Confusion over FEIN, EIN, SUI, UI, etc

March 29, 2021 6:31 AM

I need some clarification on these acronyms. Are FEIN and EIN synonomous? Does a U.S. company have the same FEIN for every state - in other words, is it a single number assigned to the company? Can a company have more than one FEIN? How are they related to the SUI/UI? Are those synonymous? I can't seem to find clear answers online or get them from my supervisor. Happy to read info at a link if you have a good one. Thank you.
posted by manageyourexpectations to Law & Government (2 answers total)

Best answer: FEIN means FEDERAL Employer Identification Number. EIN is more generic. A state could assign their own State level EIN to a company as well or use FEIN.

SUI/UI are not numbers they are plans. When registering for these plans a company may be issued an identification number specific to that state (it may be a State EIN or it may be even more specific, like an account number).

I haven't been in charge of getting these numbers for all states in a while so I'm not familiar with how many states do it in different ways. Hopefully this helps though.

FEDERAL EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER:
Issued by the IRS, identifies a company at a federal level. An SSN for a company.

STATE EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER:
May be called something different depending on the state, may or may not be the same number as the FEIN.

SUI/UI NUMBER:
Issued by the state's UI governing authority. More like an account number as it is specific to UI. Depending on the State it could match either of the above, or both of the above, or neither of the above.
posted by magnetsphere at 7:03 AM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: That's what I needed. Thank you.
posted by manageyourexpectations at 7:29 AM on March 29, 2021