Undocumented immigrants who earn income in the United States can file federal taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, in place of a Social Security number. The process has three parts: apply for the ITIN on Form W-7, attach it to your first Form 1040 along with your identity documents, and report every dollar you earned, including cash. Everything after that — refunds, payment plans, renewals — works much the same as it does for anyone else.
What an ITIN Is and What It Doesn’t Do
An ITIN is a nine-digit tax processing number the IRS issues to people who have a federal tax filing obligation but can’t get a Social Security number. Federal regulations require anyone in that situation to use one.1eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6109-1 – Identifying Numbers It always starts with a 9 and looks like an SSN on the page.
The number exists for one reason: to let the IRS process your return. It does not authorize you to work, does not confer or prove any immigration status, and does not make you eligible for Social Security benefits. It does let you comply with the federal rule that all income earned in the U.S. must be reported, regardless of citizenship or status.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 61 – Gross Income Defined
Applying for the ITIN
You apply on Form W-7.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number The form asks for your name, mailing address, date of birth, country of citizenship, and the reason you need the number. For most people, the reason is that they’re filing a federal return.
You also have to prove identity and foreign status. A valid passport does both by itself. Without a passport, you need at least two documents from the IRS-approved list, and at least one has to show a photograph.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 Acceptable options include:
- A USCIS photo ID, U.S. visa, national identification card, foreign military ID, or foreign voter registration card (each proves identity and foreign status)
- A U.S. or foreign driver’s license, U.S. military ID, or U.S. state ID (identity only)
- A civil birth certificate; foreign-issued ones cover both identity and foreign status
- Medical records for dependents under 6, or school records for dependents under 24
Every document must be an original or a certified copy from the issuing agency. Notarized photocopies are rejected. For dependents, a passport without a U.S. entry stamp may not stand alone, and additional proof of U.S. residency is usually required.
How to Submit It
A first-time application has to include your completed federal tax return, which proves the filing requirement that justifies issuing the number.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 You have three ways to send it in:
- By mail to the IRS ITIN Operation at P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342, with Form W-7, the return, and your original identity documents. Your originals will be out of your hands for weeks.5Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Forms Beginning With the Letter W
- In person, by appointment, at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, where staff verify documents and hand them back the same day.
- Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent, an IRS-authorized professional who can authenticate documents and submit the application while you keep your originals.6Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents
Processing runs about seven weeks in normal periods and nine to eleven weeks during tax season (January 15 through April 30) or when applying from abroad.7Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN The IRS mails a notice with your assigned number once it’s approved.
Filing the Return
You use the same Form 1040 as any other filer, and you enter your ITIN wherever the form asks for a Social Security number.8Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return Pick a filing status (single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, or head of household). For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.9Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
Gather every income record for the calendar year before you start. That usually means a W-2 from an employer (issued by the end of January), a 1099-NEC for freelance or contract work of $600 or more from a single payer, and a 1099-K from payment platforms that processed money above the reporting threshold.
Many undocumented workers are paid in cash and never receive any of those forms. The reporting obligation doesn’t change. All income is taxable whether or not a form documents it.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 61 – Gross Income Defined Keep your own records: a notebook with dates and amounts, bank deposit slips, invoices, or payment app histories. Cash from self-employment goes on Schedule C, where you report gross receipts and subtract business expenses. If net self-employment earnings hit $400 or more, you also file Schedule SE for self-employment tax.10Internal Revenue Service. Schedule C and Schedule SE
Add your income together, subtract your standard deduction, and apply the tax rates to what’s left. Any income tax already withheld from your paychecks (shown on the W-2) reduces what you owe. Filers whose employers withheld through the year often find they’ve overpaid and are due a refund.
Quarterly Payments If Nobody Withholds
If you’re self-employed or paid in cash with no withholding, waiting until April to pay everything can trigger an underpayment penalty. The IRS expects quarterly estimated payments on Form 1040-ES whenever you’ll owe $1,000 or more after any withholding and credits.
