Urgent: IRS Eliminates ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agent Program Outside of the US!

Significant Changes are coming to the existing ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agent program! The IRS is set to cancel ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agents program outside of the United States starting January 1, 2017.

According to a recent IRS communication, the IRS will implement the new provision on January 1, 2017, which will eliminate the need for Certifying Acceptance Agents outside of the United States. Specifically, pursuant to Section 203 of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the “PATH Act”), Pub. L. 114-113, div. Q, enacted on December 18, 2015, Internal Revenue Code Section 6109 was modified leading to significant changes to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (“ITIN”) program. Under the PATH Act, an applicant who resides outside of the Unites States may now submit their Form W-7, Application for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number by mail or to an employee of the Internal Revenue Service or a designee of the Secretary at a United States diplomatic mission or consular post. Currently, all IRS employees authorized to review and accept applications are located in the United States.

There is a possibility that Congress makes some changes and the IRS may continue CAA program. We will keep you updated on any further developments.

 How does this affect me?

What does it mean if you are a Canadian or foreign non-US citizen requiring an ITIN to file US federal tax return or other IRS filing (for example, to claim a refund or credit for taxes withheld in the United States in the 2016 tax year)?

First of all, your passport and birth certificate will no longer be certified by Certifying Acceptance Agent located in your vicinity and, as a result, you will have to send IRS your originals or notarized and apostilled documents confirming your identity. The detailed list of acceptable documents (including whether only original or certified copies of such documents may be accepted) is available on the IRS website.

Second, this lengthy and potentially expensive process will become even more time consuming, as you would have to mail in your Form W-7 application, or visit the US embassy or consulate in person. We all know what that experience is like, and would not want to go through it unless absolutely necessary. 

As you can see the process of obtaining or renewing an ITIN is about to become much more complex, introduce unnecessary hassles, and almost guaranteed to waste more of your time. We at U.S. Tax IQ are ready to help you beat the clock by helping you obtain or renew your ITIN before the axe drops on the program!

We also strongly encourage you to follow us for the latest updates on IRS’s ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agent program by checking back with us frequently.

U.S. Tax IQ Team