Shopify Payments: SSN, ITIN or EIN?

Shopify and Shopify Payments aren’t the same thing

You can open a Shopify store from anywhere. The tax number question only comes up with Shopify Payments, Shopify’s built-in way to take card payments. Shopify says you can use it “if your business is located in one of the supported countries,” and that otherwise “you need to use a third-party payment provider.”

The supported list covers the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Norway and most of the EU. Check Shopify’s list for your country. Each country has its own verification rules, and a store outside the US signs up with its own country’s version.

What Shopify Payments asks for in the US

In the US, what you give depends on the business type you choose:

Every type needs more than a number. Shopify asks for “the official physical address of the business in the United States, where the business operations primarily occur,” in one of the 50 states or Puerto Rico. Other US territories, including the US Virgin Islands and Guam, aren’t supported. The bank account has to be a full checking account in USD with a US bank that can take ACH transfers. Savings accounts, wire-transfer-only accounts, flex-currency accounts and money transfer services don’t qualify.

If you live outside the US

None of the routes open to you needs an ITIN:

• Shopify Payments in your own country, if it’s on the supported list.
• A third-party payment provider. PayPal and Stripe both let you open an account in your own country, where they operate, without a US tax number.
• A US company. A US LLC or corporation signs up with its EIN, and its representative can use a passport photo, with their home address outside the US. It still needs the US business address and US bank account described above.

You don’t need an ITIN to get the EIN either. The IRS’s Form SS-4 instructions tell a responsible party who doesn’t have and isn’t eligible for an SSN or ITIN to enter “Foreign” or N/A on line 7b, and applicants outside the US can get an EIN by phone on 267-941-1099. ITIN vs EIN covers the details.

When an ITIN is the answer

An ITIN fits two situations with Shopify.

The first is the one Shopify’s form is built around: you live in the US, you’re not eligible for an SSN, and you want to sell as an individual or sole proprietor. Shopify accepts your ITIN where it asks for an SSN, and on a Form W-9 the IRS says a resident alien without an SSN uses their ITIN. Keep in mind what the number doesn’t do: the IRS says an ITIN doesn’t authorize you to work in the US. What an ITIN is covers the other limits.

The second is outside Shopify’s forms. If you own a US LLC and have to file a US return yourself, such as Form 1040-NR, that return needs an SSN or ITIN. The company’s EIN doesn’t cover it.

Form 1099-K from Shopify Payments

Shopify issues Form 1099-K to Shopify Payments users based in the US who pass the reporting threshold. For 2025 that’s more than $20,000 in payments and more than 200 transactions, and some states set lower thresholds of $600 to $2,500. The form goes out under the account representative’s name and tax number for individuals and sole proprietors, or under the registered business name and EIN for other businesses.

You can correct the name, address or tax number in the Shopify admin, under Finance, then Documents, then 1099-K, until July 15. Shopify says that if you don’t keep your tax information up to date, payouts might be paused until it can be verified.

If you also sell on a marketplace, ITIN for Etsy sellers and the Amazon tax interview guide cover what those platforms ask for. If you need an ITIN, how to apply for an ITIN explains Form W-7.