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
State tax IDs are not EINs
A U.S. entity can hold several tax numbers at once, issued by different governments for different taxes. The federal EIN is one of them — and the one most often confused with the rest.
Verified on November 4, 2026 against the IRS page “Employer identification number” for the federal side of the distinction, cited in full at the foot of this entry.
State account structures are described at the level every state shares; a specific state's account names, forms, and thresholds are that state's department of revenue's to state, and this entry asserts none of them.
§ 1 —The distinction
| Question | EIN | State tax ID / account number |
|---|---|---|
| Issued by | The IRS (federal) | A state agency — typically the department of revenue or taxation, and for unemployment, the state workforce agency |
| Governs | Federal taxes and federal information reporting | That state's taxes only: sales and use tax collection, employer withholding, unemployment insurance, and similar state levies |
| How obtained | Form SS-4 or the IRS online application | The state's own business registration, usually when the entity registers to collect sales tax or hires employees in that state |
| Substitutes for the other? | Never. A state account does not satisfy a federal EIN requirement, and an EIN does not register an entity with any state. Some state registrations ask for the entity's EIN as an input — asking for it is not issuing it. | |
§ 2 —Why non-residents meet this confusion so often
A marketplace or state portal asks for a “tax ID” without saying whose. Read the asking party: a federal form wants the EIN; a state's sales-tax registration wants its own account, opened through that state.
A state notice arrives that looks federal. The letterhead names the issuer. A notice from a state department of revenue concerns a state account and a state tax.
Registered-agent and formation paperwork uses “tax ID” loosely. In formation documents the phrase almost always means the EIN. In payroll and sales-tax contexts it may mean a state account. The document's issuer decides the meaning.
§ 3 —The library's boundary on state questions
This library's subject is the federal EIN and the federal obligations that follow it. State tax-ID requirements turn on the state, the entity's activities there, and that state's thresholds — fifty different answers, each belonging to that state's published guidance and, for a specific entity, to its own advisers. The verified reference this library maintains for states is the distinction itself: which government issued the number in front of you, and which government's rules therefore govern it.
General information only, not tax advice. Where this page and an IRS source differ, the IRS source governs.
§Sources
- IRS, “Employer identification number” — https://www.irs.gov/businesses/employer-identification-number — consulted 2026-11-04.