The CP 575 is the single piece of paper nearly every US bank, payment processor and serious business partner will eventually ask a foreign-owned LLC to produce, and it is also one of the easiest documents to lose track of, since the IRS sends it exactly once, by post, and never again in that original form. If yours has gone missing, was never delivered, or you need a version to hand a bank compliance team, this article covers what the letter actually is, why the IRS will not simply reissue it, and what you can get instead. If you have lost your EIN confirmation letter, the IRS will not reissue the CP 575, but there is an official replacement.
What the EIN confirmation letter (CP 575) actually is
The CP 575 is the IRS's official EIN confirmation notice, issued automatically once an SS-4 application is approved and a new EIN is assigned. It states the entity's legal name, the EIN itself, the effective date, and the tax forms the IRS expects the entity to file going forward. Banks and payment processors treat it as the definitive proof that a given EIN belongs to a given entity, which is why it comes up so often during account opening — it is often the single document a compliance officer will ask for by name rather than describing generically as "EIN proof."
It is issued once, automatically, at the point the EIN is first created. There is no equivalent recurring document — no annual reissue, no downloadable copy in an online portal comparable to how some other IRS notices work.
Why the IRS will not simply send another CP 575
The CP 575 specifically is treated by the IRS as a one-time original notice, and the agency's official position is that it does not reissue this exact letter a second time under any circumstance, including a lost or destroyed original. This surprises a lot of founders who assume any government notice can simply be requested again. The reasoning, as far as the IRS states it, is that the document is a point-in-time confirmation of an event (EIN assignment) that has already occurred and is permanently recorded elsewhere in IRS systems — so instead of reissuing the same letter, the IRS offers an alternative document that confirms the same underlying facts.
The actual replacement: an EIN Verification Letter (147C)
The document the IRS will issue in place of a lost CP 575 is called an EIN Verification Letter, commonly referred to by its notice number, 147C. It states the same core facts — the entity's legal name and its EIN — and is accepted by essentially every bank and payment processor as a substitute for the original CP 575, since it comes from the same IRS system and confirms the same assignment. In practice, a 147C serves every purpose a CP 575 would, and most compliance teams treat the two as functionally interchangeable even though they are formatted slightly differently and carry different notice numbers.
How to actually request a 147C
Requesting a 147C requires calling the IRS Business & Specialty Tax line — 800-829-4933 for callers within the US, or the international EIN line, 267-941-1099, for callers abroad. There is currently no online or written application process for a 147C; it must be requested by phone. When you call:
- Be ready to verify the entity's exact legal name, its EIN if you have it recorded anywhere, the responsible party's name, and the LLC's formation state and date.
- State clearly that you are requesting an EIN Verification Letter, 147C, because the original CP 575 was lost, not received, or is otherwise unavailable.
- Choose your delivery method: the IRS can either mail the letter to the address on file (typically 4–6 weeks) or, in many cases, fax it directly to a number you provide while still on the call, which is significantly faster.
- If your address on file has changed since the original SS-4 was filed, be prepared for this to complicate verbal verification, and consider filing Form 8822-B to update your address on IRS records before or shortly after this call.
CP 575 versus 147C at a glance
| Feature | CP 575 | 147C |
|---|---|---|
| When issued | Automatically, once, at EIN assignment | On request, any time afterwards |
| How to obtain | Not requestable — original only | By phone request to the IRS |
| Accepted by banks/processors | Yes, the default expectation | Yes, treated as equivalent |
| Delivery options | Mail only, at time of issue | Mail or fax, chosen at request time |
| Typical turnaround | N/A, arrives with EIN approval | Same call if faxed; 4–6 weeks if mailed |
What to do before you assume it is lost
Before calling the IRS, it is worth checking a few places the original CP 575 sometimes turns up: any formation agent or registered agent service that may have received mail on your behalf and scanned or forwarded it, any accountant or bookkeeper who set up your EIN application and may have retained a copy, and your own email if you ever scanned and stored it digitally after receipt. Founders who used a formation service to apply for their EIN by phone or fax sometimes find the agent kept a copy specifically because they expected this exact situation to come up eventually.
When you might need a 147C even if you never lost the original
It is not only a lost-document problem. Some banks and processors specifically want a 147C rather than a CP 575 because it is more recent — a CP 575 issued several years ago can look outdated to a compliance officer who wants confirmation the EIN is still active and correctly matched to your current entity details, even though the CP 575 itself never expires or becomes invalid. If a bank asks for "a current IRS letter confirming your EIN," they usually mean a 147C, and it is worth asking directly which document they want before assuming your original CP 575 will do.
