IRS urging early renewals of Individual Taxpayers Identification Numbers (ITIN)

Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers (ITIN) are designated to those who have tax filing and payment obligations under U.S. law but are not eligible for a security number. This includes those with US property, investments or income. The IRS have urged taxpayers to submit their ITIN renewal applications soon to avoid refund delays next year, predicting more than 2 million individual taxpayer identification numbers to expire at the end of 2018.

Who needs to take action now?

Only those taxpayers with an ITIN that is expiring and are filing a tax return in 2019 must submit a renewal application.

Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) act, the ITINs that have not been used on a federal tax return at least once in the last three consecutive years will expire on December 31, 2018. Additionally, ITIN numbers with middle digits of 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 81 or 82 will expire at the end of the year. Those affected should submit for a renewal straight away. The IRS will be sending a CP-48 Notice, which will explain the steps to take when renewing the ITIN if it will be included on a U.S. tax return.

Taxpayers can still renew expired ITINs with middle digits of 70, 71, 72, 78, 79 or 80.

Spouses and dependents residing in the US should renew their ITINs. Those that reside outside the US they will not need to renew their ITINS unless the spouse and/or dependants are being claimed for tax benefit or if they file their own tax return. The reasons for this are due to the deduction for personal exemption being suspended for tax years 2018 to 2025 by Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Family option remains available

Taxpayers with an ITINS that has middle digits 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 81 or 82, as well as an already expired ITINS numbers will be given the option to renew ITINs for the whole family. If the taxpayer has received a renewal letter from the IRS, they will have the option to renew for the whole family also.

Tax Advisory Partnership

If you are affected by these new ITIN renewals please contact us for advice. We ensure the applications are submitted correctly and can also verify original documents such as passports and birth certificates. The original documents do not then need to be mailed to the IRS to support your application.