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What if my joint account owner has no U.S. taxpayer identification number?

Updated

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Short answer

If the joint owner has a U.S. ITIN instead of a Social Security number, enter the ITIN. If they have no U.S. number, enter their foreign taxpayer identification number. If they have neither, leave the field blank. You still report the account.⁠Source 1

How the rule works

Part III Item 25 takes the principal joint owner's taxpayer identification number, which can be a U.S. or foreign number, and Item 25a its type. FinCEN says to leave blank any item for which no information is available.⁠Source 1

Example

A U.S. citizen files for a foreign account jointly held with a spouse who has a foreign taxpayer identification number but no U.S. number. The filer enters the foreign number, selects the foreign TIN type, and completes the spouse's name and address.⁠Source 1

What to check

Check which details you actually have before leaving a field blank. Don't invent a placeholder number.⁠Source 1

Related questions

Full rules and more examples: Joint accounts, spouses and children

Sources

Official sources used for this page.

  1. Source 1: FinCEN, Reporting Jointly Held Accounts (opens in a new tab)

    Part III instructions, full account values, joint owner count, principal joint owner identity and blank items.

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