At Just Breve we receive regular calls where an ITIN applicant has tried and failed themselves to obtain an ITIN number.
A good example today was a British citizen married to an American spouse. The American spouse still lives in the US and was trying to file a joint tax return with her NRA spouse, based in the United Kingdom.
The first remark made by the caller was, "I just need a certified copy of my passport as that is what the IRS rejection letter says". Unfortunately, as a certified acceptance agent (CAA), we are not permitted to provide just a certification. The license we hold requires Just Breve as CAA for ITIN applications, to prepare in full and resubmit a new application.
The CAA's role is to ensure no errors are made and that all supporting paperwork is attached. We don't just certify. As a certifying acceptance agent for ITINs we are required to sign both the Form W-7 and a separate Form W-7COA.
It should also be noted that any rejected applications are actually marked against our license, so if a CAA submits too many applications that reject, they could lose their license. Just Breve only take on clients we can assist and who are eligible for an ITIN. You will find this out fairly quickly if we can or cannot assist.
Another comment made was "I think I'm filing jointly". If the NRA spouse has not seen or signed the joint 1040, more than likely it is not a joint tax return but a married filing separately return. We see this all the time. The US spouse is trying to file electronically and the software needs an ITIN. Unfortunately, as of 2018, only married filing joint filers can obtain an ITIN for a non resident spouse AND they have to paper file the return with the ITIN application.
Now given the ongoing Covid delays, this means for any US spouse trying to obtain stimulus payments, their return will take 6 months plus to be processed as it is paper filed....and the ITIN is processed first....taking up to 4 months! So 10 months plus! Unfortunately due to the pandemic, this is an ongoing delay that we as CAA cannot control.
So if you need a Certified Acceptance Agent in the UK for a rejected ITIN application, for whatever reason it was rejected, we can assist....but you may not like the answer!
Get in touch today. Just Breve is happy to answer your questions:
E: info@justbreve.com
T: 0208 1444632
Www.justbreve.com
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