The Internal Revenue Service has announced updates in procedure with respect to Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) requirements.

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If your dependent does not qualify for an SSN, you may be able to apply for an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) for your dependent.

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The IRS reported it has issued 10.8 million ITINs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers), with a very few being used by celebrities for book signing, foreign investors and whatever other reason?

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Effectively immediately (read that bit with lots and lots of appropriate drama), the IRS will only issue ITINs to those taxpayers who include original documentation (meaning passports, birth certificates or certified copies of these documents from the issuing agency) with their federal form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

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In the past, it has often been thought wise to reduce the identification of any individual to just one easily legible number, e.g.

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For example, in some countries, individual social-security numbers or tax codes are now used by government agencies as unique identification numbers to control access to health care or higher education.

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"We do not have any evidence that links the murder to a specific individual and therefore are not in a position to support any speculation as regards the occupation or identification of that person, " he said.

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