Need proof that I need ATIN to activate Square account

[youssefamrani]

Hi there,

I'm in  bizarre situation where I am not able to activate my Square account (US) because I don't have social security number or ITIN (I'm canadian). One of those are required to activate the account. I checked the requirements to get the ITIN from the IRS and I need an official paper from Square saying that I need the ATIN to be able to start selling with Square. It's an exception called 'Third-Party Withholding on Passive Income' and the required document is described by the IRS as 'A copy of the portion of the partnership or LLC agreement displaying the partnership’s employer identification number and showing that you’re a partner in the partnership that’s conducting business in the United States'.

Can anyone from Square provide such a document ? I'm really stuck here!

[Joe]

Hi there, @youssefamrani - thanks for taking the time to ask this! This is an interesting one for sure.

This is something I posed to our Account Services department. At this time, we don't have any protocol for providing this kind of documentation. Just to make sure I am understanding correctly, are you trying to activate a U.S. based account for taking payments in the states?

I will be keeping an eye out for your reply. 

[youssefamrani]

@Joe Hi Joe, thanks for your reply. You're correct, I want to activate a Square account  to sell in the US. Since Square requires as a personal identification either a SSN or an ITIN, I need the latter (I can't get the SSN as I am not american or living in US). In order to maximize my chances to get the ITIN, I need to provide the IRS with a proof that I need the ITIN. 

Is there some kind of workaround where I can provide Square a proof that I submitted the ATIN and get starting while I wait for the document ? I have the business EIN from the IRS. Would not that be sufficient ?

Also, I'm very confused about something else: i talked with at least 3 different customer rep from Square over the phone and I get different answers about wether I need BOTH SSN and ITIN to activate the acount or only one of the 2. The last agent said in order to activate the account, I'd need both of them while 2 other agents told me one was enough. If i look at the requirements on your website, it specifically says one of the 2. 

Thanks very much for looking into this 🙂

[Joe]

@youssefamrani - ah, I see. Thanks so much again for clarifying that for me.

I can confirm that to activate a U.S. base Square account, we would need either a valid Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification number. This according to our activation requirements. 

In terms of a workaround, this would be one of situation in which work-arounds are scarce. Activation requirements are strict as a rule. We put them in place to ensure that Square remains a safe environment for both Sellers and Buyers alike. I apologize that I'm not able to suggest something a bit more helpful in this regard - including further documentation from us for you to provide to the IRS.

Please continue to work with the IRS towards obtaining your ITIN. We will be standing by to assist where we can. 

[youssefamrani]

@Joe Hi Joe - thanks for clarifying this, I feel a bit relieved that SSN is not mandatory.

We need Square as a payment processor for our website so the activation requirements you provided are the same right ? Just making sure I won't have a bad surprise 🙂

Thanks for your understanding!