IRS will begin emailing all PTIN holders beginning October 17 advising them their PTINs expire on December 31, 2016 and that open season is underway for renewing for 2017. The renewal fee is $50. Get started at www.IRS.gov/ptin.
There will also be an "early bird" renewal for about 70,000 PTIN holders who have renewed early the past two or three years. The IRS will email those individuals separately giving them the opportunity to renew their PTIN before the season opens to the general public. The early bird email will provide instruction for these individuals to renew early through Oct. 14. These individuals can still renew your PTIN during renewal season beginning in mid-October if they miss the early bird renewal window.
As a reminder, all PTINs expire on Dec. 31 and must be renewed annually. You must have a valid PTIN if you plan to prepare any federal tax returns for compensation or you are an enrolled agent.
The IRS has also announced that all ITINs not used on a federal income tax return at least once in the last three consecutive tax years and ITINs with middle digits 78 or 79 will expire at the end of the year based on the 2015 PATH Act. In addition, dependents without a date of U.S. entry on their passports from countries other than Mexico or Canada will need to prove residency before an ITIN can be issued. The IRS issues ITINs to individuals who are required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number for U.S. tax purposes but who do not have, and are not eligible to obtain, an SSN from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The IRS has created a number of publications designed to explain the PATH Act-required changes and to make the renewal process as easy as possible:
- ITIN Fact Sheet (Pub 5259) – available here – informs ITIN holders what needs to done to renew their expiring ITIN and where they can go to get help if they need it.
- You May Need to Renew Your Expired ITIN (Pub 5256) – available here – is useful for practitioners to give to clients and directs taxpayers to the IRS.gov/ITIN page for more information.
- Renewing Your ITIN (Pub 5257) – available here – A full-page flyer with more information than Pub 5256 – also includes links to additional information.