Does a Joint Venture need a Tax ID (EIN)?

Joint ventures are an interesting type of partnership under which two or more entities agree to pool their resources in order to accomplish an intended goal. The entities involved remain legally distinct and are able to maintain their own tax returns under their own social security numbers or ITINs, but they are known to be working together, and have made agreements to that effect.

A joint venture will not need a tax ID or EIN, because it is treated as separate entities operating together for a common goal. Joint ventures will not need to file a single tax return; instead, each individual or business within the joint venture will file their own tax return separately. This makes it different from a traditional entity such as an LLC or an LLP.

If joint ventures need to hire employees, it will be one of the entities involved that hires the employee, rather than the joint venture itself. Consequently, the separate entities within the partnership could need to get their own EIN, as they wouldn’t be able to use an SSN or ITIN for this. Joint ventures are often used for things like research and development, under which it can be advantageous for parties to work together for a mutual benefit.