What Is an ATIN? Eligibility, Application, and Switching to an SSN

An Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number, or ATIN, is a temporary nine-digit number the IRS issues so you can claim a child on your federal tax return while a domestic adoption is still pending and the child doesn’t yet have a Social Security Number. You apply on Form W-7A, attach proof that the child has been legally placed with you, and use the ATIN in place of an SSN on your return until the adoption is final.¹

Who Can Get an ATIN

Four conditions all have to be true:

The child has been legally placed in your home for adoption by an authorized placement agency.
The adoption is domestic, or it is a foreign adoption and the child already has a Permanent Resident Alien Card or Certificate of Citizenship.
You cannot get the child’s existing SSN from the birth parents, the placement agency, or anyone else despite a reasonable effort, and the Social Security Administration will not issue a new SSN because the adoption is not final.
You are eligible to claim the child as a dependent.¹

If the child’s SSN can be obtained through any channel, the IRS expects you to use it instead of applying for an ATIN.

Foreign Adoptions Without Residency Documents

If you are adopting internationally and the child does not yet have a Permanent Resident Alien Card or Certificate of Citizenship, the child does not qualify for an ATIN. In that case you apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) on Form W-7 instead.¹

How to Apply

Complete IRS Form W-7A, “Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions.” The form asks for the child’s full name, date of birth, and birth location, along with the placement agency and the date of placement.²

Attach signed, dated documentation showing the child was legally placed with you. Any one of these works:

A copy of the placement agreement with the authorized placement agency
A document signed by a hospital official authorizing release of a newborn to you for legal adoption
A court order or other court document approving the placement
An affidavit signed by the adoption attorney or government official who placed the child with you

For a qualifying foreign adoption, include a copy of the child’s Permanent Resident Card, Certificate of Citizenship, or passport with an “I-551” stamp.³

Mail the completed form and documents to:

Internal Revenue Service
Stop 6182
Austin, TX 73301-0066

You can also drop the application at an IRS walk-in office, which will mail it for you.¹ Processing runs four to eight weeks, so file at least eight weeks before your return is due.³

What an ATIN Lets You Claim

Once the ATIN is issued, you can put it on your return in place of the child’s SSN, claim the child as a dependent, and take two specific credits: the Adoption Credit and the Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses.¹ The Adoption Credit works with an ATIN because the statute requires only a taxpayer identification number for the child, not specifically an SSN.⁴

Two big credits are off the table until the child has a permanent SSN:

The Child Tax Credit requires an SSN for the child. An ATIN does not qualify.⁵
The Earned Income Tax Credit also requires an SSN for each qualifying child.⁶

Every filing season you use an ATIN is a year you miss out on the Child Tax Credit and, if you qualify, the EITC. That’s the main reason to move on the child’s SSN as soon as the adoption is final.

How Long the ATIN Is Good For

An ATIN expires automatically two years after it is issued. Most adoptions finish inside that window. If yours hasn’t, the IRS can grant an extension when it determines one is warranted. The regulation doesn’t set out a specific form or procedure, so contact the IRS directly as the two-year mark approaches.⁷

Switching to the Child’s SSN After the Adoption Is Final

Stop using the ATIN once the adoption is final. Two steps:

First, apply for the child’s Social Security Number by filing Form SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Card) with the Social Security Administration, along with the required evidence documents. Form SS-5 is available at socialsecurity.gov, at a local SSA office, or by calling 1-800-772-1213. The SSA typically issues the number in about two weeks.⁸

Second, tell the IRS. File Form 15101 (“Provide a Social Security Number for Adoptive Child”) and mail it to the same Austin address you used for the W-7A. That links the new SSN to your child’s records and deactivates the ATIN.⁸

Do not send Form 15101 to the SSA, and don’t use it to try to obtain an SSN. Only the Social Security Administration assigns Social Security Numbers; Form 15101 just tells the IRS the number so your child’s tax records stay in order.⁸

1
Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number
2
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 23 – Adoption Expenses
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 32 – Earned Income
7
eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6109-3 – IRS Adoption Taxpayer Identification Numbers
8
Internal Revenue Service. Form 15101, Provide a Social Security Number (SSN) for Adoptive Child