A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is either a nine-digit Employer Identifying Number (EIN) or nine-digit Social Security Number (SSN). TINs are required under the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 for debt collection and under the Internal Revenue Code for income reporting.

An EIN is a nine-digit number issued by the Internal Revenue Service. It is used to identify the tax accounts of business entities. The digits are arranged as follows: 99-9999999. The first two digits represent the state of the business entity. EINs never begin with the following two-digit prefixes: 00, 07, 08, 09, 17, 18, 19, 28, 29, 49, 78, or 79. All other two-digit prefixes are valid. EINs are releasable under FOIA.

An SSN is a nine-digit number issued by the Social Security Administration. It is used to identify individuals. The digits are arranged as follows: 999-99-9999. The first three digits of an individual's social security number are determined by the ZIP Code of the mailing address shown on the application for a SSN. SSNs are NOT releasable under FOIA.

If a TIN does not have any hyphens or cannot otherwise be identified, it is NOT to be released until its status as an EIN or an SSN is determined.

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