A relative (a published author) is going to be doing some consulting. She does plan to talk to a lawyer and a tax pro about what form of business to ultimately use (consulting workshops she's gone to recommend creating either a S-Corp or a LLC because many companies, especially bigger ones, can be very reluctant to contract with an individual). However, for the near-term, she'll be a sole proprietor in her consulting work. Because of the book, she actually already is a sole proprietor. She has previously opened a solo 401(k). As part of opening that, she had to apply for an EIN because an EIN is explicitly needed for the "plan administrator" part of the solo 401(k) paperwork. Now, she's not thrilled about having to give out her SSN when she does her consulting gigs. Can she legitimately instead give out the EIN she already has? (And then would she put that EIN on her consulting Sched C?) If not, can she apply for another EIN (reason being "starting new business") and legitimately give that out to clients (and use it on the consulting Sched C)? Or is the only way to get out of giving out her SSN is to form a corp or LLC and have the entity contract with the client, giving the entity's EIN to the client?
-- Rich Carreiro snipped-for-privacy@animato.arlington.ma.us
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