Is my FEIN secret?

No one is trying to steal your FEIN.

Stop. Just stop.

It drives me crazy when people treat a company’s FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number) like it’s a big secret. 

I kind of get why. A FEIN is kind of like a company’s social security number. Some forms allow sole proprietors to enter either one.

Leaking your social security number would be bad. Someone could take loans out in your name...

...open credit cards

...file for a fake passport

...name you as a dependent on their taxes

...get you assigned to jury duty in 3 different counties at once...

But FEINs are public information. 

I just Googled Open AI’s FEIN. It’s 81-0861541. 

I just asked ChatGPT for Google’s FEIN. It’s 77‑0493581.

What are you going to do with that information? Claim to be Sam Altman so you can... 

...pay OpenAI’s taxes?

...figure out their Form 990 before the end of the year?

...register them for a booth at the local renaissance fair?

Stop.

No one is going to fraudulently pay your taxes for you.

You don't need to send your FEIN through an encrypted exploding email with 2FA and captcha. You can just send it the regular way. 

But while we’re here, can we talk about all those government agency letters that print people’s full social security numbers on them? Cuz that seems kind of dangerous.

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Hi. I'm Claire. Founder of Just Let a B*tch Do Her Job, a startup that lets you cut through all the useless security theater that prevents hard-working back office staff from doing their jobs. It's like Plaid for government websites.

JLBDHJ isn't a real company, but it should be. Please start it. In the meantime, if you're spending too much time navigating issues with your payroll deductions, we can help.

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