Do ITIN Numbers Expire? When and How to Renew

Yes, ITIN numbers do expire. An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number expires automatically if it isn’t used on a federal tax return for three consecutive years, and a large batch of older ITINs issued before 2013 have already been retired on a separate schedule. Filing with an expired ITIN won’t get your return rejected outright, but it will stall your refund, block valuable tax credits, and let penalties and interest keep running on anything you owe.¹

The Three-Year Non-Use Rule

The main expiration trigger is simple. If your ITIN doesn’t appear on a U.S. federal tax return for any three consecutive tax years, it expires on December 31 of that third year.¹ An ITIN last used on a 2022 return but absent from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 returns would expire on December 31, 2025.

This catches people when life changes. A few years of income below the filing threshold, time spent outside the country, or a stretch when a spouse’s SSN carried the household return can quietly use up those three years.

Older ITINs That Already Expired

Between 2017 and 2020, the IRS retired every ITIN with certain middle digits (the fourth and fifth positions). That included middle digits 70 through 88, 90 through 92, and 94 through 99. If you hold one of those numbers and haven’t renewed, it expired on the schedule the IRS set at the time, regardless of whether you kept filing. The IRS mailed CP48 notices to affected taxpayers, but many of those notices never reached the people they were meant for.

What Filing With an Expired ITIN Costs You

Your Refund Sits Frozen

The IRS doesn’t reject a return filed with an expired ITIN. It puts the return into a processing hold and sends you a notice telling you to renew. While you sort that out, any refund stays locked up.¹ Renewals themselves take seven to eleven weeks, and that time runs on top of normal return processing.

Credits Disappear Until the ITIN Is Valid

This is where the real money goes. Several tax credits require a valid taxpayer identification number for the filer, spouse (if filing jointly), and any qualifying child or student. An expired ITIN on any one of those people blocks the credit for the whole return.

The Child Tax Credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2025, with the amount adjusted for inflation in 2026.² The American Opportunity Tax Credit provides up to $2,500 per eligible student for higher education expenses, with up to $1,000 of that refundable even if you owe no tax.³ Claim three children, and if one child’s ITIN has expired, that child’s share of the Child Tax Credit disappears until the renewal clears.

Penalties and Interest Keep Running

If you owe tax, a delayed return doesn’t delay the penalties. The IRS warns that filing with an expired ITIN “may result in a reduced refund or penalties and interest.”¹ Late-payment penalties accrue at 0.5% of the unpaid balance per month, plus interest, and the agency does not waive those charges because your ITIN was expired. Renewing before you file is the only reliable way to avoid the problem.

Spouses and Dependents Count

An expired ITIN on anyone listed on the return can block benefits even if yours is current. Spouses and dependents being renewed must appear on the attached federal return, along with the schedule or form tied to the specific benefit being claimed.¹ Families lose money here more than anywhere else, because it’s easy to track your own ITIN and forget about a child’s.

How to Renew Your ITIN

Form W-7 and the Documents You Need

Renewal uses Form W-7, the same form used to apply for a new ITIN. Check the box indicating this is a renewal, write in your existing ITIN, and select the reason that explains why you’re filing the form.⁴

A valid passport is the one document that works on its own, because it proves both identity and foreign status. Without a passport, you need at least two documents from the IRS’s accepted list that together establish both. The accepted documents include:

Identity documents: U.S. driver’s license, U.S. state ID card, or U.S. military ID card
Foreign status documents: visa issued by the U.S. Department of State, foreign driver’s license, or USCIS photo ID
Dual-purpose documents: national ID card showing name, photo, address, date of birth, and expiration date; foreign military ID card; or foreign voter registration card
For dependents: civil birth certificate, medical records (under age 6 only), or school records (under age 24 if a student)

Everything must be an original or a certified copy from the issuing agency. Notarized copies are not accepted.⁴ For dependents claimed on the return, a passport without a U.S. entry date stamp may not be enough on its own, and additional documents proving U.S. residency may be required.

Three Ways to Submit

You can file your renewal package by mail, in person, or through an authorized agent.

By mail: Send Form W-7 and supporting documents to IRS ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342.
In person: Visit an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center that offers ITIN services, or a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site with ITIN services. Applying in person lets you get most documents authenticated and returned on the spot.
Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent: An IRS-authorized agent can verify your documents so you don’t have to mail the originals. The IRS keeps a searchable directory of agents by state and country. Fees vary, so call around first.

Processing takes roughly seven weeks under normal conditions. During tax season (January 15 through April 30) or for applications from overseas, plan on nine to eleven weeks.⁵

Keeping Your Passport Safe

Mailing an original passport to the IRS makes most people uneasy. The IRS returns original documents to the address on record after processing, but your passport could be gone for the entire seven-to-eleven-week window.⁶ You can include a prepaid Express Mail or courier envelope to speed its return. The safer route is to apply in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center or work through a Certifying Acceptance Agent, either of which lets you keep the originals.

Renew the Whole Family at Once

If one person’s ITIN is expiring or has expired, you can renew ITINs for everyone on the return at the same time. That covers the filer, spouse, and all dependents, even those whose ITINs haven’t been flagged for expiration yet.⁷ Bundling the family’s paperwork spares you from renewing your own ITIN, filing a return, and then discovering a dependent’s ITIN was also expired.

When to Renew

Don’t wait for filing season. The best time to renew is as soon as you know your ITIN has expired or will expire before your next return. Because processing stretches to eleven weeks during peak months, submitting in the fall gives you the best shot at a valid ITIN before the January-through-April window opens. A CP48 notice from the IRS is your signal to start.

You can renew before the ITIN actually expires. There’s no rule saying you have to wait. If you know you won’t file this year and your ITIN will hit the three-year non-use mark, renew now and skip the scramble later.

If You Later Get a Social Security Number

If you become eligible for a Social Security number, you can’t keep using the ITIN. The IRS does not allow one person to hold both. Once your SSN arrives, stop using your ITIN on returns immediately and notify the IRS so it can merge your tax records under the new number.⁸

To do that, write a letter stating that you’ve been assigned an SSN and want your tax records combined. Include your full name, mailing address, ITIN, a copy of your CP565 Notice of ITIN Assignment if you still have it, and a copy of your Social Security card. Send the letter to Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0057. After processing, the IRS will void your ITIN and link your prior filings to the SSN.⁸ Skip this step and the IRS may not credit you for wages and withholding reported under the old ITIN, which can shrink your refund or trigger notices.

What an ITIN Does Not Do

One boundary worth stating plainly: an ITIN exists for federal tax reporting. It does not grant work authorization, change immigration status, or make you eligible for Social Security benefits. ITINs cannot be used on Form I-9 for employment verification, and neither employers nor employees should treat them as a substitute for a Social Security number in that context.⁹ Expiration and renewal only affect what the ITIN was built to do in the first place: let you file and claim what the tax code allows.

1
Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. American Opportunity Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7
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Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN
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Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Documentation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Internal Revenue Service. Renew Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers Before They Expire
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Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
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E-Verify. My Employee Entered a Set of Numbers in the Social Security Number Field on Form I-9