Your U.S. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number May Expire Soon!

U.S. Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are required by the IRS if you have U.S. tax reporting obligations and you are not eligible for a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN). This requirement normally applies to Canadians who have some source of U.S. income that must be reported to the IRS. Unfortunately, these ITIN numbers are not permanent and will expire as early as January 1, 2017. In fact, individuals having ITINs with 78 or 79 as the fourth and fifth digits (e.g. 9XX-78-XXXX or 9XX-79-XXXX) can expect to receive notice from the IRS this fall advising that their ITIN will expire on January 1, 2017. (To distinguish ITINs from SSNs, note that ITINs begin with the number 9.)