amancalledsun

Hello all,

So I made it to the US last month. I'm doing alot of freelance design work over here for US clients. They are asking me to fill out something called a W9 form for tax. I have managed to find one of these online but I don't have a SSN or a Taxpayer Identification Number. I think I can use one or the other as it stands. Anybody have any idea where I get this Taxpayer Identification Number from?

Thanks!

sir_eccles

What is your status? If you are otherwise eligible for a ssn you won't be able to get a itin.

amancalledsun

I'm a conditional resident at the moment? Should get an SSN in 2 months.

Michael

If you have applied for your SSN before you entered the US or applied in the US more than 10 days ago, the SSN may already be available at your local security office. All you can do is go there and ask.

You can't use an ITIN since you are eligible for s SSN.

The employer needs a SSN so that at year end, they should send both you and the IRS a 1099 reporting any income they paid you.

Jscl

You can tell your employer your ssn hasn't arrived yet and they'll still be able to pay you, they'll do the correction with the tax/ss people once your ssn arrives. You'll still have to prove to them you're eligible to work in the mean time though, so you'll need to show whatever visa you have.

Michael

He is an independent contractor so the employer that he is working for may not have the ability to use a fake SSN in it's system for an invoice. For employees, that is common since many payroll systems usually use a company assigned employee number to track and pay employees.

Jscl

Should be no problem, it's pretty much the same process with a payroll service.

Michael

He needs to invoice the employer. He can ask the employer if they can wait for the W-9.

Jscl

and the employer will either pay them through the payroll service, or pay them directly and just report the payment to their payroll service. Either way (for a US person with a SSN) they can give their SSN when they get it.