Letter 4318

Internal Revenue Service

Department of the Treasury
Date:
Invalid Taxpayer Identification Number:
IRS Contact Information:

IRS contact name
IRS, Stop #
IRS address street
IRS address city, state, zip
Phone Number:
Fax Number:
IRS Employee ID Number:
Respond by:

Dear
Why We Are Contacting You
We are proposing a penalty of $500 because you recently submitted a passport application (Form DS-11,
Application for a U.S. Passport, or Form DS-82, Application for a U.S. Passport by Mail), to the U.S.
Department of State that did not contain a valid taxpayer identification number (TIN) or reflected an invalid
TIN. Any invalid TIN that you may have provided at the time of your passport application is shown in the
upper right hand corner of this page.
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 6039E provides a penalty for individuals who fail to provide certain
information, including a TIN on their passport application. A TIN means the individual's social security
number (SSN) issued by the Social Security Administration.
What You Need to Do
To possibly avoid having this penalty asserted, complete the enclosed Form 13997, Validating Your TIN
and Reasonable Cause, and mail the form to the address shown in the upper right hand section of this letter
no later than
. We will consider your explanation in determining whether you had reasonable
cause for your failure to provide the information before the penalty under IRC section 6039E is asserted.
Be sure to print your name, sign, and date the form before mailing it to us in the enclosed return addressed
envelope we've provided for your convenience. We have also provided you with a copy of this letter for your
records.
What Will Happen Next
When you respond, we will verify your TIN or consider your explanation as to why you do not have a TIN. If
you have a TIN, we will also consider your written statement of reasonable cause and determine if the penalty
will be asserted.

Letter 4318 (10-2009)
Catalog Number 51121U

We will generally grant reasonable cause relief when you show that you made reasonable efforts to fulfill your
passport application obligations. You must also show that you exercised due diligence to determine your
obligations; nevertheless, you were unable to comply with those obligations.
Generally, you will not have reasonable cause merely because you lost the TIN assigned to you or that you may
have relied on another person to get this information for you. It is your responsibility to ensure that the
information provided on your passport application was complete and accurate. You cannot delegate this
responsibility.
You will be notified of our decision in a subsequent letter.
What if You Do Not Respond
If you do not respond by
, you will receive a bill called "Notice of Penalty Charge." This bill will
include the amount of the IRC section 6039E penalty ($500) and any interest accrued.
Who to Contact For More Information
If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown at the top of
page one of this letter. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,

Enclosures:
Form 13997
Copy of this letter
Envelope

Letter 4318 (10-2009)
Catalog Number 51121U