Mark Bole wrote:
- quote -

So the trick is this. When you first apply for an FEI#, and
if you don't anticipate having employees (talking about
schedule c filers of a genuine proprietorship and not an
LLC), then so indicate "0" employees.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA
(who actually drove past THE Cheers bar in Boston yesterday)

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Rich Carreiro wrote:
- quote -

When they ask "have YOU ever applied before....", that
means only the entity at hand. A 401k starts off with a
brand new number, therefore the "you" in that case would be
the 401k itself.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

Grin!! to verify whether someone is (really) dead?

Actually I've used their database also in my genealogical
research. That's how I determined there two other "Harlan
Lunsfords" besides my father.

And me.

Who ain't dead.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

The SS department publishes the SS numbers of dead people.
I occasionally use the web list verify whether someone is
dead. I presume hey are flagged for identity theft.

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Rich Carreiro wrote:
- quote -

When I changed my business from a sole proprietorship to an
S corp, I had to get a new EIN for the newly formed
corporation. Didn't have to do anything with the old one,
so I suppose that if for some reason I wanted to go back to
being a sole proprietor I could just reuse the EIN
associated with it.

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Dan Lanciani wrote:
- quote -

The IRS can be pesky with their inquiries as to what your
employer taxes are, and when are you going to file your
employer quarterly return. Don't ignore the
computer-generated letters you may get asking for your Form
941...even if you never had any employees.

-Mark Bole

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Rich Carreiro <rlcarr[at]animato.info> wrote:
- quote -

But that wasn't YOU applying for the EIN, it was a
partnership of which you were a partner. So you can
properly answer no, you have not - unless you are applying
for another number for the same partnership.

At least that's the way I always interpret the question. I
apply for EIN's for newly formed corporations all the time,
and always answer "no" to that question, because I am
answering on behalf of the corporation, which wasn't in
existence until just before that time and never applied for
an EIN before.

Stu

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ddl[at]danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote:

- quote -

Technically you can do it either way, so it's not a
"mistake" from that standpoint.

But these days it actually makes more sense to get an EIN,
that you can use whenever someone wants a tax ID number but
you don't want to give out your SS number.

Stu

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ddl[at]danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote:
- quote -

No. Even 25-30 years ago I didn't care to be giving my SSAN
out unnecessarily.

I guess I didn't make it clear that my sole proprietor tax
practice was a one year experiment.

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brownwp[at]longwood.edu (Bill Brown) writes:

- quote -

So is this a bad idea? I've been putting my EIN on my
Schedule C for 20+ years. I originally needed the EIN for
two reasons: some clients wouldn't accept a SSN (don't ask
me why) and the state wanted it for sales/use tax
registration (though oddly only my SSN is on the actual
resale certificate). Am I making a mistake?

Dan Lanciani
ddl[at]danlan.*com

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Harlan Lunsford <hnslunsford[at]bellsouth.net> writes:
- quote -

I'm tempted to do that.

However, there's the non-trivial chance I may need to apply
for an EIN in the future (like needing one to start a solo
401(k)), and as I recall, one of the questions on the SS-4
is have you ever applied for an EIN before, and if so, what
was the EIN. So I'd expect they'd at least look into the
old EIN, and so would like to regularize its status
beforehand.

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.info

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Rich Carreiro <rlc...[at]animato.info> wrote:

- quote -

Come to think of it, I got an EIN for a sole proprietor tax
practice I thought would be a good idea about 25-30 years
ago. I actually filed one Schedule C before I came to my
sen... er ... reconsidered. I never did anything with that
EIN after that one year.

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Rich Carreiro <rlc...[at]animato.info> wrote:

- quote -

It is generally done by filing a "final" return.

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Rich Carreiro wrote:

- quote -

My granddaddy gave the best possible advice in a case like
this: "Let sleeping dogs lie."

IOW, an EIN really never expires or goes away; just there in
limbo. IRS won't care.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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Years ago (like around 15+ years ago), at the height of the
investment club fad, some friends and I were going to start
a club. We got as far as drafting a partnership agreement
and applying for and receiving an EIN for the partnership (I
was filer of the SS-4 for the partnership). But that was
it. No money was ever contributed, no accounts were ever
opened, no income was ever received, no income was ever
reported under the EIN by any payor, no meetings were ever
held, and no partnership tax returns were ever filed (not
even "all-zero" returns).

So after all this time, how do I/we tell the IRS that the partnership
has essentially been defunct ab initio and get the EIN cancelled
without being hit with god-knows-what penalties for non-filing of
partnership returns?

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.info

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >