The IRS letter was for the company, not for me

A client asked to pay a company, so I formed a US LLC from abroad and waited for the letter. When it arrived I assumed the number on it was mine. It was the company's EIN.

I still don't have a Social Security number. The personal number, when you have a US tax reason and can't get an SSN, is an ITIN: nine digits, starting with 9, not work authorization. The EIN never turned into one.

Opening the bank account made the split obvious. For a US LLC the online business account wants:

1. The formation documents, such as the articles of organization.
2. The EIN letter, a CP 575 or a 147C.
3. A passport for every owner with 25% or more.
4. A physical business address. A registered agent, a P.O. box, or a UPS Store is not enough.

That account is the company's. ITIN Club is where I found the order written out, in How to open a US bank account as a non-resident and How to get an ITIN as a foreigner.

The same bank guide is also where I read that a foreign-owned single-member LLC usually files Form 5472 each year even with no income, and that the penalty for skipping it starts at $25,000. I'm not giving advice. I'm writing down the line I would have missed if the only thing I kept was the formation email.