Letter 147C: How to Request It

What Letter 147C is

The IRS titles Letter 147C “EIN Previously Assigned.” It confirms an EIN the IRS has already issued to your entity. The IRS lists it as a way to confirm an EIN, not as a bill or a notice about tax owed.

The IRS’s EIN page lists the letter as one of three ways to confirm an EIN, and the Internal Revenue Manual describes how IRS employees handle a request for it.

Three ways to confirm an EIN

The IRS’s CP575 page says you may need to confirm your EIN when you open a bank account for your entity or obtain other business services. It also says the IRS cannot duplicate or recreate an original CP575A-J notice, so a lost original means you confirm the EIN another way.

The IRS’s EIN page lists three ways to confirm your EIN. You can request an entity transcript, you can download a digital CP575 if you are an eligible Business Tax Account user, or you can call the IRS business and specialty tax line and request Letter 147C.

The IRS says the digital CP575 can substitute for the original CP575A-J notice series and for Letter 147C. The digital CP575 page explains that route, which skips the phone call. The IRS Notice Library lists the other notices.

How to request Letter 147C

Call 800-829-4933. The IRS’s EIN page gives that number for its Business and Specialty Tax Line, with TTY at 800-829-4059. For lost EINs, it gives the hours as Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, and tells Alaska and Hawaii residents to follow Pacific time.

Before you call, check the places the IRS suggests for a missing EIN: the notice the IRS issued when you applied, the bank that holds your business account, agencies where you applied for state or local licenses, and past business tax returns. If you still cannot find the number, call.

The IRS says it will verify your identity and give you the number over the phone if you are authorized to receive it.

Who can ask for it

The Internal Revenue Manual says the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s authorized representative may contact the IRS to confirm an EIN or to obtain Letter 147C. Section 21.7.1.4.7.1 tells IRS employees to establish the caller’s relationship with the entity first, and to authenticate the caller if the caller cannot supply the EIN.

The same section treats representatives in tiers. For an authorized third party with a Form 2848 or Form 8821 on the IRS’s Centralized Authorization File, the employee researches that file. A third party without an authorization on file must supply a copy of a valid Form 2848 or 8821. Related tool: Form 2848 and Form 8821 Pre-Flight Check.

An unauthorized third party hears two options: put the taxpayer on the call, or have the taxpayer call alone.

These are employee instructions. They show what to have ready, and they do not guarantee how a particular call goes.

What you get and when

Under the same IRM section, an employee who locates the EIN gives the verification verbally, in writing by fax or mail to the address of record, or both. If the IRS mails the letter, the employee tells the caller to expect it in 10 to 14 business days.

The address of record matters, because the IRM says mail goes there. Confirm the IRS has your current address before you ask for a mailed copy. The IRS’s CP575 page points to Form 8822-B for a change of mailing or location address, or of the responsible party.

What people mistake Letter 147C for

Some readers expect a Letter 147C to arrive in the mail unprompted. You request it, so you start the process.

Others confuse it with the CP575A-J notice that the IRS issues when it first assigns an EIN. Letter 147C confirms an EIN later, and the IRS says a digital CP575 can substitute for either one.

Common Questions