Over 2 million Individual Identification Numbers (ITINs) will expire at the end of this year. The Internal Revenue Service issued the reminder to foreign taxpayers to apply for a renewal as soon as possible. Failure to renew ITINs by December 31, can cause delays in processing 2019 tax returns for those who are affected.
Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to those individuals who are not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number, but need to satisfy U.S. tax obligations and file U.S. tax returns. Those requiring ITINs include foreign individuals who reside outside of the U.S. and have income effectively connected with a trade or business in the U.S., investors in U.S. Partnerships, spouses of Foreign Workers residing in the U.S., among others.
The following ITINs will expire on December 31, 2019:
- ITINs issued before 2013 with middle digits of 83, 84, 85, 86, or 87 (for example 9XX-83-XXXX)
- ITINs that were not used on a tax return at least once in the last three years
ITINs that expired in 2016, 2017, and 2018 are those with the middle digits 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, and 82. These ITINs can also be renewed.
If you plan to file your income tax return for tax years 2019 or 2020, you will need to renew your ITIN as soon as possible by completing the following steps:
- Submit Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
- Attach your original identification documents or certified copies by the issuing agency and any other required documents
To aid taxpayer in the renewal process, the IRS made Form W-7 also available in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Haitian/Creole.
Please note that a tax return is not required with a renewal application.
For more information, or if you have any questions about this or any other tax matter, please contact your WilkinGuttenplan advisor or email us at [email protected].
