Haje’s Brain

I recently had the fantastic opportunity of writing a book about photography for an US publisher. Of course, with the publisher being abroad, there were some tax issues with the venerable Internal Revenue Service. Basically, I was given the choice between a) giving the US Internal Revenue Service 30% of my earnings, and subsequently pay another significant percentage to the Inland Revenue (which are, of course, the UK tax authorities), or somehow get out of the US tax, and pay tax only in the UK.

I’m not too fond of the idea of just giving away 30% of my hard-earned money to the taxman for no reason, especially if it can be avoided, so that’s how it all began — Applying for an Individual Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

Why do you need an ITIN?

Well you need a SSN (Social Security Number) in order for your tax to be withheld properly by an employer. However, if you are not an US citizen, you don’t have any right to an SSN, and so you need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number — or an ITIN.

How do you get an ITIN?

There is a lot of information available on the Internal Revenue website, which is actually surprisingly readable. The problem comes when applying to an ITIN: In most instances, you need to fill in a W-7 form, which you can download from the IRS. The problem is that the entire form is written in the most confusing language possible, and the “instructions” are so hopelessly complicated that I couldn’t make much sense of them. It’s worth adding at this point that I’ve got an university degree in Journalism, and I’m used to ploughing through the incredibly obfuscated language used in government press releases.

W-7 walkthrough

This is how I filled in my form, and while I haven’t received my ITIN number yet, I believe I did manage to crack it. This walk-through is only valid for people who are non-US citizens who do not live in the US of A.

First, At the top of the form, check box A only.

1) Fill in your current full name at 1a, and fill in 1b only if you had a different name at birth

2) Fill in your full home address. Don’t use a post box or work address.

3) Ignore this.

4) Fill in your birth date, country and place of birth. Yes, the optional box, too, as it might save time.

5) Checkbox your gender. Yes, even if your name is “Thomas” or “Belinda”.

6a) Fill in your country of citizenship

6b) In the UK, fill in your National Insurance and Tax ID numbers (they should be on your tax forms)

6c) Ignore this

6d) Enter your passport information here

6e) Hopefully, this is ‘no’, so check that box.

6g) Enter the name of the company you are expecting money from. If you aren’t expecting any money, why are you torturing yourself with incomprehensible forms?

At the bottom of the form, sign, date, and add your phone number.

While the form doesn’t state much about this, you also need to prove all the information above. You do that with attachments

To the form, add the following attachments:

1) A letter, stating saying “Due to my non-resident alien status, I am ineligible to receive a Social Security Number. As such, I am applying for an ITIN number”. This prevents them from demanding proof from you about why you haven’t got a SSN. Date and sign the letter, and make sure your address is on the letter, too.

2) A certified copy (solicitors, banks and post offices do them, generally) of your passport and any other identification documents you might have. Birth certificate and driver’s licence are a good idea.

3) Attach something that proves your address. A bank statement works. If you use a bill or bank statement, include a short note explaining that it is convention in the UK (or whatever country you in) to prove your address by using a bill or bank statement.

4) Attach something that proves that you have reason to need an ITIN. If you are writing a book, attach a letter from the commissioning editor or publisher, along with a copy of your contract and any other proof you might have.

Where to send your form

Whatever you do, do not send the form directly to the IRS. Instead, call up the US embassy in your country. Chances are that they have an IRS branch who also accept ITIN applications. With the application (I just stuck on a post-it, which seemed to do the trick), ask them to look over the form and call you if there is a problem. Because the IRS are so notoriously slow (they advise up to 10 weeks’ waiting period to get an ITIN number), if anything goes wrong with your form, you’re screwed, and have to go through it all again. Trust me, I had to.

Be patient.

I started the process of applying for an ITIN on the 11th of September 2006. It is now 23rd of January 2007, and I still don’t have an ITIN number. Let’s keep it polite, and let me leave the topic gracefully by saying that the Internal Revenue Service is permanently off my christmas card list…