Processes Do Not Ensure That Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers Are Issued Only to Qualifying Individuals With a Tax Administration Need

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should require all individuals who are renewing an ITIN to provide a tax return or other documentation to show they have a continued tax filing need for it.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should implement processes to identify ITINs issued solely for the purpose of claiming tax treaty benefits that are not being used for such purpose. Once identified, the IRS should correspond with the ITIN holder to identify the purpose for which he or she continues to need an ITIN and update the RTS accordingly.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that employees are aware of the processes and procedures to review ITIN applications when the ITIN applicant has the *****************2****************** ****2**** as another ITIN holder and are taking appropriate actions as outlined in current procedures.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure compliance with interim processes to capture key information from supporting documents associated ***************2**************** in the RTS and that the information captured in the RTS is used to identify questionable applications to be addressed.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that monthly analysis of ITIN RTS data is performed to identify Form W-7 applications submitted using duplicate supporting documents and take actions on the identified applications as appropriate.