Am I in Trouble if My Accountant Used His SSN to Get My Corporation’s EIN?

Late last year (see Foreign Company Alert: Obtaining an EIN may be your Biggest Challenge in the U.S.), I wrote about the procedure by which a U.S. entity may obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) when its foreign owner lacks a social security number (SSN). I recently answered an Avvo question about what to do when the specified procedure is not followed.

The questioner’s accountant had used his (the accountant’s) SSN to obtain an EIN online for his client’s corporation because the client’s foreign owner had no SSN. The client suspected – correctly – that this was not the right thing to do (the Internal Revenue Service “does not authorize” this action).

The good news is that the IRS has established a procedure for correctly identifying the corporation’s “responsible party”, i.e., the individual or entity that controls, manages, or directs the entity and the disposition of the entity?s funds and assets (see Updating Incorrect Business Entity Information). The business owner can provide this information himself; there is no need to hire an attorney or an accountant for this purpose.

Dana H. Shultz, Attorney at Law? +1 510 547-0545? dana [at] danashultz [dot] com
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