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This post is my third installment about fixing rejected online EIN applications submitted on the IRS's website. Consider the following potential causes:

Every EIN application requires a responsible party name and matching tax ID number. "Unless the applicant is a government entity, the responsible party must be an individual (i.e., a natural person), not an entity." Previously, it was possible for an entity that had not obtained its EIN online to be the responsible party for a new entity's online EIN application. This is no longer the case, and any attempt to obtain a new EIN using a business as the responsible party will result in an error.

The IRS will only issue an EIN to one responsible party per day. This limitation applies to all requests for EINs, whether through the online EIN application or by fax or mail. If an EIN has been issued to any entity by any application method on a particular day, the responsible party on that EIN application must wait until the next day before being the responsible party on another EIN application.

A rejected EIN application indicating Reference Number 101 has a name conflict. The IRS requires a unique entity name before it will issue an EIN, similar to how the secretary of state requires a unique entity name within that state before Articles or Certificates of Organization may be successfully filed. However, because the IRS is a federal agency issuing EINs for entities in all 50 states, it potentially checks for duplicate entity names across multiple states. There are numerous references to a state on the online EIN application, such as the physical location state, mailing address state, and the state where the Articles are or will be filed.

If all of these state references are the same, the IRS will only check for previously-issued EINs with that entity name in that one state. If multiple states are reported, for example, if the Articles were filed in a different state than the business's physical address, the IRS will check both states for name availability before issuing an EIN, even though filing the Articles only requires a unique entity name in the one state where the Articles are being filed. In the past, it was possible to obtain an EIN over the phone in the case of a name conflict; however, the IRS no longer issues EINs over the phone.

[Image]Reference numbers 102, 103, 105, or 108 indicate that the name and tax ID number of the responsible party do not match IRS records. Reference number 104 means a third-party designee's contact information cannot be the same as the address or the phone number of the entity that is applying for an EIN. Reference numbers 109, 110, 112, or 113 mean that the online application is temporarily unable to assign EINs; try again later. Reference number 114 indicates that only one EIN will be assigned per day per responsible party. Reference number 115 indicates that the social security number listed for the responsible party is associated with someone who is deceased.

Reference Numbers 109 and 110 indicate technical problems and an EIN may still be obtainable using the exact same information that resulted in the error. The error might result from too many people trying to obtain an EIN at the same time. Try again later, or try closing and reopening the browser, using a different browser, using a different computer, clearing cookies, restarting the computer, or adjusting your security settings. Or, feel free to contact me; I would be happy to try and help.