's legal name, the responsible party's details, and the address of record ready for the identity check.
Ask for the letter by name: “an EIN verification letter, Letter 147C.”
Choose fax if you can. With a fax or e-fax number, the letter can be sent during the call. By mail, it goes to the address of record — allow roughly two weeks, and note that an outdated address of record must be corrected with the IRS first, which is its own step (REF C-2).
§ 3 —If the EIN itself is lost, not just the letter
Do not apply for a new EIN. The same phone call solves the number itself: after the identity check, the representative can read the existing EIN to an authorised person and issue Letter 147C confirming it. Before calling, it is worth looking where the number already lives — a previously filed federal return, the entity's bank records, or state filings made under the EIN all carry it.
Reference Desk note: members receive this as a guided walkthrough — the call script in order, the identity questions to prepare for, and a record sheet for the name-and-address spelling the IRS confirms, which is the spelling to use everywhere afterward. This free entry states the same facts; the Desk walks you through the call before you make it.
General information only. IRS phone hours and procedures change; the IRS governs. This library cannot request a 147C on your behalf — only an authorised person can, which is why the walkthrough exists.
§Sources
- IRS, “Employer identification number” — https://www.irs.gov/businesses/employer-identification-number — consulted 2026-11-04.
- IRS, Topic No. 857, Individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) — https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc857 — consulted 2026-11-04.