ITIN: the IRS number for people, not for your company

Owners of a US LLC abroad: when the ITIN question actually comes up

The trouble usually starts at a sign-up screen that asks for "SSN or ITIN". That's a platform's own form, not an IRS rule about your company. On Form SS-4, line 7b, you write "Foreign" or N/A when the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and isn't eligible for one, and the EIN is issued anyway. Our EIN guide for founders without an SSN fills that form in line by line.

Here is how the common situations sort out under the IRS rules.

Every ITIN application needs a federal tax return attached unless one of the five exceptions applies. So the ITIN comes with the return; it isn't something to collect in advance "just in case".

Three ways to apply, and which suits you abroad

Whichever route you pick, the package is the same: a completed Form W-7, the US return the ITIN is for (or the documents an exception asks for), and proof of identity and foreign status. Applying is free at the IRS. Agents charge their own fees.

Documents: a passport does it alone

You prove two things: who you are, and your link to a country other than the US (the IRS calls it foreign status). Documents must be originals or copies certified by the agency that issued them, and current on the day you submit.

What "certified" means here

A certified copy carries the issuing agency's official stamped seal and its statement that it matches the original. A US embassy or consulate can also certify copies; contact its American Citizens Services section first, since services vary. A notarised copy from a local notary isn't on that list; the instructions accept notarised copies only from spouses and dependents of US military personnel overseas.

Translations can be requested later. If you mail originals, you may include a prepaid courier envelope for their return.

After you apply: three notices

Mailed documents come back to the address on line 2 of your W-7 within 60 days. If they don't, or you hear nothing by the end of the waiting period, the IRS line for callers abroad is 267-941-1000 (not toll-free); inside the US it's 800-829-1040. One more catch: you can't e-file a return with an ITIN in the calendar year it's assigned, so the first return goes on paper with the application.

Expiry and renewal

An ITIN that isn't used on a federal tax return for any 3 consecutive tax years expires on 31 December after the third year. Using it only on information returns that others file about you, such as a Form 1099, doesn't keep it alive, and you don't need to renew it for those. ITINs assigned before 2013 and never renewed must be renewed with the next return.

Why applications get rejected or delayed

The W-7 instructions flag these, and each one is avoidable before you post anything.

1. No return and no exceptionBoxes b to g need a federal return attached. Without it, or the papers an exception asks for, the application can't go through.
2. An expired or uncertified documentExpiry is judged by the postmark. A local notary's stamp isn't certification by the issuing agency.
3. Blank spacesEvery section that doesn't apply needs "N/A". Line 4 alone needs three entries.
4. A P.O. box or c/o address with a country-only line 3The instructions say this combination may get the application rejected.
5. A name that doesn't matchLine 1a, your documents and the return must spell your name the same way.
6. Eligible for an SSNIf you have one, or can get one, the ITIN is refused. With an SSN application pending, don't file W-7 at all.

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