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A 147C letter is an official document from the Internal Revenue Service that confirms an Employer Identification Number already assigned to your business. It does not create a new EIN. It restates an existing one on IRS letterhead, which is exactly what a US bank often wants to see before it opens a business account. For a non-resident founder who lost the original CP 575 notice, or never received a clean copy of it, the 147C letter is the standard way to prove the number is real and tied to the right entity name.
A 147C letter is an EIN verification letter the IRS issues when a business needs proof of its already assigned Employer Identification Number. Banks ask for it because the EIN on your account application must match IRS records exactly, and the 147C is the cleanest evidence of that match. The original confirmation, called the CP 575 notice, is mailed only once when the EIN is first issued. If that notice is lost, the IRS will not reissue the CP 575, so the 147C letter becomes the replacement document.
The distinction matters during account opening. A bank compliance officer is checking that the legal name, the EIN, and the responsible party on file line up with IRS data. A photo of an old email or a screenshot does not satisfy that. The 147C letter does, because it comes directly from the IRS and carries the IRS file address for the entity.
You cannot complete a full irs 147c request online in the sense of a web form that emails you the letter. The IRS issues the 147C only by phone, then delivers the letter by fax or by mail. The "online" part of the process is the preparation: confirming your entity details, finding the correct IRS phone line, and arranging a fax number or US address where the letter can land.
The practical sequence looks like this:
Because the IRS phone lines operate on US Eastern hours, founders in other time zones often plan the call carefully. A founder in Karachi, for example, may set an alarm for the early hours to catch the line when it opens, keep the entity formation documents open on screen, and have a US fax number ready so the agent can send the letter before the call ends. That small bit of human planning, rather than any shortcut, is usually what turns a frustrating week into a fifteen minute call.
Before requesting a 147C letter, you need the entity details the IRS used when it assigned the EIN, because the agent verifies you against those records. The most important items are the exact legal name of the business and the responsible party named on the original application. A mismatch in the name, even a missing comma or a dropped "LLC," can stall verification.
Have these ready:
If you formed the company recently and used a service to handle the EIN application, your formation paperwork should list the responsible party and the entity name precisely as filed. Keep that paperwork beside you during the call.
A 147C letter sent by fax typically arrives during the same phone call, often within minutes of identity verification. The IRS controls this timing, and no service can promise an exact moment, but fax is the fastest route in practice. If you choose mail delivery instead, the letter is sent to the address on file and can take several weeks, which is why founders who need a bank account quickly usually prefer fax.
One important caution about delivery: the IRS will only fax or mail the 147C to the entity's own contact details on record, or to a number you confirm on the call. It will not send EIN verification to an unrelated third party for security reasons. So having a US fax number or US mailing address tied to your business removes a common bottleneck for founders abroad.
If you do not yet have an EIN, the 147C letter is not your starting point. The 147C only verifies a number that already exists. You first need the EIN itself, which the IRS assigns when you submit Form SS-4. For founders without a US Social Security Number, the online EIN tool is not available, so the application goes to the IRS by fax or mail, and by fax it typically takes a few weeks.
This is where many non-resident founders get stuck, because the EIN application, the entity formation, the registered agent, and a US address all have to fit together before a bank will engage. CORPBOLT is a U.S. business formation service for non-resident founders that forms a Wyoming LLC for founders abroad and prepares the EIN, registered agent, and US address. Plans start from $349/year, with the EIN included from $599. (corpbolt.com)
To be precise about the money: the EIN itself is free from the IRS. You never pay the IRS for the number. What a formation service charges for is preparing and filing the SS-4 application correctly and handling the rest of the setup, so that when you later need a 147C letter, the entity name and responsible party already match IRS records.
The 147C letter is one piece of a documentation set a US bank reviews, alongside your formation documents, your operating agreement, and proof of address. Having the EIN verified on IRS letterhead removes one of the most common friction points in account opening, because it confirms the number a compliance team is checking. The bank itself always decides whether to open an account, and no preparation guarantees approval.
A clean paper trail helps. When the legal name on your Wyoming LLC filing, the EIN on your 147C letter, and the responsible party on your SS-4 all agree, the compliance review tends to move faster. CORPBOLT's role here is bank-readiness preparation only, meaning it helps you assemble the entity, the EIN, the registered agent, and a US address so you can prepare to open. It does not open or introduce accounts. That decision stays with the bank or the payment platform.
No. The CP 575 is the original notice the IRS mails once when your EIN is first assigned, and it is never reissued. The 147C letter is the verification document the IRS provides afterward to confirm the same EIN, and it serves as the accepted substitute when the CP 575 is lost.
Generally no, unless that person is an authorized representative on file with the IRS, such as someone listed on a valid Form 2848 power of attorney. The IRS verifies the caller against the entity's records and will not release EIN verification to an unrelated party. This is why founders usually make the call themselves with their formation paperwork in hand.
You do not strictly need one, because you can choose mail delivery, but a US fax number lets the IRS send the letter during the same call instead of weeks later by post. Founders abroad who want to open a bank account quickly often arrange a US fax number or US mailing address in advance for exactly this reason.
It can help, because the 147C verifies your EIN against IRS records, which is one of the items a bank checks. It is not a guarantee. The bank reviews your full documentation and makes its own decision, so the 147C is best treated as one part of being bank-ready rather than a key that opens the door on its own.
The IRS does not charge for a 147C letter. EIN verification is a free service from the IRS, just as the EIN itself is free. Any cost you pay to a formation service is for preparing your application and entity setup, not for the number or the verification letter.