A 147C letter ("EIN Previously Assigned") is the IRS's official re-confirmation of an Employer Identification Number you already have but can no longer prove — and it is what banks accept when you have lost the original CP 575 notice. You get one by calling the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line; the IRS does not duplicate the original CP 575, so the 147C is the replacement. If you are a non-resident founder whose bank application stalled on "please send EIN confirmation," this is the document you are missing.
The original EIN notice (CP 575) is issued once and is never reprinted — if you lost it, the 147C letter is the official substitute, per the IRS.
Request it only by phone: the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line is 800-829-4933, open Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time. International founders use the EIN line at 267-941-1099.
You must be an authorized person — owner, officer, partner, or someone with Power of Attorney (Form 2848). The IRS verifies your identity before releasing the number.
Delivery is by fax (often same call) or mail (about 4–6 weeks). There is no online or email request for a 147C.
Banks accept the 147C letter as written proof of your EIN — and you cannot open a US business bank account without that EIN in the first place.
What is a 147C letter and when do you need one?
A 147C letter is an official IRS document that re-states an EIN that was already issued to your business, used as proof when the original confirmation is gone. The IRS issues your EIN once on a CP 575 notice, and that notice "cannot be duplicated or recreated."
So when you lose the CP 575, the 147C is your only IRS-issued backup.
You typically need it when a third party demands written confirmation of your EIN — most often a bank opening your business account, a payment processor onboarding you, a payroll provider, or a vendor running tax compliance. They will not accept a number you simply typed into a form; they want a document from the IRS, and the 147C is exactly that.
For a non-resident founder, the 147C usually surfaces at the worst moment: mid-way through opening a US business bank account, when the bank asks for EIN proof you never saved.
147C letter vs. CP 575: what is the difference?
The CP 575 is the original birth certificate of your EIN; the 147C is a certified replacement you request later. Both confirm the same number, and banks accept either — the practical difference is that the CP 575 is issued automatically when the EIN is granted, while the 147C must be requested by phone.
You only deal with a 147C because the CP 575 is gone.
| Feature | CP 575 notice | 147C letter |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Original EIN assignment notice | Official re-confirmation of an existing EIN |
| When issued | Automatically when your EIN is granted | On request, after the fact |
| Can it be reissued? | No — issued once, never duplicated | Yes — request as many times as needed |
| How to get it | Arrives after you file Form SS-4 | Call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line |
| Accepted by banks? | Yes | Yes |
As of June 2026, the IRS also surfaces a digital CP 575 through its online Business Tax Account, which it describes as a substitute for the CP 575A–J series and Letter 147C. Access can be limited for non-resident owners without a US identity credential, so the phone route below remains the reliable path for most international founders.
How do you request a 147C letter from the IRS?
You request a 147C by calling the IRS and asking for it by name — there is no form to mail and no online request. Set aside time, because hold queues are long and you will be identity-verified before the agent releases anything.
Call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 (Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time). If you are calling from outside the US, use the international EIN line at 267-941-1099.
Tell the agent you need "Letter 147C, EIN Previously Assigned." Use that exact name so there is no confusion with a new EIN application.
Pass identity verification. You must be an authorized person — sole owner, corporate officer, LLC member/manager, partner, or a third party holding a valid Power of Attorney via Form 2848.
Choose delivery: fax or mail. Fax is often completed on the same call; mail typically takes about 4–6 weeks to arrive.
If you choose fax, have a working fax number ready (a virtual/online fax service works). Confirm the agent reads back your business name and EIN before hanging up.
Save the letter as a PDF the moment it arrives — and store it somewhere you will not lose it again, because the next bank will ask for it too.
One detail trips up international callers: the IRS will only fax to a number you can receive on, and the agent will not leave the EIN on a voicemail or send it by email. If you do not have a fax line, a virtual fax service set up in advance turns a 6-week mail wait into a same-call download.
Can someone request the 147C on your behalf?
Yes — but only if they are formally authorized, which for a third party means a signed Form 2848, Power of Attorney. The IRS will not give your EIN to an accountant, lawyer, or service provider who is not on file as authorized.
This matters most for founders abroad in awkward time zones.
If you incorporated through a provider, they may already hold the authorization to make the call for you. StableCorp files your Form SS-4, secures the EIN, and opens the US bank account as one flow — so the EIN proof the bank needs is handled at formation, not chased down later on hold with the IRS. See pricing for what that costs.
What is the StableCorp angle most 147C guides miss?
Here is the non-obvious part: for a non-resident founder, the 147C is rarely about taxes — it is about getting paid. The reason you are scrambling for EIN proof is almost always a bank or payments provider that will not move money until it sees the document, and an EIN is required to open a US business bank account — applications without one are simply rejected.
So the 147C is not a tax errand. It is a payments unblocker.
That is why the smart move is to never need a 147C: keep the EIN, the bank account, and your payment rails set up together so there is no broken-paper-trail moment to recover from. StableCorp runs that as a single path — formation, EIN, US bank account, then USD and USDC/USDT settlement on compliant rails — and the off-ramp is where the economics show up: 1.5% to on-ramp and 0.5% to off-ramp for clients incorporated with StableCorp, or 1% to convert directly to INR, against the market's roughly 2.9% headline plus about 2% hidden FX markup, close to 5% effective. The EIN gets you the account; the rail decides how much of each payment you actually keep.
The original CP 575 is issued once and never reprinted. The 147C is your only IRS-issued backup — so the day it arrives, save it as a PDF, because the next bank will ask for the same proof.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a 147C letter online?
Not as a direct request. The IRS does not take 147C requests online, by email, or by mail — you must call. The one online-ish path is the IRS Business Tax Account, which can surface a digital CP 575 that substitutes for the 147C, but access often requires a US identity credential that many non-resident owners do not have.
How long does a 147C letter take to arrive?
By fax, often during the same phone call. By mail, generally about 4–6 weeks. If a bank is waiting on it, ask the agent to fax it and have a fax number ready.
Does a 147C letter cost anything?
No. The IRS does not charge for a 147C letter. Any service charging you is charging for making the call and handling delivery, not for the document itself.
Can I use a 147C letter to open a US business bank account?
Yes. Banks accept the 147C as written confirmation of your EIN. And because an EIN is mandatory to open the account at all, the 147C is often the exact document that gets a stalled application moving again.
What if I never received my EIN confirmation in the first place?
If the EIN was already assigned but you never saw the CP 575 — common when a third party filed the SS-4 for you — a 147C is still the right request; it confirms the number that already exists. If no EIN was ever assigned, you need to file Form SS-4 first, not request a 147C.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. As of June 2026, the IRS phone numbers, hours, and 147C process reflect current IRS guidance; confirm details against the IRS Employer Identification Number page before you call, as IRS procedures can change.
Sources
IRS — Employer Identification Number (lost EIN, 147C, Business and Specialty Tax Line) — https://www.irs.gov/businesses/employer-identification-number
IRS — Understanding Your CP575 Notice — https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-cp575-notice
IRS — About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-ss-4
IRS — About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative — https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-2848