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You only need a social security number if you're doing it as a personal account. If your startup is doing it, it should be a business payments account, which t

You only need a social security number if you're doing it as a personal account. If your startup is doing it, it should be a business payments account, which take an EIN, an employer identification number, which the IRS will issue to a foreign entity: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/obtain-tax-id-number-foreign-entity-58171.html http://smallbusiness.chron.com/obtain-tax-id-number-foreign-... The other alternative would be to integrate payments into an existing distributed work platform like Bossa or PyBossa, and recruit your own audience of participants through advertising.

squidbot 12y ago
For individuals, if you are ineligible for an SSN you can get an ITIN in its place, but as the parent notes, your business should probably get an EIN: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpayer-Identification-Numbers-(TIN) http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpa...
- AshFurrow 12y ago
  It took me six months and four attempts to get an ITIN, which included a trip to my US embassy. Not an easy task.
  - foobarqux 12y ago
    Can you describe in detail how to do it? I tried pretty hard, including a visit to the embassy, and failed.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
  - unreal37 12y ago
    For me, it was painless to get one. I used an agency.
Havoc 12y ago
That seems to solve OP's problem nicely. :) >>employer identification number, which the IRS will issue to a foreign entity oh god I hope this doesn't catch on & become a trend. I'm OK with the tax authority in my home country...but dealing with them for every country I digitally interact with is not OK. :/
- klodolph 12y ago
  Well, to be fair, MTurk is an interface to paid human labor.
  - timmclean 12y ago
    Couldn't you say that about any company selling services?
  - Havoc 12y ago
    >> MTurk is an interface to paid human labor. Indeed. My point is that this goes both ways. US citizens might not feel the IRS asking for info is a big deal, but how about if SARS ask for you info? Haven't heard of SARS?...to bad...you wandered onto their turf in your digital adventures. Good luck figuring out which country you're dealing with. Oh and they totally require you to pay the relevant fees in person in cash on site once you figure out who they are. See why I'm less than delighted with this "register with local tax authority of the relevant site" story?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
trhway 12y ago
>You only need a social security number if you're doing it as a personal account. The EIN still requires SSN(ITIN or another EIN) : http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Responsible-Parties-and-Nominees http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ... "All EIN applications (mail, fax, electronic) must disclose the name and Taxpayer Identification Number (SSN, ITIN, or EIN) of the true principal officer, general partner, grantor, owner or trustor. " EDIT: my bad with foreign rules, thanks vitovito below
- vitovito 12y ago
  Except if you're a foreign entity. Quoting from the domestic instructions probably won't help the original poster. "IF the applicant... Is a foreign person needing an EIN to comply with IRS withholding regulations THEN... Complete lines 1–5b, 7a–b (SSN or ITIN optional), 8a, 8b–c (if applicable), 9a, 9b (if applicable), 10, and 18." Note "SSN or ITIN optional." That's per the SS-4 form. Per a sibling post, the IRS will also issue foreign entities an ITIN if necessary.
  - jorgecurio 12y ago
    Say you are a Canadian, you have a company incorporated in Canada. How do I get on Amazon Turk? What are the exact steps I need to take?
    - vitovito 12y ago
      I have no idea, as I've never been a Canadian with a Canadian company who has to get on Amazon MTurk after next week. But this is part of your core competency as an entrepreneur. You're supposed to be able to figure this stuff out. All the pieces are in this thread: get an EIN, maybe get an ITIN, maybe that means you have to petition at your local US Embassy, maybe get an address in the US, maybe that means a UPS Store box, maybe that means a registered agent. And then when you do figure it out, write a long blog post about it that details the "exact steps I need to take" so people in your position in the future can learn how to do it. Do it on your company blog so future clients can see that if you're going to be this diligent about figuring out how to take care of your own business, maybe you'll be that diligent in taking care of theirs. Sorting this stuff out is your job, all the programming stuff is ancillary.
logn 12y ago
And FYI, EINs are surprisingly easy to get. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I guess the IRS doesn't want to make you jump through hoops for you to pay them taxes.
- sjf 12y ago
  Depends on who answers the phone apparently. Instructions here, http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/ http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publis... I gave up my Amazon seller account because they started asking for EIN/ITINs, I am too paranoid to let the US have anything to do with my taxes unless absolutely necessary.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
dbuxton 12y ago
Unfortunately the payments sign up also requires proof of a US billing address. It is easily possible to get an EIN however as a non-US company with no US presence; you have to call a nice IRS person in Indiana if memory serves.
- seeingfurther 12y ago
  You can get a US based billing address by leasing a UPS store mail box.
  - cylinder 12y ago
    Not even that. Just sign up for a registered agent service.
jorgecurio 12y ago
The other alternative would be to integrate payments into an existing distributed work platform like Bossa or PyBossa, and recruit your own audience of participants through advertising. You can't access Disneyland, go create your own. If only it were that easy. I have btw, asked questions about how to create my own crowd source. There isn't much on logistics.
- cylinder 12y ago
  Pay attention. You can get an EIN easily. This is trivial.
arihant 12y ago
For people looking to get EIN, we just did this last week - They do not issue them on phone starting January 2014. You need to fax the application to a Cincinnati number, and if you put down your fax number on the application, they fax you back your EIN in 3-4 business days, not counting the day you faxed on. If you do not get a fax back or you did not put your fax number on the application, you can call them in 3-4 days and then they will give you on phone, if your application was processed. Moreover, for an Amazon payments account, you also need a US bank account. And that task is not easy for non-US entities.

squidbot 12y ago

For individuals, if you are ineligible for an SSN you can get an ITIN in its place, but as the parent notes, your business should probably get an EIN: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpayer-Identification-Numbers-(TIN) http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpa...

