Re: Amazon Individual account to Pro account ?
I didn't know that the tax ID was a requirement for becoming a Pro Seller on Amazon. It wasn't that way before.
But anyway, if that is what they want, then you will have to provide an EIN, since it is impossible to provide an SSN on a stealth account.
The EIN will have to be for a business, either a corporation or an LLC.
You can get an EIN for free at the IRS website. PLEASE do not pay some service $100 to do this for you! It is NOT that difficult. You just enter your information (real information) and the name of your corporation or LLC. The IRS usually will immediately issue an EIN to you and give you a letter in the form of a PDF file that has all of your information.
You do NOT actually have to have an active LLC or corporation to file for the LLC. However, you must eventually set it up or give the EIN back. Don't worry, forming an LLC is easy in most cases, and also inexpensive in MOST states (California is an exception, where they charge $800, which is highway robbery!).
But for now, you want to file the EIN so you can get your account going. It takes 10-14 days for the EIN to propagate throughout the IRS' computer systems. So, if it comes back as invalid, you will have to have Amazon re-submit the request.
It is OK to use your real information with the IRS, in fact you MUST use your real information. But when Amazon (or anyone else) verifies your EIN, they will be verifying that your BUSINESS NAME matches the EIN in their records. They only return a code of MATCH or NO MATCH to Amazon. They do not give any other information. So, Amazon will not know it is YOU behind the EIN.
Just so you know, the reason you need the CORP/LLC EIN, rather than a personal EIN is that if the EIN is registered to you personally (or a sole proprietorship) then they will verify YOUR NAME against the EIN records, and that is not good for stealth. You CANNOT enter an EIN in the SSN field, because that also will not verify. So, a business EIN is really the only way to go.
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