SSN

I spent ten years working at the local senior center helping people file income tax and it was there that I encountered Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN’s). These were primarily used to collect the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This is a significant benefit providing up to $8,000 tax free to a person with three children. To get an ITIN you must file Form W-7 and you will need a passport or both a birth certificate and driver’s license. An ITIN allows foreign nationals and others ineligible for a Social Security Number (SSN) to file income tax and this leads to some confusion. You cannot work as an employee without a SSN but with an ITIN you can work as an independent contractor or as a self employed person but you will not receive a W-2. If you receive a W-2 it will have a SSN on it so here is the tricky part. You file using your ITIN and put in the SSN listed on the W-2 even though you do not have a SSN. Filing electronically like this will pass muster. The big question is where did your employer get the SSN. Did you make it up or did they and in either case does it matter.