is a federal tax id number the same as a EIN?

[jaquelyns]

Will I be putting a federal tax ID number in the EIN box?

[MindyB]

Yes, that is correct. You will use the federal tax ID in the EIN box. 

An EIN (Employer Identification Number) and federal tax ID number  both refer to the same nine digit code in the format: XX-XXXXXXX. An EIN is issued by the IRS and used is to identify businesses, in a similar way to how Social Security Numbers are used to identify individuals.