Tax Filing Status Information:

If you are an individual, your Federal Tax ID# is your Social Security number (SSN).

For most non-individuals (such as trusts, estates, partnerships, sole proprietors, and similar entities), your Federal Tax ID# is the employer identification number (EIN).

A Sole proprietor must furnish his or her individual name and either their SSN or the EIN for their proprietorship. In addition to his or her individual name, the sole proprietor must also furnish the business name for the sole proprietorship provided their name is listed before the business name. A sole proprietor must not furnish only the business name.

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Guidelines:

DBE is defined by the Federal Register 49 CFR, part 23. A business firm which is at least 51 percent (51%) owned and controlled by disadvantaged/minority group members or women, or in case of a publicly owned business, at least 51 percent (51%) of the stock of which is owned by disadvantaged/minority persons or women. The disadvantage/minority or women ownership must exercise actual day to day management and control of the business. If you feel you may meet the definition of DBE, and would like further information, you are encouraged to contact Lee County Equal Opportunity Office at (239) 335-2221.

Definitions of DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise):

• "Black American" a person having origin in any of the Black racial groups of Africa;
• "Hispanic American" a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish cultures of origins, regardless of race;
• "Native American" a person who are American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, or Native Hawaiians;
• "Asian-Pacific American" a person whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific, and Northern Marians.
  Asian-Indian American" a person whose origins are from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
• Women Owned Business

For more information regarding the DBE Program, please contact:
Millie Class (mclass@fgcu.edu)
Phone: 239.745.3700
FGCU Small Business Development Center
​