ITIN expired: when you need to renew it with Form W-7

Plenty of Europeans got an ITIN at some point, for a rental property in the US, an investment or a joint return with an American spouse, and then forgot about it. That works for a while. Then comes a new return, a sale or a refund, and the IRS tells you the number is no longer valid. An ITIN is not a number for life. It only stays alive as long as you use it. This page explains when it expires, how to check its status, when you need to renew it and when you don't, and how renewal with Form W-7 works. How to apply for an ITIN for the first time is covered in the guide Form W-7 and the documents for your ITIN.

1What the law says

The rule is in 26 U.S.C. § 6109(i)(3), added in December 2015. An ITIN issued after December 31, 2012 stays in force as long as, within three consecutive tax years after it was issued, you file a tax return at least once or are listed as a dependent on someone else's return. If neither happens for three years, it expires. The law ties the end date to the filing deadline for the third year; in its own materials the IRS uses December 31 as the expiration date.

The key word is used. It doesn't matter whether you were in the US, had income or gave the number to a bank. All that matters is whether it appeared on a federal tax return. If you sold your rental property and no longer had to file, you lose the ITIN after three years, even if you need it again later. Conversely, every return that shows it keeps the number alive.

Spouses and children count too: if their ITIN appears on your return as a dependent, that counts as use. Since tax year 2018, however, spouses and dependents only get and keep an ITIN if they are listed on the return for an allowable tax benefit or file a return themselves. These benefits include filing jointly with your spouse, filing as Head of Household or Qualifying Surviving Spouse, and certain credits for education, health insurance, child care and other dependents.

2ITINs issued before 2013

For older numbers, the law set a phased schedule. ITINs issued before 2013 stayed valid at most until a fixed date, depending on the year of issue, between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2020, and earlier if unused. The IRS sums up the result clearly: all ITINs issued before 2013 that were never renewed have expired. If you have such a number and want to put it on a new return, you submit a renewal together with that return.

This affects many people who got their ITIN long ago for a property purchase, an inheritance or an investment. The old number isn't lost. Renewal reactivates it, and for a renewal the issue date is the original date the number was first issued.

3How to check whether your ITIN is still valid

The IRS points you to the tax records in your IRS online account. There you can see which years returns were received under your number. If you don't have access, piece it together from your own records: for which tax year did you last file a Form 1040 or 1040-NR showing your ITIN? For which year did someone list you as a dependent? If three tax years without such a return have passed since then, the number has expired under the IRS rule.

Don't count on anyone reminding you that it's expiring. Check the status before you file your next return. If you're unsure, it's easier to submit the renewal with that return right away than to sit through the delay an expired number causes.

4When you need to renew and when you don't

You only need to renew an expired ITIN if it is going to appear on a federal tax return again. For everything else:

• Third-party reporting. If your ITIN is only used on information returns that others file about payments to you, such as Form 1099 or Form 1042-S, you don't need to renew it. Expired ITINs can still be used there. If you later need the number for your own return, you renew it then.
• Extensions and estimated payments. You don't need a valid ITIN for Form 4868 or for estimated payments with Form 1040-ES or 1040-ES (NR). How estimated payments work is explained in the guide Estimated Tax USA.
• Social Security Number. If you now have an SSN, for example because you live in the US with a green card or a work visa, you don't renew the ITIN. You only use the SSN from now on, and the IRS will no longer issue you an ITIN.

As a rule, renewal is tied to a return. Without a return it only works under one of the IRS exceptions, for example when a payer needs the number for payments subject to withholding in the current year and confirms this in writing.

5How to renew with Form W-7

A renewal is an application on Form W-7, just like the first one, with a few differences:

1. At the top right, check "Renew an existing ITIN".
2. In the section on the reason for applying, you still check the reason that applies to you, for example b as a nonresident filing a return. Selecting one is mandatory.
3. On line 6e, check "Yes" if you know your ITIN, and on line 6f enter the number and the name it was issued under. If you don't know it, check "No/Don’t know". A missing number delays processing.
4. If your name has changed, include proof, such as a marriage certificate or a court order.
5. Include the same documents as for a first application: your valid passport on its own or two accepted documents, either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency.
6. Attach Form W-7 to the front of the federal tax return that will show the ITIN and send everything to the IRS ITIN office in Austin, unless one of the IRS exceptions applies.

Instead of mailing it, you can also submit the renewal through an Acceptance Agent or Certifying Acceptance Agent, or at a Taxpayer Assistance Center in the US. A Certifying Acceptance Agent verifies most documents themselves and hands your passport straight back. According to the IRS, processing takes seven weeks, as with a first application, and nine to eleven weeks during peak season and for applications from abroad.

6What happens if you file with an expired ITIN

The IRS will process a return with an expired ITIN, but more slowly, and some benefits are unavailable until the number is renewed. The IRS names three consequences: processing may be delayed, you can't claim certain credits without renewing, and that can mean a smaller refund or a balance due with penalties and interest.

For nonresidents there's one more rule. Deductions and credits are only allowed on a timely filed return. If you put off the renewal and file late as a result, you risk more than a delay. How deadlines and extensions fit together is explained in the guide US tax return deadline. If you've already skipped several years, the guide Filing late US tax returns shows the ways back.

7Three typical situations

The sold rental property. A German got his ITIN for a rental apartment in the US and filed a Form 1040-NR year after year. After the sale, the return falls away, and three tax years later the number has expired. If he then inherits US securities and wants to reclaim over-withheld tax, he needs a return for that, and he submits the renewal with it.

The old number from a property purchase. A Swiss woman got her ITIN long before 2013 to buy a vacation home and never renewed it. The number has expired. If she sells the house, the IRS has a specific exception for the parties to a sale of US real property by a foreign person, allowing Form W-7 to be filed without a return, supported by the withholding forms for the sale and the sales contract. She'll need the number again anyway for the return reporting the gain on the sale.

The spouse on the joint return. An Austrian man is married to an American woman, and they file jointly. As long as he's on the joint return, his ITIN counts as used. If they file separately for a few years and he doesn't appear on any return, it can expire. When they go back to filing jointly, he submits the renewal with that return.

The three cases are examples to illustrate the rules, not cases from our practice.

8Keeping your ITIN alive

The easiest renewal is the one you never need. If you know you will need the number again, say for a property, an investment or future US investment income, make sure it appears on a federal tax return at least once every three years, either your own or a spouse's return on which you are listed as a dependent. Filing a return just for this purpose does not always work, though: according to the IRS, a return showing zero on every line generally serves no tax purpose.

How the ITIN fits into the rest of your US tax obligations, from whether you are a resident or nonresident to the deadlines, is covered in our guide US tax obligations for Europeans. If you would rather not handle the return and the renewal yourself, we take care of both for you: your US tax return.

In short

• An ITIN issued after 2012 expires if it does not appear on any federal tax return for three consecutive tax years; ITINs issued before 2013 that were never renewed have already expired.
• You only need to renew if the number is going to appear on a tax return again; on third-party information returns such as Form 1099 or 1042-S, an expired ITIN can still be used.
• You renew with Form W-7, checking the "Renew an existing ITIN" box, entering your existing number and enclosing the same documents as for the original application, usually together with your tax return.
• If you file with an expired ITIN, expect delays, and some credits will be withheld until the number is renewed.

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