How to Complete and Submit Form 13551: Prerequisites, Steps, and Review

To complete and submit Form 13551, the Application to Participate in the IRS Acceptance Agent Program, you decide whether you’re applying as an Acceptance Agent or a Certifying Acceptance Agent, finish the mandatory training for that role, fill out the application electronically through IRS e-Services, and then upload or mail your supporting documents. Properly submitted applications take roughly 60 days to process.¹ Applications are accepted year-round; there is no filing window.

First, Decide Which Type of Agent You’re Applying to Be

The form’s first substantive question is whether you want to be a regular Acceptance Agent (AA) or a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA), and that answer changes what you have to complete before you apply.

A regular Acceptance Agent helps clients fill out Form W-7, reviews their identity documents, and mails the whole package, originals included, to the IRS.² A Certifying Acceptance Agent can authenticate most supporting documents in person, hand the originals back to the client on the spot, and send only copies to the IRS along with a signed Certificate of Accuracy (Form W-7 COA).³ CAAs also receive copies of their clients’ ITIN assignment notices.

The trade-off is heavier prerequisites for CAAs: forensic document training before applying, and an obligation to keep copies of everything you rely on to certify.

Finish These Prerequisites Before You Open the Application

The IRS will not process an incomplete package, so get everything below in hand first.

Mandatory Acceptance Agent Training

Every new and renewing applicant, whether AA or CAA, must complete the IRS ITIN Acceptance Agent training module, and every individual listed as a responsible party on your application must complete it too.¹ The training covers your role as an agent, the ITIN process, and W-7 procedures.⁴ The module is a PDF on the IRS website.

Forensic Document Training (CAAs Only)

If you’re applying as a CAA, every responsible party must also complete forensic document training before you submit.¹ The course teaches you to spot fraudulent passports, visas, birth certificates, and the other identity documents that appear on Form W-7. It must include a testing component, and the provider must mail you an original certificate of completion.⁵ The IRS does not endorse specific providers; most courses run between $100 and $200. The certificate is valid for four years.⁶ Regular AAs skip this step.

PTIN, Fingerprints, and Suitability

Every Acceptance Agent and Certifying Acceptance Agent must hold a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number, renewed annually.⁷ The form asks for the PTIN of both the principal partner or owner and any authorized representative.⁸

Fingerprint cards are required unless you fall into one of the exemption categories:

Attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents can submit evidence of professional status (bar membership, active license, enrolled agent number) instead.
Electronic Return Originators are exempt if the authorized representative is listed as a Responsible Official on their EFIN.
Financial institutions, educational institutions, casinos, and federal agencies are exempt as organizations.
Foreign nationals without an SSN who reside outside the U.S. are exempt.

Even with an exemption, you’ll need fingerprint cards if you answer “Yes” to the suitability question on Line 10, which asks about prior preparer penalties, criminal convictions, unfiled returns, or unpaid tax liabilities.⁸

The IRS runs a suitability check on the firm and every authorized user on the application. It can include a background review, a credit history check, and a tax compliance check.⁹ The compliance check also draws on the Treasury Enforcement Communications System.¹⁰ Unresolved tax debt or an unfiled return will stall the application, so clean those up first.

The Four Submission Steps

The IRS expects you to work the application in this order.¹

Step 1. Complete the mandatory ITIN Acceptance Agent training. Download the PDF from the IRS website and make sure every responsible party on your application does the same.

Step 2. If you’re applying as a CAA, complete forensic document training and obtain your original certificate of completion before moving on.

Step 3. Complete the electronic application through IRS e-Services. Inside the application, you identify the people in your firm as the Principal, Partner, or Owner (PPO); Principal Consent (if applicable); responsible parties; and contacts. Every person listed except contacts must register with IRS e-Services individually to access the application, complete their fields, acknowledge training completion, and sign their jurats. The tutorials tab in e-Services walks you through each screen.

Step 4. Upload your supporting documents. After submitting the electronic application, wait 24 hours, then use the CAA Document Upload Tool to upload your forensic training certificate (CAAs), professional credentials, citizenship documents, and any other attachments.¹ Physical fingerprint cards and other hard-copy documents go to:

Internal Revenue Service
3651 S. IH 35 Stop 6380AUSC
Austin, TX 78741

The IRS does not accept faxed copies or photocopies of the application itself.⁸

What Form 13551 Asks You to Provide

Have this information ready before you start Step 3:

Organization status and professional credentials. Your entity type (financial institution, educational institution, casino, partnership, government agency, military organization, corporation, LLC, or sole proprietorship) and whether authorized representatives are CPAs, attorneys, enrolled agents, tax preparers, or EROs.
Business identification. Legal business name, EIN, EFIN if you’re an e-file provider, and the name and PTIN of the principal partner or owner.
Authorized representative details. Name, PTIN, date of birth, SSN or ITIN, home address, and legal status (U.S. citizen, resident alien, or nonresident alien).
Suitability disclosure. Whether any listed individual has been assessed preparer penalties, has a criminal conviction, or has unfiled returns or unpaid tax liabilities.
Business operations. DBA name, business address, phone and email, whether you provide tax services year-round, and how many W-7 applications you expect to submit in a 12-month period.
Primary and alternate contacts. Names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses.

⁸

One naming note. Some references online mention a “Form 1052.” The IRS-issued form number for the Acceptance Agent application is 13551, and that is what you’ll find on the IRS website and in e-Services.

After You Submit

Processing takes about 60 days when the application is complete.¹ If the IRS needs more information, they’ll contact you, so watch both your mail and your e-Services account.

On approval, the IRS assigns your firm an Office Code (sometimes called an Agency Code), which appears on your Application Summary page in e-Services.⁹ That code goes on every Form W-7 you submit for a client, signaling that an authorized agent has reviewed the taxpayer’s identity documents.¹⁰ CAAs also attach a separate Form W-7 COA to each ITIN application.³

Any change to the information you submitted, whether a new business address, adding or removing a responsible party, or updated contact details, must be reported within 30 days.¹

1
Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
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Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents
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Internal Revenue Service. Form W-7 COA Certificate of Accuracy
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Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number Acceptance Agents Training
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Internal Revenue Service. Forensic Training
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Internal Revenue Service. Acceptance Agent Application Frequently Asked Questions
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Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Manual 3.21.264 – IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
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Internal Revenue Service. Application to Participate in the IRS Acceptance Agent Program
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Acceptance Agent Application Process
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Internal Revenue Service. Acceptance Agents Guide for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number