- 3 - their religious objection to the use of identifying numbers for their children. Petitioners believe that SSN’s are universal numerical identifiers to be equated with the “mark of the Beast” warned against in the Bible at Revelation 13:16-17. Petitioners both have SSN’s and used them on their 1996 tax return but wish to avoid obtaining SSN’s for their children. Petitioners’ religious objections extend only to universal identifiers and not to numbers issued for a discrete purpose. Accordingly, petitioners have offered to obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN’s) for their children and provide the ITIN’s on their return. Respondent, however, refuses to issue ITIN’s to petitioners’ children because respondent takes the position that Treasury regulations permit issuance of ITIN’s only to those who are ineligible to receive SSN’s. Except for the requirement that petitioners include their children’s SSN’s on their return, petitioners have met all the statutory requirements for claiming dependency exemptions in 1996. Respondent concedes that petitioners have a sincerely held religious belief which opposes the use of SSN’s for their minor children, but respondent denies that he is required to accommodate that belief in administering the dependency exemption.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011