AshFurrow 12y ago
It took me six months and four attempts to get an ITIN, which included a trip to my US embassy. Not an easy task.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  Can you describe in detail how to do it? I tried pretty hard, including a visit to the embassy, and failed.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- unreal37 12y ago
  For me, it was painless to get one. I used an agency.

Havoc 12y ago

That seems to solve OP's problem nicely. :) >>employer identification number, which the IRS will issue to a foreign entity oh god I hope this doesn't catch on & become a trend. I'm OK with the tax authority in my home country...but dealing with them for every country I digitally interact with is not OK. :/

klodolph 12y ago
Well, to be fair, MTurk is an interface to paid human labor.
- timmclean 12y ago
  Couldn't you say that about any company selling services?
- Havoc 12y ago
  >> MTurk is an interface to paid human labor. Indeed. My point is that this goes both ways. US citizens might not feel the IRS asking for info is a big deal, but how about if SARS ask for you info? Haven't heard of SARS?...to bad...you wandered onto their turf in your digital adventures. Good luck figuring out which country you're dealing with. Oh and they totally require you to pay the relevant fees in person in cash on site once you figure out who they are. See why I'm less than delighted with this "register with local tax authority of the relevant site" story?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

trhway 12y ago

>You only need a social security number if you're doing it as a personal account. The EIN still requires SSN(ITIN or another EIN) : http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Responsible-Parties-and-Nominees http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ... "All EIN applications (mail, fax, electronic) must disclose the name and Taxpayer Identification Number (SSN, ITIN, or EIN) of the true principal officer, general partner, grantor, owner or trustor. " EDIT: my bad with foreign rules, thanks vitovito below

vitovito 12y ago
Except if you're a foreign entity. Quoting from the domestic instructions probably won't help the original poster. "IF the applicant... Is a foreign person needing an EIN to comply with IRS withholding regulations THEN... Complete lines 1–5b, 7a–b (SSN or ITIN optional), 8a, 8b–c (if applicable), 9a, 9b (if applicable), 10, and 18." Note "SSN or ITIN optional." That's per the SS-4 form. Per a sibling post, the IRS will also issue foreign entities an ITIN if necessary.
- jorgecurio 12y ago
  Say you are a Canadian, you have a company incorporated in Canada. How do I get on Amazon Turk? What are the exact steps I need to take?
  - vitovito 12y ago
    I have no idea, as I've never been a Canadian with a Canadian company who has to get on Amazon MTurk after next week. But this is part of your core competency as an entrepreneur. You're supposed to be able to figure this stuff out. All the pieces are in this thread: get an EIN, maybe get an ITIN, maybe that means you have to petition at your local US Embassy, maybe get an address in the US, maybe that means a UPS Store box, maybe that means a registered agent. And then when you do figure it out, write a long blog post about it that details the "exact steps I need to take" so people in your position in the future can learn how to do it. Do it on your company blog so future clients can see that if you're going to be this diligent about figuring out how to take care of your own business, maybe you'll be that diligent in taking care of theirs. Sorting this stuff out is your job, all the programming stuff is ancillary.

logn 12y ago

And FYI, EINs are surprisingly easy to get. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I guess the IRS doesn't want to make you jump through hoops for you to pay them taxes.

sjf 12y ago
Depends on who answers the phone apparently. Instructions here, http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/ http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publis... I gave up my Amazon seller account because they started asking for EIN/ITINs, I am too paranoid to let the US have anything to do with my taxes unless absolutely necessary.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

dbuxton 12y ago

Unfortunately the payments sign up also requires proof of a US billing address. It is easily possible to get an EIN however as a non-US company with no US presence; you have to call a nice IRS person in Indiana if memory serves.

seeingfurther 12y ago
You can get a US based billing address by leasing a UPS store mail box.
- cylinder 12y ago
  Not even that. Just sign up for a registered agent service.

jorgecurio 12y ago

The other alternative would be to integrate payments into an existing distributed work platform like Bossa or PyBossa, and recruit your own audience of participants through advertising. You can't access Disneyland, go create your own. If only it were that easy. I have btw, asked questions about how to create my own crowd source. There isn't much on logistics.

cylinder 12y ago
Pay attention. You can get an EIN easily. This is trivial.

arihant 12y ago

For people looking to get EIN, we just did this last week - They do not issue them on phone starting January 2014. You need to fax the application to a Cincinnati number, and if you put down your fax number on the application, they fax you back your EIN in 3-4 business days, not counting the day you faxed on. If you do not get a fax back or you did not put your fax number on the application, you can call them in 3-4 days and then they will give you on phone, if your application was processed. Moreover, for an Amazon payments account, you also need a US bank account. And that task is not easy for non-US entities.