As part of efforts to reduce the risk of identity theft and tax refund fraud, the IRS released final regulations that allow the use of truncated taxpayer identification numbers (TTINs) on payee statements and certain other documents where not prohibited by the Internal Revenue Code, applicable regulations, or other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, forms, or instructions.
A TTIN is an individual’s Social Security number (SSN), individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN) that is truncated by replacing the first five digits of the nine-digit number with X’s or asterisks. In a change from the proposed rules, it also includes employer identification numbers (EIN). The use of a TTIN is allowed on electronic payee statements as well as paper payee statements. Under this modified approach, there is no need to amend every information reporting regulation to permit the use of a TTIN.
