If you are in the process of adopting a child and are able to claim the child as your dependent or are able to claim a child care credit, you may need an Adoption Tax Identification Number (“ATIN”) until a SSN is issued for your adoptive child. An ATIN is issued by the IRS as a temporary taxpayer identification number for the child in a domestic adoption when the adopting taxpayers do not have and/or are unable to obtain the child’s Social Security Number (SSN). 1
According to the IRS, recent tax law changes require that when you list a person’s name on your federal income tax return, you must provide a valid identifying number for that person. During the adoption process, you may not have been able to obtain an existing or a new Social Security Number (SSN) for the child who may already have been placed in your home. If you are eligible to claim the child as your dependent, and you don’t have the child’s SSN, then you will need to request an ATIN in order to claim the child as a dependent and ( if eligible) to claim the child care credit. 2
- Use the IRS form W-7A to appy for a ATIN.
- As soon as the adoption becomes final, the adopting parents should obtain an SSN for the child and notify the IRS of the new SSN. When the IRS is notified of a new SSN for the adopted child, it will deactivate the ATIN. If the adopting parents do not notify the IRS within two years, the ATIN will be automatically deactivated.
- It will generally take 4 to 8 weeks to get an ATIN once the IRS receives a completed Form W-7A.
If you need help obtaining your Adoption Tax Identification Number, give us a call!