Applying for business card for an LLC with no EIN
 

Specifically wondering about Amex but curious about everybody else. Under certain conditions an LLC does not need to have an EIN and can use the owner's Social Security number for tax purposes and in fact the LLC owner can file a consolidated tax return. I'm curious if an LLC without an EIN can get a business card. On the Amex website it says: "For Partnerships and Corporations, Federal Tax ID (EIN) is required to activate an American Express business account." Would the Social Security number work if there is no EIN?

Assuming you own the LLC yourself, you can still get an EIN for a LLC and treat it as a disregarded entity, and have the tax filing be made at the sole member (yourself) level.

Not sure if Amex does EIN matching but if they do and you provide your own Social, it’s not going to return a match.

Thanks, dw. Appreciate the response. We're looking at the card for my wife and she just doesn't want to mess with getting an EIN. We realize it takes 30 seconds but she doesn't want to do it. She is the sole owner so we could treat it as a disregarded entity but she wants to just use her Social.

Your wife could simply apply for a business card in her own name, without mentioning the LLC at all. These cards are issued to individuals, not to companies, and she is personally responsible for the debt in either case.

This is one of those times where the SSN/EIN having become "overloaded" in its use as a unique identifier bites back. Yes, for tax purposes, an LLC need not have an EIN, but every financial institution I've dealt with for mine says "yes, you do need an EIN for us." For example, my credit union requires an EIN for all non-human-based account owners, whether or not the IRS requires one.

I am absolutely a believer in "I want to do things the way I want to do them" but in this case I believe this is an argument your wife will lose on her LLC. The only way to play is to get the EIN as requested; financial institutions are notoriously inflexible.