SSN Update

G

GC Despo

Registered Users (C)
Hi,
My wife was on a H4 visa before we got our GC, and she had a Tax ID No.
Recently she got her new SS card. She had been using the Tax ID no in lieu of the SSN at various places like DMV(for DL), bank, apt lease papers, my employer etc.
I dont even remember all the places. DO we have to update at all these places. If so can you guys please list them.

TIA
 
I think tax payer id should

not be used in lieu of ssn . it is just for tax purposes . I may be wrong . i hope somebody clarifies this .
 
I think you are right

However the question was, what to do with the cases when the Tax ID was used legally before being entitled to get an SSN. My wife is in the same case. I have to acknowledge that I hadn\'t thought of this. I think my position is to replace tax ID with SSN when time comes, i.e. when it is time to renew the driver\'s license, or as I recently did, filing the tax return with the new SSN, instead of the tax ID I used last year. I don\'t think there is a need to rush to DMV or the employer, but I\'d like to hear from people who may have experience in this.
 
No Title

You MUST notify the IRS as per the instructions on the ITN document.

If I were in your position I would also notify financial institutions, including your pension plan administrator, if any. I wouldn\'t worry about appartment lease contracts. You can send a letter to the DMV, they may act on it or not. Note that the SSN update will propagate automatically through the Credit Bureaus and will reach most interested people at some point in time.

I do not think you are required by law to update this information, however shit happens and it is probably safer to have that information up to date so that your wife can get to the money and other benefits.

Good luck!
 
Did you notify IRS?

ProActive,

This is assuming you have a spouse. If you did, what process did you follow, the ITIN publication is not specific. I am thinking of just giving them a call, I saw that there was a postal address too. It doesn\'t seem to exist a specific form to file.

Thanks,
 
I\'d like to add

that at least in the publication I read, it did not imply a "MUST", at most it looked like a "should". Mostly the idea is when you get the ssn you have to stop using the tax id, so far my wife has done that. However, I\'ll update them on the new ssn, just in case.

My 2 cents
 
No Title

Tax return is due soon anyway. Just file your joint tax return.
Put your wife\'s SSN there and write a note on the margin of 1040 saying the wife\'s old ITIN.
 
Too late

I already e-filed with the new SSN :) Actually I had to contact the California tax branch to get a customer number for my wife, given that last year I had used her ITIN. I mean, I think they are smart enough to figure out things :) My SSN is the same as last year, and my wife\'s has changed, they can infer things from there :) I\'ll call IRS ITIN unit anyway, just to be on the safe side.
 
My 2 cents

I called IRS to find out the answer to the same question since my wife had recenelty got a SSN and she has been using her TIN number since last 3 years. They told me to use her SSN for Tax return this year and the two numbers will cross-reference each other automatically in their system.
 
Well done JavedG

That\'s what I thought made the more sense, it is trivial for them to cross reference the numbers when they compare this year\'s tax return with previous years.

Thanks.
 
No Title

Hi,

I am also in a similar situation.
I have filed my last year\'s tax return using my SSN and my wife\'s ITIN. That time I was on H1B.
But this year we got our green cards and my wife also got the SSN.
When I tried to eFile my this year\'s tax return, it came back with an error saying that the previous year\'s recods doesnot match this year\'s record for the combination of Last Name+(SSN or ITIN).
So I called IRS and happened to speak with a very co-operative representative who adviced me to do a paper filing for my tax return for this year so that the record in their system gets updated and from there on you can again start E-Filing your tax returns.

Hope this helps.
 
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