How do I locate an EIN for a local business that closed? Need it for daycare tax form
So I'm in a bit of a jam here. We used this local daycare for our two kids last year and now they're completely shut down. I never got their tax form for filing our taxes this year and I really need their EIN (Employer Identification Number). I've tried calling the old number but it's disconnected, and I drove by—the place is emptied out with a "For Lease" sign. I paid almost $13,000 for childcare last year and I know I can claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit, but without their EIN I'm stuck! I have all my payment receipts but no tax form from them. Is there any way to look up a business's EIN when they've closed down? Do I need to contact the IRS directly or is there some database I can search?
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Owen Jenkins
You have a few options to locate that EIN. First, check any old paperwork from the daycare - enrollment forms, contracts, or receipts sometimes have the EIN printed on them. If you can't find it there, you can try contacting your state's licensing agency for childcare facilities. Since daycares must be licensed, the agency should have their tax information on file. Just call and explain your situation. Another option is to contact your state's Secretary of State office. Business entities register there, and while they might not give you the EIN directly, they can provide the owner's name and contact information so you can reach out to them. If all else fails, you can file Form 4506-T with the IRS to request a transcript of the W-10 form (the form daycares should provide you). Just be aware this might take several weeks to process.
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Alice Coleman
•Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't think about checking my enrollment paperwork, that's a good idea. I'm not sure if I kept the original contract though. Would the monthly receipts possibly have it? Also, how do I contact the state licensing agency - would I just google "[my state] childcare licensing"?
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Owen Jenkins
•Monthly receipts might have the EIN, especially if they were formal receipts and not just handwritten notes. Some daycares print their EIN on every receipt for parents' tax purposes. Yes, searching "[your state] childcare licensing" is a great start. This will typically lead you to your state's Department of Health and Human Services or Department of Children and Family Services. Call their main number and ask to be directed to the childcare licensing division. Explain that you need the EIN for tax purposes, and they should be able to help you.
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Lilah Brooks
After struggling with a similar situation last year (preschool closed down suddenly), I found taxr.ai super helpful. https://taxr.ai helped me scan through all my old paperwork and actually found the EIN buried in a welcome packet I'd totally forgotten about! Their system pulls out all the important tax info from documents you upload - saved me hours of manually searching through papers. You might want to check it out if you have any documentation from the daycare to analyze.
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Jackson Carter
•Does it really work with regular documents? How secure is it to upload financial paperwork to a website? I'm always nervous about that kind of thing.
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Kolton Murphy
•I'm curious - can it extract info from handwritten receipts too? My daycare lady wrote everything by hand and I'm having a hard time finding her tax info now that she's retired.
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Lilah Brooks
•It absolutely works with regular documents like enrollment forms, contracts, and even scanned receipts. The AI is really good at finding tax identifiers like EINs even when they're just mentioned in passing in a document. As for handwritten receipts, it actually does pretty well with those too! It's not perfect with really messy handwriting, but it can often extract the important information. I had some handwritten receipts in my pile of documents, and it managed to pull dates and amounts correctly from most of them.
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Kolton Murphy
Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai with my stack of paperwork for my kids' former daycare and it actually found the EIN on page 4 of our enrollment packet from 2 years ago! I never would have thought to look there. It also organized all my childcare expenses by date which is going to make filling out Form 2441 way easier. Definitely worth checking out if you're still looking for that EIN!
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Evelyn Rivera
I had this exact problem last tax season and wasted HOURS trying to get through to the IRS for help. After getting nowhere for two weeks, I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. Got connected to an IRS rep in about an hour who helped me figure out how to file without the EIN (though in your case they might actually be able to provide the EIN). Seriously saved my sanity during tax season.
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Julia Hall
•Wait, how does that even work? They just wait on hold for you? Doesn't sound legit to me.
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Arjun Patel
•I've been trying to call the IRS for 3 days about a different issue. Does this actually work or is it just another scam? The IRS wait times are absolutely insane this year.
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Evelyn Rivera
•Yes, they basically have a system that waits in the IRS phone queue for you. Instead of you sitting on hold for hours, their system does it and then calls you when an actual human at the IRS is about to pick up. It's completely legit - they don't ask for any tax info or personal details beyond your phone number. It's not a scam at all - they don't pretend to be the IRS or ask for any sensitive information. Think of it like a tech-based waiting service. You still talk directly to the real IRS agents yourself. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got connected to an actual IRS representative who helped me resolve my issue.
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Arjun Patel
I have to eat my words from my earlier comment. I was so frustrated after days of trying to reach the IRS that I decided to try Claimyr. Got a call back in about 45 minutes and actually spoke to an IRS agent who looked up the daycare by name and address and gave me the EIN! Apparently they can do that if it's for a legitimate tax filing purpose. Definitely better than the "on hold until the end of time" approach I was taking before.
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Jade Lopez
Another option you might not have considered: check last year's tax return if you claimed the childcare credit then too. The EIN would be listed on Form 2441 that you filed. You can get a transcript of your previous returns on the IRS website pretty easily.
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Alice Coleman
•That's really smart! I did claim them on last year's taxes so the EIN should definitely be on my old Form 2441. I'll check my copy of last year's return tonight. If I can't find my copy, is the transcript free to get from the IRS website?
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Jade Lopez
•Yes, getting your tax transcript from the IRS website is completely free! Just go to IRS.gov and search for "Get Transcript Online." You'll need to create an account if you don't already have one, and they'll verify your identity with some security questions. Once you're in, you can request a "Tax Return Transcript" for the previous year. It should show up immediately and you can download it as a PDF. Form 2441 will be included, and line 1 should have the provider's name, address, and EIN. Super easy and definitely faster than waiting for the IRS on the phone.
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Tony Brooks
Just a heads up - if you absolutely cannot find the EIN, the IRS does allow you to still claim the credit! You'll need to show you made a "reasonable effort" to get it (document your attempts) and fill out Form W-10. There's a special procedure for this situation specifically because so many small daycares close without providing proper documentation.
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Ella rollingthunder87
•This happened to me 2 years ago. I wrote "BUSINESS CLOSED" in the EIN field and attached a statement explaining my attempts to locate the information. The IRS accepted it without any issues.
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