How do I get a US ITIN from Canada?

An ITIN is a tax number for people who cannot get a Social Security number

An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a nine-digit number beginning with 9 that the IRS issues to anyone who has a US tax obligation but is not eligible for a Social Security number. It exists so the IRS can process a return or match a withholding claim; it carries no work authorization, no immigration status and no benefit entitlement. A Canadian on a TN visa who is working in the US gets a Social Security number instead and should never hold both.

Canadians typically need an ITIN for one of a handful of reasons: selling US real estate and filing for reduced FIRPTA withholding, reporting rent from a US property on a 1040-NR, recovering tax withheld on US casino or lottery winnings, reporting a share of a US partnership or LLC, dealing with an inherited US retirement account, or satisfying a US payer that insists on a US number before applying a treaty rate. The property sale is the most common trigger, and we cover it in do I need an ITIN to sell US property.

The W-7 must travel with a return or fit one of the IRS exceptions

The IRS does not issue ITINs on request. Form W-7 has to be accompanied by the federal return that needs the number — for a Canadian, almost always a 1040-NR — and the whole package goes to the IRS ITIN Operation in Austin, Texas, not to the usual address for the return. The return is held until the number is issued and then processed, which is why refunds on a first-year 1040-NR arrive late.

The exceptions let you apply without a return when a third party needs your number now. The ones that matter for Canadians are:

• FIRPTA — you are selling US real estate and filing Form 8288-B for a withholding certificate, or the buyer has already remitted withholding on Form 8288-A. A copy of the sale agreement or the withholding form supports the W-7.
• Treaty withholding on passive income — a US payer of royalties, dividends or partnership distributions requires a US number before applying the treaty rate, and provides a letter or a signed W-8BEN copy to prove it.
• US mortgage interest — the lender needs a number to report the interest you paid on a US home loan.
• Wages, scholarships or gambling winnings — with documentation from the employer, institution or casino.

Whatever the route, the application package has three parts: the signed W-7 with the correct reason box ticked, the proof of identity, and either the return or the exception documents. Applications are rejected for small things — a name written differently from the passport, an expired passport, a reason box that does not match the attached paperwork, or a return signed in the wrong place — and a rejection costs the full processing time a second time.

Prove identity without mailing your passport

The IRS accepts a passport as the single document that proves both identity and foreign status; other combinations exist but are cumbersome. What it will not accept is a photocopy you certified yourself. That leaves four routes:

1. Mail the original passport to Austin with the W-7. The IRS returns it, but the document is out of your hands for weeks and can be lost in transit, and you cannot travel while it is gone.
2. Use a Certifying Acceptance Agent. A CAA is authorized by the IRS to examine the original passport, confirm it is genuine and complete a Certificate of Accuracy that goes in place of the document. Your passport is checked and handed straight back. AnalytIQ is a Certifying Acceptance Agent, and this is how we file every ITIN application.
3. Visit an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in the US by appointment, where staff can verify the passport in person.
4. Obtain a certified copy from the issuing agency, which is not a practical route for most Canadian passport holders.

Whichever route you use, the passport must be current, the name on the W-7 must match it exactly, and the address must be your Canadian residence. Applications for a spouse or dependant follow the same rules and each person files their own W-7.

At a CAA appointment you bring the current passport, the completed return or exception documents, and your Canadian address details. We check the passport against the W-7, complete the Certificate of Accuracy, and you leave with the passport in hand the same day. The IRS sees the same evidence it would from an original; it simply arrives as a certification from an agent the IRS has authorized.

Timing, expiry and renewal

The IRS states a processing time of about seven weeks, stretching to nine to eleven weeks for applications sent from outside the US or during the mid-January to April peak; Canadian applications generally sit at the longer end. The number arrives by letter. Build that lead time into any property sale, because a withholding certificate cannot be processed without a number on it, and the buyer's closing agent will not wait; our answer on FIRPTA withholding and how to reduce it shows where the ITIN fits in the closing timeline.

An ITIN that is not used on a US federal return for three consecutive years expires on December 31 of the third year. A Canadian who sold a condo in one year and filed nothing since will find the number dead when the next need arises, and filing with an expired number delays refunds and treaty claims. Renewal is a W-7 with the renewal box ticked and the same identity check, and no return needs to accompany it. If you later qualify for a Social Security number, you stop using the ITIN and ask the IRS to merge the records under the SSN.

Once the number arrives, use it consistently: on every 1040-NR, on Form 8288-B, and on any W-8BEN or 8233 where a payer requires a US number. Never give it to a US employer in place of a Social Security number, and never let a family member use it. If the letter is lost, the IRS can confirm the number by phone once your identity is verified.

How we handle ITIN applications

As a Certifying Acceptance Agent we verify your passport in our office, prepare the W-7 and the Certificate of Accuracy, and send the application with the 1040-NR or the exception documents as one package, so nothing is rejected for a missing piece. Most of our ITIN files are attached to a US rental return or a property sale, which we prepare through our US tax preparation service; the ITIN step is quoted within that fixed fee after a discovery call. Clients in Peel Region can find us through our Brampton cross-border tax page.

Source: IRS — Individual Taxpayer Identification Number and IRS — About Form W-7.