ITIN Renewal: When Yours Expires and How to Renew It

An ITIN expires when it goes unused on a US federal tax return for three consecutive tax years, and it lapses on December 31 after that third year. Renewal uses the same Form W-7 as a first application, with the “Renew an existing ITIN” box checked and your old number entered on the form. No tax return needs to be attached unless a spouse or dependent is renewing to claim a tax benefit. You do not renew at all if you have since received a Social Security number. Allow about seven weeks, longer during filing season.

When Does an ITIN Expire?

One rule controls it. Use the number on a federal tax return at least once every three years and it stays active indefinitely. Skip three consecutive tax years and it expires on December 31 following that third year, with no notice required and no action from you.

Work through the years. Someone who last used their ITIN on a 2022 federal return, then filed nothing for 2023, 2024, and 2025, saw the number expire on December 31, 2025. The lapse happens quietly, and most people discover it only when a return gets delayed months later.

Information returns do not preserve it. A Form 1099 or 1042-S issued to you is not a tax return, so receiving one does nothing to keep the number alive. The flip side is useful: if your ITIN appears only on information returns and never on a filed return, no renewal is needed at all. Our guide on how to get an Individual Tax ID Number covers the original application for anyone who never held one.

How to Check If Your ITIN Has Expired?

Your IRS Online Account shows the current status, which is the fastest and most reliable check. Sign in, open the profile section, and the ITIN status appears alongside your identification details.

You can also work it out yourself in two minutes. Find the last US federal return that carried the number, count the three tax years that followed, and ask whether the number appeared on a filed return in any of them. Three clean years of absence means it has expired.

The IRS sometimes sends a notice telling the holder to renew before filing, but those notices go to the last address on file and frequently never reach someone who has moved countries. Never rely on receiving one. Anyone preparing to file a US return for the first time in several years should check the status before starting, since a renewal takes weeks that a filing deadline rarely allows.

ITIN Expiry and Renewal at a Glance

The table below sets out the rules that decide your position. Four of the six rows need no action at all, so find yours before completing any paperwork.

Situation	What Happens
Used on a federal return within the last three years	Still active, no action needed
Unused on a federal return for three consecutive years	Expired on December 31 of the third year
Appears only on information returns such as a 1099	No renewal required
You have since received a Social Security number	Do not renew, use the SSN instead
Expired but you now need to file	Renew with Form W-7 before or with the return
Only requesting an extension or paying estimated tax	No active ITIN required

How to Renew an ITIN With Form W-7?

The form is identical to the one used for a first application, and three details separate a renewal from a new request.

1. Complete the Renewal Section Correctly

In the application type section at the top, check “Renew an existing ITIN” rather than “Apply for a new ITIN”. That single box determines how the IRS routes the file, and the wrong selection sends it through the new application queue.

Then check the reason box that describes your situation, which applies even on a renewal. On lines 6e and 6f, mark “Yes” and enter the existing ITIN along with the name it was originally issued under. Mark “No/Don’t know” where the number cannot be located, and the IRS will match the record from your identity documents instead.

2. Supply the Identity Documents

A renewal still needs proof of identity and foreign status. A valid passport is the only document that satisfies both on its own, which is why almost every applicant uses one. Without a passport, two documents from the IRS accepted list are needed instead, such as a national identification card plus a foreign driver’s licence.

Originals or copies certified by the issuing agency are required, and a notarised copy is not accepted. Two routes avoid mailing an original passport abroad: a Certifying Acceptance Agent verifies the document and returns it to you the same day, and an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center does the same in person. A legal name change since the number was issued needs supporting evidence too, such as a marriage certificate or a court order.

3. Submit and Track the Application

A renewal can be filed on its own, without a tax return attached, which is the sensible approach outside filing season. The exception is a spouse or dependent renewing in order to claim a tax benefit, who has to appear on an attached federal return along with the schedule or form supporting that benefit.

Processing runs about seven weeks and stretches longer between mid January and the end of April, when volume peaks, and longer again for applications sent from outside the United States. Renew in the autumn rather than in March, since a renewal in progress does not stop a filing deadline from arriving. Our guide on common mistakes to avoid when filing a US tax return covers the other errors that delay a 1040NR.

Who Does Not Need to Renew?

Three groups can leave it alone. Anyone who has since become eligible for and received a Social Security number stops using the ITIN entirely, and the IRS asks that you notify them so the records merge rather than conflict.

Anyone whose number appears only on information returns is also clear. A Canadian receiving a 1042-S on US dividends through a broker, with no US filing obligation of their own, has no reason to renew.

The third group is anyone who has stopped filing US returns permanently and expects no future obligation. There is no penalty for letting an ITIN lapse, and no benefit to maintaining one you will never use. The judgment call is whether a future obligation is genuinely unlikely, since a US property sale, an inheritance, or a treaty claim can create one unexpectedly. Our guide to the Canada US tax treaty explains where those obligations come from, and we review them through cross border taxes in Calgary.

What Filing With an Expired ITIN Costs?

The return gets accepted and then stalls. The IRS processes it, flags the expired number, and holds the file while correspondence goes back and forth, which adds months to any refund.

Credits are the bigger loss. Certain tax benefits cannot be allowed while the number sits expired, so a return claiming them comes back reduced. The refund shrinks, and where the reduction leaves a balance owing, penalties and interest start running from the original due date rather than from the day the problem was discovered.

Two things still work without an active number. You can request a filing extension and you can pay estimated tax, since neither requires the IRS to validate an ITIN first. Anyone short on time should pay the estimated balance to stop interest, renew the number, then file. Our guide to the T2209 foreign tax credit covers the Canadian side of the same return, and we handle both through US tax accounting in Toronto.

Renew Before Filing Season Opens

ITIN renewal is a paperwork problem with a calendar attached. The form is short, the documents are ones you already hold, and the only real risk is timing: a renewal started in March collides with the busiest processing period of the year and a US filing deadline at the same time.

Check the status every autumn if you file US returns irregularly. Three quiet years pass faster than people expect, particularly for a Canadian who owns a US rental and had a couple of loss years with nothing to report. A renewal filed in October clears well before the next season opens.

Tax Return Filers PC prepares W-7 renewals alongside the US returns they support, as part of US tax accounting in Mississauga, so the number is active before the filing deadline rather than after it.