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Should I get a second EIN for a second sole propietor business?


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TunaInTheBrine

I'm a sole proprietor with my own business. I have my own EIN/TID already.

 

I want to open a second business in 2018, and I'm wondering if I should get a second EIN/TID to go along with it. It is a related profession to the one I have now, so I could just use the same EIN/TID for both (says Google).

 

However, since the expenses are going to be different for each and technically they are definitely two separate businesses, I'm wondering if it makes the most sense to have a separate EIN/TID to keep things clean.

 

Now is the time for you entrepreneurial types to chime in :)

 

Thanks in advance!

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You should always keep your businesses separately. If you get sued for one business, having the same EIN leaves your other business open to legal action. I am a corporate officer in both companies that my boss owns. She has a separate EIN for each. I also was a corporate officer for a guy who owned 4 companies and he had separate EIN's for them. Having the same EIN increases your chances that they will go after all of your companies if you get sued. If you have tax problem, you will wish you had separate EINs. I do most of the government filings and licensing and we keep separate books too. I have been part of several lawsuits over the last 45 years and everyone I worked for had separate EIN numbers to isolate each company.

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Yup, good practice even if you don't anticipate employees. Situations change. I'd also suggest looking at forms of business other than sole proprietor. There are still some of us dinosaurs out there with our name on the business and no legal protections but we're getting fewer and further between each day. Brave new world.

 

I remember when I had to file a trust tax return when my mom died and I liquidated their trust. The IRS required a TIN for the trust, something back in the day they never took care of since it wasn't required. More hoops to jump through. ;)

 

Back when I was doing real estate as a landlord, I almost got a separate TIN but found I didn't meet the parameters for a real estate 'professional' so didn't need it. In retrospect it probably would've been a good idea anyway but I made it through that period OK.

 

Enjoy filing those separate tax returns. Joy :D

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