---
title: "What is Employer Identification Number? | Benefit Systems"
description: "An Employer Identification Number is the nine-digit identifier under which the US tax authority holds a company and under which banks and partners identify it."
source: "aus dem gebauten HTML abgeleitet"
---
# What is Employer Identification Number?

An Employer Identification Number is the nine-digit identifier under which the US tax authority holds a company and under which banks and partners identify it.

Also called: Federal tax ID.

## How it works #

An Employer Identification Number is issued once and stays with the company. A business without a US seat can obtain one where a tax or commercial reason exists. It is a prerequisite for a business account, for payment processors and for reporting, yet it creates no creditworthiness of its own: a business file appears only once liabilities are reported to a commercial bureau.

## Not to be confused with #

An Employer Identification Number is not a personal identifier: it identifies a company and is useless for a personal credit card application.

## In German #

The German term is Arbeitgebernummer. [German version of this term](/de/glossar/arbeitgebernummer)

## Related terms #

- [Individual Taxpayer Identification Number](/en/glossary/individual-taxpayer-identification-number): An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is the US number for people not eligible for a Social Security number, issued strictly for tax purposes.
- [Personal guarantee](/en/glossary/personal-guarantee): A personal guarantee is the applicant’s promise to cover the liabilities of a business account if the company itself fails to pay them.

## Articles that use this term #

- [us-business-credit-from-abroad](/en/knowledge/us-business-credit-from-abroad)
- [ein-for-a-foreign-owned-company](/en/knowledge/ein-for-a-foreign-owned-company)
- [Do you qualify for a business card?](/en/knowledge/business-cards)