Do I file Form W-7 even if no tax is owed?
Identifier or registration obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Non-resident filers, spouses and dependants who must file or be claimed on a US return, and non-resident sellers of US property.
What happens if I have missed Form W-7 for several years?
Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.
Is Form W-7 the same as the other reports I already file?
No. Applies for an individual taxpayer identification number for someone who needs a US tax number but is not eligible for a social security number. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.
Can I apply for an ITIN without filing a US tax return?
Usually not on its own. The individual taxpayer identification number exists so that someone can file, be claimed, or claim something on a US return, so the application normally travels with the return that needs it rather than going ahead of it. That surprises people who want the number first and the paperwork later. The practical effect is that the return has to be ready at the same time as the W-7, which is why we prepare the two together and treat them as one piece of work rather than as two separate jobs.
Do I have to send my original passport with Form W-7?
Identity documents have to be certified in a specific way, and that is the part applications most often come apart on. A certification that would satisfy a bank does not necessarily satisfy the requirement here, and the wrong form of it means the application comes back with the documents. Before anything is sent we establish which route of certification is actually open to you where you are, so that original documents are parted with only when that is genuinely the position, and so the package goes once rather than twice.
How does my spouse get an ITIN to be claimed on my return?
Through the same package, prepared alongside the return on which the claim is being made. A spouse or dependant who must be claimed on a US return but who cannot hold a social security number needs an individual taxpayer identification number, and the application is normally submitted with that return rather than separately. In a household this often means more than one application in the same envelope, each with its own certified identity documents. We prepare them together, so the return, the applications and the supporting documents are consistent with each other.
Why is my US property sale withholding stuck without an ITIN?
Because the number is the gate. Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is taken first and sorted out afterwards, and the mechanism for sorting it out is a US return, which cannot be processed for someone who has no US tax number. So the money sits. The same is true of the withholding certificates connected with the sale. The practical answer is to start the W-7 as early in the transaction as you can rather than after completion, because every step that recovers money sits behind it.
What happens if my W-7 application is rejected?
It comes back, usually with the identity documents, and the return it travelled with is held rather than filed. The common causes are certification that does not meet the requirement, and details that do not match across the documents supplied. A rejection is recoverable, but it costs a cycle, and where the number is holding up withholding that is expensive in a way which has nothing to do with fees. We would rather spend the time on the documents before the package is sent than rebuild the whole thing afterwards.
Can I claim a treaty benefit before my ITIN comes through?
The claim is made on the return, and the return needs the number, so in practice the treaty position is prepared and submitted with the application rather than acted on beforehand. This is the sequence clients find most counterintuitive. The entitlement may be perfectly clear, but until there is an individual taxpayer identification number there is nothing for the entitlement to attach to. We prepare the position and the W-7 as a single file, so that when the number issues, nothing else has to be started from scratch.
How do I get back tax withheld in another country?
By the route that country provides, and it is rarely automatic. Where an elective return is available — on rent or pension income, for instance — filing it recomputes the tax on net income and refunds the difference. Where it is not, you file a refund claim with the withholding authority, supported by evidence of your residence and entitlement to the treaty rate. Both take time, which is why fixing the rate before payment is worth more. See withholding refund and recovery.
What is Form 1042-S and what do I do with it?
The statement a US payer issues to a non-resident showing US-source income paid and tax withheld — the non-resident counterpart to a 1099. Use it two ways. In your own country it evidences the US tax paid for credit purposes. And where the rate withheld was higher than your treaty entitlement, or the income was not taxable at all, the way back to the money is a US non-resident return claiming the refund. Check the income and exemption codes before assuming the rate was right. See Form 1042-S.
