Originally Posted by
Efrem
You don't need to have employees or even be planning to get some. You need one to have a Keogh retirement plan (or for any of several other less common reasons, such as filing an Alcohol/Tobacco/Firearms tax return). You don't need to have the Keogh plan to get the EIN: it's the other way around, you need an EIN to set up the plan. Once you have the EIN, nobody is going to force you to set one up.
Efrem,
Point is that it easy to get a EIN. I have helped hundreds of people do it, and sometimes the "gobmint" workers want to hear that you are going to be an employer at some point. Your point may be valid, but my way avoids additional correspondence with the IRS.
Alex