IRS Urges Taxpayers to Renew Expiring ITINs by Guillermo Campos, CPA
Millions of U.S. taxpayers who are not eligible for Social Security numbers will need to take action before the end of 2019 to renew the now expired Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) the IRS issued to them for reporting and paying their U.S. tax obligations.
The IRS will begin sending notices this summer to affected taxpayers, including those whose ITINs’ middle digits are 83, 84, 85 or 86, 87 (e.g. 9NN-83-NNNN) and those who have not used their ITINs on a U.S. tax return at least once in the last three consecutive years. The agency encourages affected taxpayers to renew their ITINs as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary delay in the processing of their 2019 tax returns and any potential tax refund they may be entitled to receive.
The ITIN renewal process requires taxpayers to complete IRS Form W-7 and submit all required documentation, including the reason they need an ITIN, to the IRS by one of the following methods:
- Mail the form, along with original identification documents or copies certified by the agency that issued them, to the IRS address listed on the Form W-7 instructions. The IRS will review the identification documents and return them within 60 days.
- Make an appointment to have each applicant’s identity authenticated in person at a designated IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. Each family member applying for an ITIN or renewal must be present at the appointment.
- Work with a Certified Acceptance Agent (CAA), including Berkowitz Pollack Brant, which the IRS authorized to help taxpayers apply for ITINs. CAAs can authenticate all identification documents for primary and secondary taxpayers, verify that an ITIN application is correct before submitting it to the IRS for processing and authenticate the passports and birth certificates for dependents. This saves taxpayers from mailing original documents to the IRS.
Spouses and dependents residing outside of the U.S. only need to renew their ITINs if they intend to file an individual tax return, or if they qualify for an allowable tax benefit (e.g., a dependent parent who qualifies the primary taxpayer to claim head of household filing status.) The IRS provides taxpayers with the ability to renew the ITINs for all of their family members at the same time they renew their own ITINs, even when the family member’s ITIN has not yet expired. Family members include the taxpayer, his or her spouse and any dependents claimed on the tax return.
As a reminder, the IRS no longer accepts passports without a date of entry into the U.S. as a stand-alone identification document for dependents from a country other than Canada or Mexico, or dependents of U.S. military personnel overseas. Dependents who do not have a date of entry stamp will need to produce the following documents to prove U.S. residency:
- U.S. medical records for dependents under age 6,
- U.S. school records for dependents under age 18, and
- U.S. school records (if a student), rental statements, bank statements or utility bills listing the applicant’s name and U.S. address, if over age 18.
About the Author: Guillermo Campos, CPA, is an associate director of International Tax
Services with Berkowitz Pollack Brant, where he works with multi-national businesses and high-net-worth families on pre-immigration planning and structuring assets for optimal tax efficiency both in the U.S. and abroad. He can be reached at the CPA firm’s Miami office at (305) 379-7000 or via email at info@bpbcpa.com.
Information contained in this article is subject to change based on further interpretation of the law and subsequent guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
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