Australian Citizen CFO w/o SSN

[Plan Doc]

A U.S. based tax-exempt organization 457(b) plan sponsor wants its new CFO, an Australian citizen who does not have a social security number, to participate in the plan.  I'm only guessing, but I would think that a non-U.S. citizen earning compensation within the U.S. from a U.S. employer would need a social security number unless the individual is exempt from U.S. taxes, most likely pursuant to a tax treaty between the two countries, although I'm no subject matter expert.  If so exempt, then presumably there is no advantage to the CFO participating in the plan (other than perhaps receiving an employer match if the employer decides to make one).

Anyone with other thoughts concerning this situation?  Absent a social security number, I'm not sure our systems will even allow us to establish a plan account for this individual.

[Paul I]

The new CFO can get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).  This is a 9 digit number starting with 9, so having an ITIN will not be a problem with your systems.

Here are some references that get into the details on how the CFO can do this:

• https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin
• https://www.usa.gov/itin
• https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc857

If the CFO is going to live full time in the US, then they will be a resident alien.  If not, then there are rules to consider how to determine if the CFO is a nonresident alien.  This may be an issue if nonresident aliens are excluded by classification from participating in the plan.

Getting an ITIN generally is not a difficult process, but going through it for the first time will mean learning a lot about something you may never need to use again.

[CuseFan]

34 minutes ago, Paul I said:

This may be an issue if nonresident aliens are excluded by classification from participating in the plan.

There is also the requirement for no US-source income, so I don't see how this person could be a statutory exclusion from any qualified plan, but the tax-exempt 457(b) is NQ, so they can include/exclude any top-hat type employee they want.