I have an EIN but never used it. should I file my returns?

[ms-k-dansby]

If you have taxable income then yes and use your EIN if it is for self employment.

[djamil]

But if there are no incomes and expenses ,  is it necessary to report that to the IRS ,?  

[Rainman12]

No, you do Not have to report anything for an EIN with no associated activity.

[pk]

Agreeing with @Rainman12 , I just wonder why did you get a EIN --- for a business( sole proprietor, llc, s-corp, C-corp,  Partnership etc. ) , Trust or an Estate or what ?  

For a sole proprietor / self-employed/ single member LLC  with nil employee , EIN is not used for reporting or return filing ( at least at the federal level )

[Carl]

An EIN (Employer Identification Number) is issued only by the IRS. It is issued to a non-breathing non-living taxable entity such as a business, an estate or a trust. If the non-living non-breathing entity is a business and that business was "OPEN FOR BUSINESS" at any time during the tax year, then that business *MAY* be required to file a tax return. Then again, it may not. But it depends on what type of business entity that EIN was issued for, as well as it's registration status with whatever state the business is licensed in. A single member LLC? A multi-member LLC? An S-Corp? A Corp? Maybe a Partnership?

[djamil]

 I got this EIN as sole proprietorships in order to start online business,  but since i get it ,  the business is never started ,      so i used this EIN to open just a stripe account.

    For that i would like to know if i may report to the IRS that i  have no taxable incomes ?
because i'm afraid that the IRS thinks that i don't want to fill tax return . Hope you understand me 🙂 

[pk]

As a sole proprietor,  your business incomes/expenses are reported in your individual return ( using your SSN and NOT EIN) on schedule  C attached to your form 1040.   When you prepare your  2018 return  TurboTax would  have done this for you ( you have to tell the  software that you have  business income ).   In such a case the EIN would be used to report W2s or 1099-misc that you may have used for reporting monies  expended on  wages  for people working for your business and also transmitting and reporting withholding for those people working for you.  If you did not have anyone working for your business, then the EIN is not used for any reporting to the IRS.   For state purposes, some states issue their own business identification while others use the IRS issued EIN.

From what you have posted so far it does not appear that you have had any of these situations requiring any reporting to the IRS using the business EIN. 

[jwhi096]

Question: I just obtained an EIN thinking I’d need one to open a business bank account but I found out that I don’t. I’m a single member LLC, “disregarded entity,” can I file a 1040 using my social or am I required to use my EIN now that I have one?

[DoninGA]

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@jwhi096 wrote:

Question: I just obtained an EIN thinking I’d need one to open a business bank account but I found out that I don’t. I’m a single member LLC, “disregarded entity,” can I file a 1040 using my social or am I required to use my EIN now that I have one?

---

Since you are a single member LLC filing a Schedule C for your income and expenses you can use your SSN.    

[pk]

@jwhi096  agreeing whole heartedly with my colleague  @DoninGA , I would still like to my two cents:

(a) EIN  is a Business  identification ( Employer's Identification Number ) and  used for depositing  withholding taxes  of employees.

(b)  An LLC   with a single member ownership criteria is a "dis-regarded entity" ONLY for tax purposes.  The protective veil that you get by using the LLC  business name  is significantly weakened  if you use  your own SSN for business purposes.

(c) Generally you should use a separate bank account  with   entity name  and  use this for all business purposes  --- you do not want to co-mingle your own personal   monies with the business  and this is best done with a separate account.

Clearly this means more paperwork, but  in case of an audit or "other exigencies" this will stand you in good stead.

pk