If you request that the certification be mailed to a third party, you must provide written authorization for the IRS to release your certification to a third party. If the certification is for a partnership, each partner must provide such written authorization. You can use Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, or Form 2848, Power of Attorney, for this authorization.

You should send a letter requesting certification to:

Note. You can also fax your request to the Philadelphia Service Center at 215–516–1035 or 215–516–3412. These are not toll-free numbers.

Certification requests are generally processed within 30 days from the date received. When this is not possible, you should receive notification of delay. If you do not receive the certification you requested or a notification of delay within 30 days from the time the request was mailed to the IRS, contact the certification unit at 215–516–7135. This is not a toll free number.

Requests for certification must include your name, mailing address, social security number, tax return form number (for example, 1040), and the tax period for which certification is requested.

The Director will certify that you are a resident of the United States for purposes of U.S. taxation. Before the certification can be issued, the Director must be able to verify that you either:

If you are eligible to receive certification from the IRS, you should file a tax return even if not required to do so. The IRS can then make the certification under normal procedures without the delay caused by corresponding when no tax returns have been filed.

However, a delay could occur if you request certification shortly after you file a return, but before it is properly recorded. Under these circumstances, the IRS will request a copy of your latest return, along with a written statement from you, made under penalties of perjury, that you were a resident of the United States for the period during which the treaty benefit is claimed.

Resident aliens who have recently arrived in the United States and who have not yet filed an income tax return will normally be asked to get a statement from the Immigration and Naturalization Service giving their alien registration number, date and port of entry, date of birth, and classification.

IRAs that are recipients of income and need U.S. resident certification must include all of the following.

Certification requests for children under the age of 14, whose parent or parents have elected to use Form 8814, Parents' Election to Report Child's Interest and Dividends, to report the child's income on their individual tax return, must include the parents' name and social security number and a copy of Form 8814. For additional guidance on paying tax for children under the age of 14, please see the instructions for Form 8814 or Form 8615, Tax for Children Under Age 14 Who Have Investment Income of More Than $1,500.

You are not entitled to U.S. residency certification if you:

Thus, if you file Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income, (section 911 exclusion), Form 1040–NR, and any of the possession tax forms, you are not entitled to U.S. resident certification.

Certification requests for partnerships can only be granted for tax years in which a partnership tax return was filed. A request for certification of a partnership must include the partnership's name, address, employer identification number, and the tax year for which certification is requested. It must also include a written authorization from each individual partner to release the certification information. A partner may use either Form 2848 or Form 8821 to permit this disclosure.

The Director will certify that:

Certification requests for tiered partnerships must include a listing of all partners within the partnership. This means the request must identify the partners within a partnership, listed as a partner in the partnership certification request. This request must also include authorization from all of the individual partners for the request to be valid.

The certification procedures for S corporations are identical to those described above for partnerships.

Certification requests for a QSSS must include all of the following.

Certification requests must include the corporation's name, employer identification number, tax return form number (for example, Form 1120, 1120A, etc.), and tax period for which the certification is requested.

If a corporation or other similar entity is newly formed and has not yet filed an income tax return because the tax year has not ended, a copy of the corporate charter must be submitted.

The Director will certify that the corporation is a U.S. corporation and a resident of the United States for purposes of U.S. taxation.

If the corporation filed as a subsidiary on the return of a parent corporation, a copy of page one of the latest consolidated income tax return filed and a copy of the listing of the subsidiaries and their employer identification numbers must be included in the request.

An officer of a single member entity such as the tax matters partner of a partnership, an officer of a corporation or an individual, must declare under penalties of perjury that the LLC is included as a transparent entity in the domestic return of the single member entity. The certification unit of the Philadelphia IRS service center has copies of the penalties of perjury form. Certification of the single member entity will have the same requirements as for similar kinds of entities discussed earlier. That is, individuals, corporations, and partnerships must follow the certification procedures outlined earlier for such entities. Requests for certification must include all of the following.

Certification requests for employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) must include the name, employee benefit plan number, form number and year for which certification is being requested. The plan's name and identification number must appear exactly as it does on the Form 5500 that was filed. Employee Plans that are not subject to ERISA and therefore not required to file/report benefit plan information to the IRS must provide a copy of the benefits plan determination letter in order to receive certification.

Certification requests for trustees of a trust created as part of an employee benefit plan as described in Internal Revenue Code section 401(a), and custodians of a custodial account described in Code section 401(f), must submit a copy of the original signed Schedule P, Annual Return of a Fiduciary of an Employee Benefit Trust, that was filed with the Employee Plan's 5500.

In general, the same procedures that corporations follow to obtain certification should be used for any exempt organization wishing to show that it is a U.S. resident organization. This is true whether the organization filed a Form 1120 or an exempt organization return. Exempt organizations that are not required to file a tax return must send either a copy of their determination letter or a copy of the determination letter for a parent organization to the Philadelphia Service Center when requesting certification.

The Director will certify that the exempt organization is a U.S. exempt organization and a resident of the United States for purposes of U.S. taxation.

In addition to having a determination letter, exempt organizations must have a valid exemption status (codes that designate the type of entity and the code section under which exemption was granted) on their IRS account. Organizations that do not have a valid exemption status can not be certified. Examples of organizations that will have a valid exemption status are:

.

Certification requests must include the trust or estate name, tax identification number, tax return form number (Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts, or Form 5227, Split-Interest Trust Information Return) and the tax period for which certification is being requested. The name and tax identification number on the request must match that which was filed on the tax return for the year in which you are requesting certification.

Certification of residency for a common trust fund, as defined in Internal Revenue Code, section 584, will be determined at the participant's level. Common trust fund certification requests must include name, address, tax identification number, and the tax year for which certification is requested. It must also include a written authorization, Forms 8821 or 2848, from each participant within the common trust fund.

The Director will certify that the common trust fund files a Form 1065 or other return as a U.S. common trust fund and that either:

Common trust funds that are trust forming parts of qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts may qualify as a group trust fund under Revenue Ruling 81–100, 1981–1 C.B. 326. These type of common trust funds can be issued certification as a group trust arrangement as described in Revenue Ruling 81–100, and each participant can be certified as a resident of the United States. Certification requests should include:

If you have attempted to deal with an IRS problem unsuccessfully, you should contact your Taxpayer Advocate.

The Taxpayer Advocate represents your interests and concerns within the IRS by protecting your rights and resolving problems that have not been fixed through normal channels. While Taxpayer Advocates cannot change the tax law or make a technical tax decision, they can clear up problems that resulted from previous contacts and ensure that your case is given a complete and impartial review.

To contact your Taxpayer Advocate:

For more information, see Publication 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate Service of the IRS.

To find out what services are available, get Publication 910, Guide to Free Tax Services. It contains a list of free tax publications and an index of tax topics. It also describes other free tax information services, including tax education and assistance programs and a list of TeleTax topics.