Keeping this from happening again
Once you have either document in hand, store a digital copy — a scanned PDF — in at least two places: your own cloud storage and with your accountant or registered agent if you use one, since either can be a fallback source if the other becomes unavailable. This single habit is the most effective way to avoid a repeat call to the IRS a few years from now when a new bank or platform asks for the same proof.
If you are still early in the formation process and have not yet received your original EIN confirmation, our guide on getting an EIN as a non-resident with no SSN covers what to expect from that first mailing, and our comparison of EIN application channels from abroad explains why the confirmation letter's arrival timing differs depending on how you originally applied.
What if the IRS has no record of your EIN at all
In rare cases, a caller cannot get a 147C because the IRS's verbal verification does not match its records — often because the entity name, address or responsible party changed since the original application without ever being formally updated via Form 8822-B. If this happens, resolving the mismatch by filing the correct update form generally has to happen before a 147C can be issued, since the IRS is verifying against its current records, not your understanding of what those records should say.
This is a slower path than a normal 147C request, so it is worth confirming your details are current with the IRS well before a bank deadline forces the issue. In practice, this is also a good moment to double-check that the responsible party listed still matches the person actually in control of the LLC today, since ownership and management sometimes shift after formation without anyone thinking to update the IRS's record accordingly.
What this means for your ongoing compliance
Keeping your EIN documentation in order is part of the same broader discipline as filing Form 5472 on time and renewing your registered agent — small, low-drama tasks that only become urgent the moment a bank, auditor or platform needs proof on short notice. Our annual compliance calendar for a foreign-owned LLC is a useful place to add a standing reminder to confirm your EIN documentation is current and accessible, alongside the filings you are likely already tracking.
A realistic scenario
A founder in Nairobi forms an LLC in Wyoming, applies for an EIN by fax, and receives the CP 575 in the post about three weeks later. She opens a Mercury account with it soon after, and the letter then sits, unscanned, in a drawer for two years. When she later applies to Stripe for a merchant account, Stripe's onboarding flow specifically requests "an IRS EIN confirmation letter dated within the last two years," and her three-year-old CP 575 does not satisfy that internal policy even though it remains, strictly speaking, a permanently valid document.
Rather than treating this as a rejection, she calls the IRS international line, requests a 147C, has it faxed to her within the same call, and uploads that instead — Stripe accepts it without further question. Nothing about her EIN or her LLC's standing changed in that process; only the paperwork's freshness did, and knowing that a 147C solves this specific problem in one phone call saved her from a longer back-and-forth guessing what document would satisfy the platform.
Common mistakes that make this harder than it needs to be
- Assuming any IRS-related letter will do. Some founders send a bank a copy of a Form 5472 filing confirmation or an entirely different IRS notice, assuming it proves the same thing a CP 575 or 147C does. It generally does not, and compliance teams that specifically ask for one of these two documents will usually reject a substitute.
- Losing track of which name was used on the original application. If your LLC's name was later amended at the state level, the IRS record may still reflect the original name until Form 8822-B is filed, and a 147C will confirm the IRS's current record, not your updated one, until that is corrected.
- Waiting until a hard deadline to discover the letter is missing. A 147C by fax can be same-day, but only if you get through to an assistor promptly. Leaving this until the day before a bank's account-opening deadline adds unnecessary risk if hold times run long.
- Not confirming which document the requesting party actually wants. Some platforms explicitly want a 147C because of its more recent date; others are satisfied with either. A short clarifying question to the bank or platform before you call the IRS can save you from requesting the wrong thing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a 147C by email instead of phone?
No, the IRS does not accept 147C requests by email, and it does not send the letter by email either. The request must be made by phone, and delivery is by mail or fax as chosen during that call.
Does a 147C expire?
No, a 147C does not carry an expiration date, and neither does a CP 575. Some banks simply prefer a more recently dated document as a practical comfort, not because the older one is technically invalid.
Can my accountant or formation agent request a 147C on my behalf?
Only if they hold documented authorisation to act for the entity, such as a properly filed power of attorney (Form 2848) or an equivalent recognised by the IRS. Without that, the IRS will generally only release this information to the entity's own responsible party.
What if my LLC's address has changed since the EIN was issued?
File Form 8822-B to formally update your address with the IRS before or promptly after requesting a 147C, since a mismatch between the address on file and the one you provide during verification can delay or complicate the request.
If you would rather have this handled for you, our US LLC formation service covers it end to end. For the official position, see IRS EIN guidance.