Your confusion ends here, @Kloyal221.

Allow me to fill you in on everything you need to know about using ITIN for employees.

QuickBooks doesn't recommend using ITIN in place of Social Security Numbers. ITINs are for federal tax reporting only and are not intended to serve any other purpose. The IRS issues ITINs to help individuals comply with U.S. tax laws, and provide a way to efficiently process and account for tax returns and payments for those not eligible for Social Security Numbers.

Your employee should apply for social security card using Form SS-5, Application for Social Security Card (PDF). This offers a social security number (SSN) verification and quick access to relevant forms and publications. You can also verify Social Security Numbers by going to their website.

I'm adding this article for more details: SSN vs. ITIN.

Once your employees have the SSN, you can now enter it and submit your W-2 forms.

Please let me know if you need clarification about this, or there's anything else I can do for you. I'll be standing by for your response, @Kloyal221.

So, your answer assumes the employee can apply for a SSN today and get it tomorrow.  Not so.  He has a ITIN for a reason.  Thus, I can only use his ITIN.  He will not and can not have a SSN by 1/31.  So your answer was not very helpful.  I will proceed with his ITIN as that is how he files his tax return.  I think QB needs to get with it and accept ITINs.  I'm not the only one with this problem, from what I read.

thanks for the insight.  Of several employees, I have one that uses the ITIN, so my question is:

Can I manually enter the payroll information to SSA for just that single employee and allow QBO to manage the others?

Thank you.

Thanks for joining the thread, @HandymanHeroes. Allow me to share some insights about this matter.

For an employee who uses ITIN, I suggest you reach out to the state agency for assistance. They can help you set it up. You can also consult your accountant regarding this matter.

For the rest of your employees, yes. You can manually enter their payroll information in QuickBooks Online.

To begin with, here’s how:

1. On the left navigational bar, go to Payroll tab.
2. Click on the Employees column and then click the Add an employee button.
3. Enter the information needed and then click Done.

Additionally, you might want to give this article a visit. It’s about how to manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online.

Please know that I'm just a post away if you have any other questions. Keep safe!

What number can I use on the W-2 instead of the ITIN number to submit to the State. I have to E-File. I was able to use [removed] for the Federal submission. I need to get them sent. Just this one W-2 is holding me up. 

Hello, @Leighanne.

I appreciate you joining this conversation. Allow me to chime in and share information about e-filing W-2s in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

If your employees have Social Security Number (SSN), you can use it to e-file the W-2s instead. You can refer to this article for the detailed steps on how to do it: File your W-2 forms.

However, if you only have ITIN, I highly recommend contacting your state agency for further guidance with the filing process.

I'll add this article that tackles why QBO only uses SSN instead of ITIN when it comes to filing W-2s: SSN vs. ITIN.

You can also visit our website to check some tips and other resources you can use in the future. Here's the link: QBO self-help articles.

Feel free to post again or drop a comment in this thread if you have more questions about e-filing W-2s or anything else QuickBooks. I'll be right here to help. Take care and have a good one.

I'd like to join the chorus of QBO users who would prefer a fix in the system, rather than a temporary work around of creating dummy SSNs, etc.

I'm a recent convert from QBDT, and am shocked that this is the "solution" suggested.

Please update this thread when there has been progress.

Looks like we might need to vote with our wallet and go to another platform if QuickBooks refuses to make this work. Unbelievable. If I choose to do something out of regulations that is MY CHOICE. Give me that option, or I will vote with my wallet by the end of the year. 

the ITIN is only for filing purposes only. A person with an ITIN is NOT allowed to work in the US - Therefore he/she can't be your employee

This is a great point and I think most of us are aware. However, if we made the mistake of hiring someone anyways with only an ITIN we cannot file electronically with Quickbooks Desktop or Online version. The federal government now requires anyone with more than 10 w2s to file electronically so, how do we remedy this? We still have to pay them and issue a w2. It looks like excluding the offending employee doesn't work either. help?!

 Welcome to the Community. GJMINC.

Let me share information about your inquiry with your SSN while using QuickBooks. 

Since QuickBooks follows the SSA guideline that's the reason why you cannot encode your ITIN in your QuickBooks software. With that, you can file your W2 forms manually outside of QuickBooks. 

If you want to learn more about SSN and ITIN for your payroll, please visit the following links:

• Understand the difference between a Social Security number and an Individual Taxpayer Identification 
• Hiring Employees

If you have any questions regarding your payroll forms, please leave a comment below. I would be happy to assist you once again. Stay safe!

"Since QuickBooks follows the SSA guideline that's the reason why you cannot encode your ITIN in your QuickBooks software. With that, you can file your W2 forms manually outside of QuickBooks". 

Liesssssss!!!  

This is ridiculuous! We have the desktop version and it has never been an issue until now.  If you follow SSA guidelines and SSA will still accept (filed via paper) W2s with ITIN, why wont QB let us imput that employee?  What is the work around?  I've tried using all zeros, leaving it blank, and nothing, wont let me save the employee info at all.  It's such an inconvenience.  For the yearly subscription price we're paying for this software it has become more of a nuisance than anything.

For anyone still needing to fix this... there is no fix in Quickbooks! Aside from paper w2s, you have to manually file on SSA website (and also whatever state you are located in). Luckily, we only had 38 w2s this year so we made due, but this is the only way I could file electronically because I had ONE ITIN employee. I understand QB is trying to comply with the law, but this is such a pain! The law still requires us to file for all employees!

For anyone still looking for an answer...

There is no way to file with Quickbooks if ALL of your employees for the year do not have a valid social security number.

The only solution is to file directly on the SSA BSO website in addition to whatever state you operate in.

Wow, what a miss for Quickbooks. This isnt exactly an edge-case either. I had an employee stop working for me who ended up just getting a new phone and email so we could never get their SSN. This person may have only worked for a total of 10 hours and simply because of this one individual, we have to go through a crazy process or lie about them working for us. Any accounting system that encourages dishonesty to "work around" a bad process is going against the idea of ethical accounting in the first place.

I am using the accountant's version of QuickBooks desktop.  I do taxes for a living and I find it frustrating that I can no longer add employees with ITIN's for make changes to their existing pay.  Federal Tax Law says that a shareholder of a corporation is required to be on the payroll.  It the 100% shareholder only has an ITIN they are still required by tax law to be on the payroll.  QuickBooks has no right to tell us accountants that we have to violate Federal Tax Law by not allowing them to be on the payroll.  If this isn't fixed I will start looking at other payroll software that isn't trying to me I have to violate Federal Tax Law as I am also bound by the requirements of my licensing.  For over 15 years at my office we have been allowed to have ITIN's on the payroll and I don't see any reason to change this.