An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, is generally used to identify a business entity (but our office also obtains them for Canadians instead of ITINs - often for authors, app developers and the like earning royalties or ad revenue)

The EIN prefix merely indicates which campus assigned the EIN. Each campus has certain prefixes available for use, as well as prefixes that are solely for use by the online application and the Small Business Administration. The prefix breakdown is shown in the table below. Prior to 2001, the first two digits of an EIN (the EIN Prefix) indicated the business was located in a particular geographic area.

Also, do you want to immediately vet (or be vetted by a new USA customer) a new EIN to prove it's valid but the validation services won't yet work because it takes up to two or three weeks before an EIN becomes part of the IRS's permanent records? Why not then first check this list to see if the EIN prefix is a valid one, as your first step in the vetting process?

Campus/Other Location - Valid EIN Prefixes

Andover

10, 12

Atlanta

60, 67

Austin

50, 53

Brookhaven

01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 11, 13, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, 25, 34, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65

Cincinnati

30, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 61

Fresno

15, 24

Kansas City

40, 44

Memphis

94, 95

Ogden

80, 90

Philadelphia

33, 39, 41, 42, 43, 46, 48, 62, 63, 64, 66, 68, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 98, 99

Internet

20, 26, 27, 45, 46, 47, 81, 82, 83

Small Business Administration (SBA)

31