ITIN resource centre
If you have a United States tax obligation but cannot get a Social Security number, an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is how the IRS identifies you. Here is who needs one, what it does and does not do, and what the IRS will ask you to prove.
Written and reviewed by Mr. Bryan Woods, MBA, IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent
An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a nine-digit number issued by the Internal Revenue Service to people who have a United States tax reporting obligation but are not eligible for a Social Security number. It always begins with the digit 9 and is formatted like a Social Security number (9XX-XX-XXXX). You apply for one on IRS Form W-7.
Its only purpose is federal tax administration. It lets you file a return, be claimed on somebody else’s return, claim a treaty benefit, or have tax correctly withheld and reported against your name. It is issued regardless of your immigration status, because the tax rules apply to income arising in the United States no matter who earns it.
The IRS groups ITIN applicants into five broad categories. If you recognise yourself in any one of them and you cannot obtain a Social Security number, Form W-7 is the right form.
You do not live in the United States, but you have income the United States taxes — rent from a U.S. property, a share of a U.S. partnership, a gain on U.S. real estate, royalties, or income from a trade or business carried on in the country. Your return is Form 1040-NR, and it needs a taxpayer identification number to be processed.
You are treated as a U.S. resident for tax purposes because you met the substantial presence test — broadly, 31 days in the current year and 183 days across a weighted three-year count — yet you hold a visa status that does not entitle you to a Social Security number. You file Form 1040 like any resident, and you need an ITIN to do it.
Your husband or wife files a U.S. return and wants to include you — usually to file jointly, which often reduces the household’s tax considerably. The return cannot be processed with a blank where your identification number should be. This is one of the most common reasons we file Form W-7, and it is normally submitted together with the couple’s return.
A child, parent or other qualifying relative being claimed on somebody’s return. Dependent applications carry the strictest documentation rules of all: the IRS wants proof of identity, proof of foreign status and, for a child, evidence of the relationship and often of U.S. residency. A passport alone is only sufficient for a dependent if it carries a U.S. entry date stamp — otherwise a second document is required. We check this before anything is filed, because it is the single most common cause of a rejected W-7.
Non-resident students, teachers, trainees and visiting academics who are filing a return or claiming an exception to the filing requirement, along with the spouses and children who came with them. Applications in this group usually need a letter from the university or institution confirming the appointment or programme, which is why our form asks for those details.
As a rule, Form W-7 travels with the federal return that makes the ITIN necessary. The IRS allows five exceptions where you may apply on its own — but each one has to be evidenced, and an unsupported exception claim is simply rejected. These are the documents that make the difference.
| Exception | When it applies | What has to be attached |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passive income with third-party withholding Interest, dividends, rents, royalties, pensions, annuities or gaming winnings on which a bank, fund or payer must withhold and report. Also partners in a U.S. partnership with such income. | A signed letter or statement from the withholding agent, bank or partnership on its own letterhead, confirming the account or interest and that a U.S. TIN is required. Partnership cases also need a copy of the partnership agreement or Form 1042-S. |
| 2 | Wages, scholarships or a treaty claim Wages exempt from withholding under a treaty; scholarship, fellowship or grant income; or a claim that a treaty article removes the tax on income other than passive income. | A letter from the employer, university or authorised school official, plus your Form 8233, W-8BEN or the relevant treaty documentation, and evidence of your visa status where one applies. |
| 3 | Third-party mortgage interest reporting You hold a mortgage on U.S. real property and the lender must report the interest you pay. | A copy of the loan or mortgage documents, together with a letter from the lender stating that it is required to report the interest and needs your taxpayer identification number. |
| 4 | Disposition of a U.S. real property interest You are selling, or have sold, an interest in U.S. real estate and the buyer or settlement agent has withholding and reporting duties. | The withholding statements and settlement documents for the sale — typically the closing statement and the relevant withholding forms filed by the buyer or agent. |
| 5 | Treasury Decision 9363 reporting A reporting obligation arises under that Treasury Decision and you need a number to satisfy it. | Documentation from the party with the reporting obligation, showing why a U.S. taxpayer identification number is needed. |
Not sure which exception fits, or whether one fits at all? That is exactly the sort of thing to ask us before filing. The application form asks what you need the number for, and we will tell you plainly whether a return has to go with it.
The IRS accepts thirteen documents. A valid passport is the only one that stands alone — every other route needs two documents, one proving who you are and one proving your foreign status.
Apply on your own and the IRS expects original documents, or copies certified by the issuing agency, posted to Austin, Texas — which can take six months or more, and the care, custody and control of an irreplaceable document is out of your hands the whole time. Because Mr. Bryan Woods is a Certifying Acceptance Agent, and in alignment with IRS statute, we send the IRS a certified copy instead.
IRS ITIN statute and procedure do require that we touch and hold your passport to confirm it is valid. We inspect the original, photocopy it, and return it to you immediately by Federal Express, DHL, USPS Priority or Express Mail. One to two days without your passport, not six months. Not with us.
An ITIN that is not used on a federal return for three consecutive tax years expires at the end of the third year. It does not disappear from the IRS’s records — it simply stops working, and a return filed with an expired number is processed without the credits and exemptions that depend on it.
Renewing is the same Form W-7, ticking the renewal box and giving the existing number. There is no need to wait for the IRS to write to you, and renewing outside the January-to-April rush is considerably faster.
Renew an existing ITINThe IRS ITIN Operation generally takes around seven weeks to issue a number, and longer — nine to eleven weeks is common — between January and April, when it handles filing-season volume, and for applications sent from outside the United States.
We cannot change the IRS’s queue, but a package that is right the first time never joins the back of it twice. You can follow your file’s progress through our office at any time.
Check my application statusMr. Bryan Woods is an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent, so your passport is never sent to the IRS. We touch and hold it only long enough to confirm it is valid and photocopy it — one to two days — then courier it straight back to you. Start the online application, or call and talk it through first — both are free.
Please note. This page is general information about United States federal tax rules, not advice about your own circumstances, and rules change. ITIN INTERNATIONAL TAX SERVICES is a private firm authorised by the Internal Revenue Service as a Certifying Acceptance Agent; we are not a government agency and we are not affiliated with the IRS beyond that authorisation. Form W-7 and its instructions are available free of charge from irs.gov. For advice on your situation, please get in touch.