For tax year 2026, the deadlines are:11Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Form 1040-ES
- April 15, 2026 (first quarter)
- June 15, 2026 (second quarter)
- September 15, 2026 (third quarter)
- January 15, 2027 (fourth quarter)
You can skip the January payment if you file the full 2026 return by February 1, 2027, and pay in full with the return. A safe-harbor rule of thumb: pay at least 100% of what you owed the previous year, split across the four dates.
Which Credits an ITIN Filer Can Claim
This is where ITIN filers hit real limits. The Earned Income Tax Credit requires a valid Social Security number for the taxpayer, spouse, and any qualifying children. An ITIN does not qualify.12Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit The Child Tax Credit (up to $2,000 per child) requires each qualifying child to have an SSN issued before the return’s due date.13Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit A parent who files with an ITIN can still claim the CTC for children who do have SSNs.
The Credit for Other Dependents provides up to $500 per qualifying dependent who has an SSN, ITIN, or adoption taxpayer identification number, and it’s available to ITIN filers.14Internal Revenue Service. 15Internal Revenue Service. Social Security Tax/Medicare Tax and Self-Employment Self-employed workers pay both halves (15.3%) through the self-employment tax.
Undocumented workers who pay in this way generally cannot later collect Social Security retirement, disability, or survivor benefits based on those earnings. When wages are reported under a number that doesn’t match SSA records, they land in the agency’s Earnings Suspense File and stay there unless the worker later obtains a valid SSN that can be linked to the record.16Social Security Administration. Status of the Social Security Administration’s Earnings Suspense File You can’t get a refund of correctly withheld payroll taxes simply because you’re unlikely to collect. The IRS refunds these only when they were withheld in error.
Paying What You Owe Without a Bank Account
If the return shows a balance due, you don’t need a bank account to pay. The IRS accepts a money order or cashier’s check made payable to the U.S. Treasury, sent with a Form 1040-V voucher listing your ITIN, the tax year, and the amount. IRS Direct Pay works online from a bank account or debit card. Cash payments are accepted at approved retail partners such as 7-Eleven and Dollar General through the IRS’s payment processor, though fees apply.
File the return even if you can’t pay the full amount. The failure-to-file penalty is much steeper than the failure-to-pay penalty, and the IRS offers installment agreements that ITIN filers can use. Refunds go by check to the address on the return. You can track a return or request a transcript through the IRS website.17Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts
Keeping the ITIN Active
An ITIN that hasn’t been used on a federal return at least once in the past three consecutive tax years expires automatically. You can’t file with an expired number until it’s renewed.
Renewal uses the same Form W-7 and the same identity documents, but you don’t attach a tax return.18Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Check the renewal box, gather your documents, and use any of the three submission channels: mail, a Taxpayer Assistance Center, or a Certifying Acceptance Agent.6Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents If you’ve been out of the filing system for a few years, start renewal well before the April deadline so a slow processing time doesn’t push you past it.
Why Filing Is Worth the Effort
A consistent filing record can matter later. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services considers compliance with tax obligations a positive factor when evaluating good moral character for naturalization.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization Tax returns also serve as documentary evidence of continuous physical presence, which figures into several forms of immigration relief. Immigration attorneys commonly advise undocumented clients to file every year, even when no tax is owed, because that paper trail is hard to reconstruct after the fact.
What the IRS Can Share With Immigration Authorities
Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code makes tax returns and return information confidential as a general rule, with narrow statutory exceptions.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6103 – Confidentiality and Disclosure of Returns and Return Information “Return information” is defined broadly and includes your identity, income, deductions, and credits. Data can be shared with state tax agencies for tax administration and with federal law enforcement under a court order in non-tax criminal cases.21Internal Revenue Service. Disclosure Laws Routine civil immigration enforcement has historically not qualified.
In April 2025, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Treasury entered into an agreement allowing the IRS to confirm or deny whether an address in its records matches one provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for individuals with final orders of removal. That’s narrower than sharing full returns, but it’s a change from prior practice, and the agreement’s scope and the legal challenges around it are still moving. If this concern applies to you, talk with an immigration attorney about current conditions before you file.