Check a request for a Social Security number against the tax-document rule and the need to collect it

Key facts

Human involvement

Yellow · Close supervision

How AI is used

Record why the number is being asked for, whether the document is a return, statement, or other tax-related document, and whether the business has a reason to keep the number. Do not treat the request as a tax file number request.

What the lawyer must review

The United States has no tax file number collection code on the pages opened here. The IRS page says a taxpayer identification number must be furnished on returns, statements, and other tax-related documents, for example when filing a tax return or claiming treaty benefits, and that a number must be on a withholding certificate when the beneficial owner claims treaty benefits, an exemption for effectively connected income, or an exemption for certain annuities. A Social Security number is one kind of taxpayer identification number, issued by the Social Security Administration. The FTC Start with Security guide says a business should keep only the personal information that is essential and should not collect sensitive information it does not need, and it treats Social Security numbers as data that has been exposed when those controls failed.

Written for / version

United States versionUS