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ITIN from VenezuelaIf you live in Venezuela and have a tax obligation in the United States, the ITIN is the number the IRS will ask you for. Here is what changes when you apply from Venezuela: the tax treaty, the documents that work and how the process runs from there.
Depending on the type of income and on where you are a tax resident, the treaty can reduce the tax the United States withholds from you. Claiming a treaty benefit usually requires a taxpayer identification number, and for an individual without a Social Security number that number is the ITIN. Whether it applies to you is decided case by case.
The IRS only accepts documents that are valid on the day the application is filed, and that is the first thing to check from Venezuela. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recognises the extension that keeps Venezuelan passports issued before June 2024 valid for ten years past their printed date, but that is a rule for travel: the IRS publishes no specific rule about those extensions, so if your passport runs on one, tell us before anything is filed and we check it first. Your cédula can be one of two documents; on its own the IRS only takes an identity card that shows name, photograph, address, date of birth and expiration date, so check what yours actually prints.
Your RIF is built from your own cédula: the letter V, your eight digits and a check digit that SENIAT calculates. It identifies you before SENIAT and nowhere else. The IRS does not read it, does not recognise it and will not accept it on a form. When you have to file, report U.S. income or sign a U.S. tax form and you are not eligible for a Social Security number, the number it asks for is the ITIN. You keep both: one for Venezuela, one for the United States.
When a U.S. company pays you, it has to document who it is paying. It asks you for Form W-8BEN so it does not have to withhold at 30%, and that form asks for a taxpayer identification number. If you cannot get a Social Security number, that number is the ITIN.
Opening the company does not by itself require an ITIN: the LLC has its own EIN. The obligation appears when you personally have to file in the United States, and then the W-7 goes together with that return.
Since 2018 a relative only qualifies if they are claimed for an allowable tax benefit or file their own return. Filing jointly with a spouse is the most common case, and each person on the return needs a number.
These are the rates the United States withholds at source under the treaty with Venezuela, in force since 1 January 2000. To be given the treaty rate instead of the general 30%, you hand the payer Form W-8BEN with a taxpayer identification number, and for someone who cannot get a Social Security number that number is the ITIN.
| Type of income | Without a treaty | With the treaty |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | Without a treaty30% | With the treaty15%, or 5% if you hold at least 10% of the voting shares |
| Interest | Without a treaty30% | With the treaty10%, or 4.95% when a financial institution is the beneficial owner |
| Royalties | Without a treaty30% | With the treaty10% on patents, copyright, know-how, film and TV; 5% on industrial equipment |
| Private pensions | Without a treaty30% | With the treaty0%: taxed only where you live |
The treaty also covers students: payments from abroad for your maintenance and studies, scholarships, and up to 5,000 dollars a year of personal service income earned in the United States, for up to five years. Trainees sent by an employer, up to 8,000 dollars in twelve months. Rates from the IRS treaty table; the IRS updates it from time to time, so check the current version before you rely on a number: Tax Treaty Table 1
Big Skill Solutions is an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent. That lets us verify your identity documents and certify the application ourselves, instead of you mailing your originals to the IRS and waiting for them to come back.
We tell you the exact rule, because it matters from abroad: the interview can be done by video call, but the documents cannot be checked on a screen. We have to receive and examine your originals, or copies certified by the agency that issued them, by an embassy or consulate of your country, or by a U.S. embassy or consulate. Before you send anything, we agree with you how they reach us and how they come back.
From Venezuela there are three ways to get that certification: the agency that issued the document, which is SAIME for the cédula and the passport; a Venezuelan consulate; or a U.S. embassy or consulate. U.S. consular services for Venezuela have changed more than once in recent years, so check what is available today on the embassy site before you plan around it. Tell us your situation and we tell you which of the three routes is realistic for you.
Five questions. We tell you which Form W-7 reason applies, whether you need to file a return, and which documents you will be asked for. At the end you can request a quote for your specific case.
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The five Exceptions, the 13 documents the IRS accepts and the rest of the rules are in the complete guide: ITIN, explained
We work Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00 Panama time, which is 9:00 to 18:00 in Caracas.