Form 14194 – Fill Out and Use This PDF

What is Form W-7 (COA)

Form W-7 (COA) is a “Certificate of Accuracy” prepared by an ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) and attached to each Form W-7 (Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) that is submitted to IRS. It contains the following information.

•The name of the designated authorized representative of the CAA who is completing the Certificate of Accuracy.

•The legal name of the business.

•The EIN (Employers Identification Number) and office code of the Certifying Acceptance Agent.

•The date that the Acceptance Agent Agreement was approved.

•The name of the ITIN Applicant.

•The type(s) of supporting documentation reviewed by the CAA to prove the ITIN applicant’s “identity” and “foreign status”.

•A statement by the CAA that they have verified to the best of their knowledge, the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of the documentation they reviewed.

•The signature of the individual who has prepared the COA and the date that it was signed.

What is the purpose of Form W-7(COA)

The COA is a certification by the CAA that they have reviewed the

supporting documentation to prove the ITIN applicant’s		“identity” and
“foreign status” and to the best of their knowledge	the documents are
complete, authentic, and accurate. Note : With the exception of
documentation to prove Exception 1(a) criteria, the only		documents
that should be included in the COA are those that	were reviewed by

you to prove the applicant’s claim of identity and foreign status. All other supplemental documentation supporting “Exception” criteria, (i.e. a copy of a withholding document, a letter from a financial institution, etc,) as well as a denial letter from the Social Security Administration (if applicable) must be attached to Form W-7 and submitted to IRS.

Who must submit a COA?

All IRS ITIN Certifying Acceptance Agents are required to complete

and submit a separate COA for each Form W-7 that is sent to IRS. It is important to remember that as a Certifying Acceptance Agent, documentation to support identity and foreign status must be reviewed by you and included in your COA. You should attach a copy of the original documents or certified copy by the issuing agency for primary and secondary applicants. You must attach the original or certified copies for all dependents. You should not take them to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) to be reviewed by an IRS employee.

Who can sign the Certificate of Accuracy?

Only the designated authorized representative of the business is permitted to sign the COA.

Where can I find Form W-7(COA)?

Form W-7(COA) can be found on the IRS web site at www.irs.gov by searching for “Form W-7(COA)” or “Form 14194” (which is its numeric number).

Supporting Documentation

You should check only the boxes that correspond to the documents which you reviewed and certified to support the ITIN applicant’s identity and foreign status. A passport is the only stand alone document for purposes of satisfying both the “identity” and “foreign status” criteria. If you review the applicant’s passport, you would place an “x” in the box under the “Identity” and “Foreign Status” column on the Passport line. If, however, a passport is not reviewed by you, then a combination of at least two or more documents must be examined from the list of Supporting Documents; one which satisfies identity, and one which satisfies foreign status. If a document does not display a box under the Identity or Foreign Status column, it signifies that the document can not be used to support that category. For example: A Foreign Drivers License, U.S. State Identification Card, and U.S. Military Identification Card can not be used to prove an applicant’s “foreign status”. Therefore there is no check-box for those documents under the foreign status column. They can, however, be used to prove the applicant’s “identity”, so there are check-boxes under the identity column. Medical records valid for children under 6 years of age and school records are valid only for dependents under age 14, (under age 18 if a student).