An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) is a nine-digit tax processing number the IRS issues to people who need a US taxpayer identification number but are not eligible for a Social Security Number. It always begins with 9 and is written like an SSN, 9XX-XX-XXXX. It exists for tax filing and reporting; in practice it is also the number non-US founders use to be identified by US banks and card issuers. It does not grant work authorisation or immigration status.
What does ITIN stand for, and what does the number look like?
ITIN stands for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The IRS describes it as a 9-digit number the IRS issues if you need a U.S. taxpayer identification number for federal tax purposes, but you aren't eligible for a Social Security number. The word to hold on to is individual: the number belongs to a person, never to a company.
The format is fixed. Publication 1915 states that an ITIN is a nine-digit number beginning with the number 9, that the fourth and fifth digits fall in the ranges 50 to 65, 70 to 88, 90 to 92 and 94 to 99, and that it is written like an SSN: 9XX-XX-XXXX. If a number starts with anything other than 9, it is not an ITIN.
The programme is not new. The IRS introduced the ITIN in July 1996 (Wikipedia, citing the IRS), and it has been the identification number of choice for non-resident taxpayers since. The IRS issues it by letter, the CP565 Notice of ITIN Assignment, not as a card.
Who is eligible for an ITIN?
- Non-US owner of a US LLC with a reporting obligation: eligible, the most common case we see.
- Freelancer or seller paid by a US platform that withholds or reports: eligible under the exceptions when the paperwork matches.
- Person with a US work visa or green card: not eligible for an ITIN. That person applies for an SSN.
Anyone who has a US federal tax filing or reporting requirement and cannot get a Social Security Number. The two conditions go together. If you are eligible for an SSN, the IRS expects you to apply for that instead, and it will not issue an ITIN to someone who qualifies for one.
Form W-7 lists the reasons the IRS accepts. The common ones for founders: a non-resident alien who must file a US return, a non-resident alien claiming a tax treaty benefit, a resident alien by the days-of-presence test who must file, and a non-resident who needs the number because a third party reports payments or withholding to the IRS under one of the exceptions in the W-7 instructions. Spouses and dependents of US persons and of visa holders have their own reasons on the form.
What is an ITIN used for?
For the IRS, one thing: identifying you on returns and information reports. A bank, a broker or a platform that pays or withholds on your behalf needs a taxpayer number to report it, and the ITIN is the number they report under.
In practice, that reporting duty is why the number opens doors. Federal customer identification rules require a bank to collect an identifying number when it opens an account; for a non-US person that can be a taxpayer identification number, a passport number or another government-issued document number. The ITIN is the taxpayer number a non-US founder has. Card issuers run on the same identifiers, and the credit bureaus file the history they receive under it. That is the sense in which the ITIN is the number that unlocks the US financial system: it is how the system identifies you.
| The ITIN does | The ITIN does not |
|---|---|
| Identify you to the IRS on returns and information reports | Authorise you to work in the United States (Publication 1915) |
| Serve as your taxpayer number on bank, brokerage and platform paperwork | Change your immigration status or count as a visa |
| Give the credit bureaus a number to file US credit history under | Work as identification outside the tax system; your passport does that |
| Stay valid for as long as it is used on a return at least once in three years | Qualify you for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit |
What is an ITIN not?
The IRS is blunt about this in Publication 1915: ITINs do not authorise individuals to work in the United States and are not valid for employment purposes; an ITIN does not change your immigration status; it is not valid for identification outside the tax system. It is for tax purposes only.
For a founder the practical translation is simple. The ITIN is not a permit to live or work in the US. It is not an ID you show at the door. It does not, on its own, produce a bank account, a card or a credit limit. Every one of those is a decision made by a bank or an issuer after they have identified you, and the ITIN is what they identify you by.
ITIN vs SSN vs EIN in one minute
Three numbers, three subjects. The SSN identifies a US citizen or someone authorised to work in the US. The ITIN identifies an individual who cannot get an SSN. The EIN identifies a business entity and never a person. A non-US founder therefore ends up with two of the three: an EIN for the company and an ITIN for themselves. The full comparison covers who gets which, whether you can hold more than one, and the order to get them in.
How do you get an ITIN?
You file Form W-7 with documents that prove your identity and foreign status. A valid passport does both on its own; the IRS accepts 13 documents in total. There are three routes: mail the application to the IRS with original documents or copies certified by the issuing agency, make an appointment at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in the US, or go through a Certifying Acceptance Agent, who verifies your documents so the originals stay with you. The IRS then allows 7 weeks for its decision, or 9 to 11 weeks between January 15 and April 30 or when you apply from outside the US. The step by step guide has the documents, the routes and where applications fail.
Does an ITIN expire?
Yes, if it goes unused. The W-7 instructions say that an ITIN not included on at least one US federal tax return for three consecutive tax years expires on December 31 of the third year and must be renewed before it can be used on a return again. Renewal is a W-7 again, with the renewal box ticked. A number that is used stays valid; the IRS does not ask you to re-apply on a schedule.
Why the ITIN matters more for a non-US founder than the IRS lets on
The IRS describes a tax number. What a founder experiences is a key. Without a US taxpayer number, a real US bank has no number to identify you by, a card issuer cannot pull or build a file, and every application stops at the first field that asks for one. With it, the questions change from can we identify you to what does your profile look like, and that is a conversation you can prepare for.
That is why we treat the ITIN as layer one of the base: company paperwork a bank accepts, then the accounts opened in person in Miami, then the cards and the credit profile that follow. Each layer depends on the one below it, and the bottom one is this number. What a bank or an issuer decides once they can identify you is their decision, and nothing about the ITIN changes that. It only makes sure the conversation happens.