How to Complete and Submit IRS Form 13551: Acceptance Agent Application

IRS Form 13551 is the application to join the IRS Acceptance Agent Program, which authorizes you to help clients who lack Social Security Numbers obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. The IRS no longer accepts this form by mail. You complete and submit it electronically through the IRS e-Services portal, after finishing mandatory training and gathering your professional credentials.¹

Before you open the application, decide which tier you are applying for, because the requirements branch from there. A standard Acceptance Agent reviews a client’s identification and mails the originals to the IRS with Form W-7. A Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) authenticates most supporting documents in person and returns the originals to the client immediately, which is why most professionals pursue CAA status. CAAs cannot authenticate foreign military ID cards, and for dependents they can only authenticate passports and birth certificates.²

Who Can Apply

The standard tier is open to financial institutions defined under Internal Revenue Code Section 265(b)(5), colleges and universities that qualify as educational organizations, federal agencies, anyone who helps taxpayers prepare returns, and any other person or category authorized by IRS procedures.³ Tax preparation firms, independent enrolled agents, and community organizations serving immigrant populations all fit.

The CAA tier is narrower. You must be covered by Treasury Circular 230, which limits eligibility to attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, and registered tax return preparers who are not suspended or disbarred from practice before the IRS.³ VITA sites participate on a separate organizational track. Every individual listed as a Responsible Party must have a Social Security Number, or an ITIN if that individual is located outside the United States.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

The application asks you to certify that training is already complete, so doing things out of order will stop you at submission.

ITIN Acceptance Agent Training

Every Responsible Party must complete the mandatory ITIN Acceptance Agent training before the application is submitted.⁴ The IRS publishes it as a downloadable PDF. The course covers how to complete Form W-7, what supporting documentation to collect, who may sign the form, and when a Power of Attorney on Form 2848 is required.⁵

Forensic Document Training for CAA Applicants

CAA applicants have a second training requirement. Every Responsible Party must complete forensic document identification training before submitting.⁴ The course teaches you to spot fraudulent passports, birth certificates, visas, driver’s licenses, national ID cards, and other documents commonly submitted with ITIN applications.⁶

The IRS does not mandate a specific vendor but has reviewed several approved providers, listed on the IRS forensic training page. When choosing one, confirm the course covers the document types required for Form W-7, includes testing, and provides an original certificate of completion you can upload to the IRS.⁶ A forensic training certificate is valid for four years.¹

Credentials and Business Information

Gather your firm’s EIN, both physical and mailing addresses, and the professional information for each Responsible Party: professional status, state of licensure, license or credential number, and expiration date. CPAs, attorneys, and enrolled agents must upload a copy of an unexpired credential.⁵ You will also be asked whether you provide tax services year-round, roughly how many Form W-7 applications you plan to submit in a 12-month period, and the types of customers you serve.

An IRS e-Services Account

Everyone named on the application, other than contacts, must create their own IRS e-Services account. You sign in through ID.me. The first time you log into e-Services, you will create a five-digit PIN that is used to sign the application and its terms of agreement.⁵ If your firm has multiple Responsible Parties, each one registers separately.

Filling Out and Submitting the Application

After signing in through ID.me, click the “Individual” button on the personality level page for a new application. On the External Services Authorization Management landing page, choose “Acceptance Agent Application” from the New Application dropdown.⁵ Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

The form walks through several sections:

Firm information: legal business name, EIN, addresses, and operational questions.
Authorized users: at minimum a Principal, Partner, or Owner of the Business (PPO), at least one Responsible Party, and a primary contact.⁵
Firm suitability: whether your firm has been convicted of a felony in the last ten years and whether it is current on all business taxes, including corporate and employment tax obligations.
Personal credentials: each Responsible Party enters their professional status, licensing state, credential number, and expiration date. VITA organizations follow a separate track that does not require individual professional credentials.
Suitability, training certification, and jurat: each Responsible Party answers suitability questions, reads the training certification statement and privacy act notice, checks the attestation box, and enters their e-Services PIN to sign.

Once every section is complete, the PPO submits the application by entering their e-Services PIN and clicking Submit. Fingerprint cards are no longer required; the IRS runs its own background check as part of the process.¹

Uploading Supporting Documents

Wait at least 24 hours after submitting before opening the CAA Documentation Upload Tool. That tool is where you upload forensic training certificates, copies of professional credentials, citizenship documents, and nonprofit exemption letters if applicable.⁴

Do not upload the application itself through the Document Upload Tool. It is only for supporting materials, and the application you submitted through e-Services is a separate process. The IRS specifically warns about this mistake.⁴

Processing Time and Approval

The IRS reviews your professional history, training credentials, and suitability answers. The move to electronic submission brought typical processing down from 120 days to roughly 60 days for properly completed applications.⁴ Missing credentials, expired training certificates, and unanswered suitability questions are the most common causes of delay.

If approved, you receive a formal Acceptance Agent Agreement signed by an IRS official. That signed agreement is your authorization to begin assisting clients with ITIN applications. You cannot submit Form W-7 applications on a client’s behalf until the agreement is fully executed and in your possession. Any change to the information on your original application, such as a new business address, a Responsible Party leaving the firm, or an updated credential, must be reported to the IRS within 30 days.⁵

Renewing Your Agreement

Your Acceptance Agent agreement expires on December 31 of the fourth year after your approval date. An agreement approved on March 1, 2024 expires December 31, 2028.¹ You can only renew during the calendar year your agreement expires, and the IRS recommends starting the renewal at least six months before the expiration date.

Renewal runs through e-Services. On the personality level page after signing in, select the existing Acceptance Agent row under Firm Roles to open the renewal workflow.⁵ CAA renewals require a valid forensic training certificate, so if yours is older than four years, retake the course before renewing.

Compliance Reviews After Approval

Approval is not the end of IRS oversight. Certifying Acceptance Agents are subject to physical site visits and correspondence-based compliance reviews, during which the IRS checks the quality of your Form W-7 submissions and whether you are following the terms of your agreement.⁴

You must also cooperate with information requests from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Government Accountability Office. Refusing to cooperate can result in termination from the program.⁴ Noncompliance with any provision of the governing revenue procedure, whether in document handling, timely reporting of changes, or the quality of submissions, can lead to suspension of both the firm and the individuals listed on the application.⁵

1
Internal Revenue Service. Acceptance Agent Application Frequently Asked Questions
2
Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents
3
Internal Revenue Service. Form 13551 – Application to Participate in the IRS Acceptance Agent Program
4
Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Acceptance Agent Application Process
6
Internal Revenue Service. Forensic Training