SSN Policy Manual

Dealing With Federal Agencies

Payee Fails to Furnish Black's Law Dictionary defines the meaning of the word "fail" as: Fail. Fault, negligence, or refusal.

Certainly if you have a social security number and you fail to furnish it, then the sentence in subsection (A) might apply to you. (The ownership of "his TIN" is addressed in "Whose Number is it Anyway" on page 247, and that issue is also applicable here.) The fail issue becomes clearer when we look at the sentence and restructure the various meanings for the word fail: (A) the payee fails to h i s h his TIN to the payor in the manner required (A) the payee, because of his ownfault, does not furnish his TIN to the payor in the manner required (A) the payee, because of his own negligence, does not furnish his TIN to the payor in the manner required (A) the payee refuses to furnish his TIN to the payor in the manner required However, the law does not require you to furnish that which you do not have. The law cannot be interrupted nor can it be twisted to mean: (A) the payee, who does not have or want a TIN fails to furnish his TIN to the payor in the manner required, The meaning of the word "fail" requires that you to do one of the following: Fail to furnish a TIN through some fault of your own; such as, you forgot it or forgot to write it on the form. Fail to furnish a TIN through some kind negligence; such as, you forgot to write it on the form or simply don't care. Fail to furnish a TIN because you simple refuse to provide it. It does not include or mean that you fail to furnish a TIN because you do not have one; you would be happy to furnish it, if you had one. But, you simply don't have one to give them and you have no desire to obtain one. When you understand the legal meaning of the word fail, it becomes clear that this does not apply to people to whom a social security numbers have not been issued and do not wish to obtain one.