You can get an Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number (ITIN) by completing IRS Form W-7, IRS Application for Individual
Taxpayer Identification Number. Additionally, you are required to furnish
documentation substantiating your foreign or alien status and your true
identity or the true identity of your spouse or your dependents. You can
walk in your documents to an IRS office, mail it to the IRS, or you can
process your application through an Acceptance Agent authorized by the
Internal Revenue Service. Acceptance Agents such as colleges, financial
institutions and accounting firms who are authorized by the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) assist applications in obtaining their Individual
Identification Numbers (ITINs). Once they gather the application and all the
required paperwork, they will forward everything to the Internal Revenue
Service for processing.
Foreigners who are individuals should either apply
for a Social Security Number (SSN) if they meet the requirements for one one
Form SS-5 with the Social Security Administration or they should apply for
an Individual Taxpayer Identification NUmber (ITIN) on Form W-7. Each
applicant for an ITIN must now attach a copy of a federal income tax return
at the time that they apply for an ITIN and must use the revised Form W-7,
Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. If the
taxpayer meets the exceptions to this new requirement of supplying a copy of
a federal tax return must prove that they qualify for such exception.
If you have applied to adopt a child or are in the
process of legally adopting a U.S. citizen or resident child but who cannot
get a Social Security for that child in time to file your tax return, you
can apply for an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN) for that
child. This is a temporary nine-digit number issued by the Internal Revenue
Service to temporary provide a number when you are in the process of
adopting your child. Use Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification
Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions to apply for an ATIN. However, you cannot
use Form W-7A or go through this application process if the child is not a
U.S. citizen or resident. Apply for an ITIN instead for the child.
Beginning January 1, 2011, if you are a paid tax
preparer you must use a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) on
returns you prepare. Use of the PTIN no longer is optional. If you do not
have a PTIN, you must get one by using the new IRS sign-up system. Even if
you have a PTIN but you received it prior to September 28, 2010, you must
apply for a new or renewed PTIN by using the new system. If all your
authentication information matches, you may be issued the same number. You
must have a PTIN if you, for compensation, prepare all or substantially all
of any federal tax return or claim for refund.If you do not want to apply for a
PTIN online, use Form W-12, IRS Paid Preparer Tax Identification Number
Application. The paper application will take 4-6 weeks to process. If
you are a foreign preparer who is unable to get a U.S. Social Security
Number, you must meet different requirements.
Foreign entities that are not individuals (i.e.,
foreign corporations, etc.) and that are required to have a federal Employer
Identification Number (EIN) in order to claim an exemption from withholding
because of a tax treaty (claimed on Form W-8BEN), need to submit Form SS-4
Application for Employer Identification Number to the Internal Revenue
Service in order to apply for such an EIN. Those foreign entities filing
Form SS-4 for the purpose of obtaining an EIN in order to claim a tax treaty
exemption and which otherwise have no requirements to file a U.S. income tax
return, employment tax return, or excise tax return, should comply with the
following special instructions when filling out Form SS-4. When
