Form W-7: Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number

You file Form W-7 if you need a U.S. taxpayer identification number for federal tax purposes but you don't have a Social Security number and can't get one. An ITIN is for federal tax purposes only. It doesn't entitle you to social security benefits, and it doesn't change your immigration status or your right to work in the United States. Don't submit this form if you have an SSN or are eligible for one. If an SSN application is pending, wait.

Common applicants include nonresident aliens filing a U.S. federal tax return or claiming a tax treaty benefit, resident aliens who meet the substantial presence test, nonresident alien students, professors and researchers, and dependents or spouses of U.S. citizens or resident aliens. For tax years after December 31, 2017, spouses and dependents can only get or renew an ITIN if they file their own tax return or are claimed for an allowable tax benefit.

• A spouse filing a joint return
• Head of household
• Qualifying surviving spouse
• American opportunity tax credit
• Premium tax credit
• Child and dependent care credit
• Credit for other dependents

There is no separate due date for Form W-7 itself. For a new ITIN, you attach the form to the front of the tax return the ITIN is needed for, then file the whole package on or before the due date for that return. If you can't file the return by then, file an application for an extension of time by the due date. Filing late without a complete Form W-7 and the required documents can cost you refundable credits such as the American opportunity tax credit.

Renewals work much the same way. If your ITIN has expired and will appear on a U.S. federal tax return, send the renewal with that return. An ITIN expires on December 31 of the third consecutive tax year if it wasn't included on a U.S. federal tax return for the last 3 consecutive tax years. If your ITIN was assigned before 2013 and was never renewed, renew it with your return. Note that you can't e-file a return using an ITIN in the calendar year the ITIN is assigned.

You have four ways to apply. By mail, send Form W-7, your tax return or the documents your exception requires, and your supporting documents to the IRS ITIN Operation in Austin. Don't use the mailing address printed in your tax return instructions. You can also use a private delivery service, apply in person at a designated IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, or work through an Acceptance Agent or a Certifying Acceptance Agent. Agents are available in the United States and abroad.

Allow 7 weeks for the IRS to notify you of your application status. Expect 9 to 11 weeks if you apply during peak processing, January 15 through April 30, or if you file from overseas. Your original documents go back to the mailing address on your Form W-7, and you don't need to include a return envelope. If they haven't come back within 60 days, you can call the IRS. Applying in person is worth considering if you need your documents sooner.

• By mail: Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342
• Private delivery: Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, Mail Stop 6090-AUSC, 3651 S. Interregional, Hwy 35, Austin, TX 78741-0000
• In person: Taxpayer Assistance Centers, by appointment only, scheduled by calling 844-545-5640

Your documents have to prove two things: who you are, and your connection to a foreign country. Send original documents or copies certified by the agency that issued them. A valid passport is the only stand-alone document, so if you send one, you don't need anything else from the list. Otherwise send at least two of the 13 acceptable documents. At least one must carry your photograph, unless you are a dependent under age 14, or under age 18 if you are a student. Nothing you send can be expired.

Dependents usually have to prove U.S. residency as well. You skip that only if you are a dependent of U.S. military personnel stationed overseas, or you are from Canada or Mexico and are claimed for an allowable tax benefit other than the credit for other dependents. A passport with no date of entry into the United States won't work as a stand-alone document for those dependents. Medical records count only for dependents under 6. School records count only for dependents under 24 who are students.

Normally a U.S. federal tax return goes with the form. Five exceptions let you skip it, and if one fits you, you can submit Form W-7 at any time instead of waiting to file a return. Check box h and write the exception on the dotted line next to it, using its number, letter and category, for example 'Exception 1d-Pension Income'. Then attach the documents that exception calls for in place of a tax return.

• Exception 1: passive income subject to third-party withholding or covered by tax treaty benefits
• Exception 2: wages, scholarships, fellowships, grants or gambling income, with or without treaty benefits
• Exception 3: mortgage interest on U.S. real property reported by a third party
• Exception 4: a disposition of a U.S. real property interest by a foreign person
• Exception 5: T.D. 9363 e-filing by a non-U.S. representative of a foreign corporation

Most of the changes are about documents. The IRS made significant changes to the medical and school record requirements, and restructured the text so it is clearer when an applicant claimed as a dependent has to prove U.S. residency and what proof counts. A new medical and school records checklist now sits at the end of the instructions. Use it to check your record before you mail the application.

Two other updates. Qualifying surviving spouse joined the list of allowable tax benefits, along with a tip on showing that a dependent qualifies for one. Form W-7 can be submitted for a dependent claimed for the child and dependent care credit or the credit for other dependents even when the return has no tax for those credits to reduce. The note about ITINs not being needed for estimated tax payments or extensions moved to Reminders and was renamed.