Most non-resident founders don't need an ITIN - your LLC's EIN already does the business jobs. You only need one if you personally file a US tax return or claim a treaty benefit. If you do need it, we prepare and file it for $299 and your passport never leaves your hands.
Non-resident founders who personally have a US filing duty. You need an ITIN only if you file a Form 1040-NR, claim a tax-treaty benefit, join a multi-member LLC that issues you a Schedule K-1, or a platform demands one in writing. Without a US tax ID on a treaty form, platforms withhold a flat 30% - the most common real reason a non-resident needs one. Your LLC's EIN already covers Form 5472, your bank, and Stripe, so most non-resident founders never need an ITIN at all.
An ITIN is the IRS personal tax ID for people who cannot get a Social Security Number. ITIN stands for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The name says it: an ITIN identifies a person, not an entity. As a non-resident founder, your ITIN sits alongside your LLC's EIN. The EIN identifies the business. The ITIN identifies you. You need an ITIN to file a personal US return, such as Form 1040-NR on US-source income. It also covers K-1 flows from a multi-member LLC, US real estate gains, and US brokerage accounts. Stripe and PayPal may request it for higher-volume identity verification.
The Form W-7 application has three parts: the form, a certified passport, and tax-obligation documentation. The form is straightforward. The passport is the bottleneck. The IRS wants either your original passport or a certified copy. Mailing an original to Austin means 8-12 weeks without it. A certified copy comes from the issuing authority or a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA). The CAA route is what makes our $299 service worth it. Our CAA partners verify your passport over secure video. Your physical passport never leaves your hands. The third part is proof of a tax obligation. Form W-7 requires you to name the exception or attachment that establishes your need. We pick the right exception at intake and prepare the documents.
IRS processing is the slow leg. It runs 8-12 weeks from the day IRS Austin receives the packet. There is no expedite path. Peak season, January to April, can stretch it to 14-16 weeks. We submit within 1-2 business days of getting your documents. The rest is IRS-side. About 8-12% of W-7s get rejected. The usual causes are thin tax-obligation documentation, an expired passport, a name mismatch, or missing CAA certification. We re-file at no charge as part of the $299. Most rejections clear on a second 8-12 week window. You receive the ITIN plus the CP-565 confirmation letter from the IRS. We forward it via secure portal the day it arrives.
Day-by-day breakdown so you know what's happening at every stage.
We try to be explicit about scope so there are no surprises. Anything below is either outside this SKU, sold separately, or handled by you directly.
Honest line-by-line. We're not the cheapest sticker price in every cell - we're the cheapest after the upsells the others bolt on at checkout.
The intake is short. Five minutes, maybe ten. Below is exactly what we'll ask and why we need each piece.
Before W-7 submitted: 100% refund minus Stripe processing fees. Cancel within 7 days of intake before we mail the W-7 packet.
After W-7 submitted: No refund - the work has been done. We continue handling IRS correspondence, re-submission if rejected, and final ITIN delivery regardless of timeline.
If IRS rejects your W-7: Re-filing included at no extra charge. We handle correction and re-submission. Most rejections resolve on second filing.
If IRS rejects twice and won't issue ITIN: Rare but possible (only when the tax obligation basis doesn't actually exist, or applicant is actually SSN-eligible). We refund $150 of the $299 if we have to abandon the application after two rejections.
If IRS processing takes longer than 16 weeks: No refund - outside our control. We escalate via IRS practitioner channels at no extra charge.
Quick answers to the things people ask in WhatsApp before they invoice.
Checkout takes 2 minutes. 8-12 weeks (IRS processing) turnaround.