That seems to solve OP's problem nicely. :)

>>employer identification number, which the IRS will issue to a foreign entity

oh god I hope this doesn't catch on & become a trend. I'm OK with the tax authority in my home country...but dealing with them for every country I digitally interact with is not OK. :/

Well, to be fair, MTurk is an interface to paid human labor.

>> MTurk is an interface to paid human labor.

Indeed. My point is that this goes both ways. US citizens might not feel the IRS asking for info is a big deal, but how about if SARS ask for you info? Haven't heard of SARS?...to bad...you wandered onto their turf in your digital adventures. Good luck figuring out which country you're dealing with. Oh and they totally require you to pay the relevant fees in person in cash on site once you figure out who they are.

See why I'm less than delighted with this "register with local tax authority of the relevant site" story?

Couldn't you say that about any company selling services?

For people looking to get EIN, we just did this last week - They do not issue them on phone starting January 2014. You need to fax the application to a Cincinnati number, and if you put down your fax number on the application, they fax you back your EIN in 3-4 business days, not counting the day you faxed on. If you do not get a fax back or you did not put your fax number on the application, you can call them in 3-4 days and then they will give you on phone, if your application was processed.

Moreover, for an Amazon payments account, you also need a US bank account. And that task is not easy for non-US entities.

For individuals, if you are ineligible for an SSN you can get an ITIN in its place, but as the parent notes, your business should probably get an EIN: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpa...

It took me six months and four attempts to get an ITIN, which included a trip to my US embassy. Not an easy task.

Can you describe in detail how to do it? I tried pretty hard, including a visit to the embassy, and failed.

For me, it was painless to get one. I used an agency.

And FYI, EINs are surprisingly easy to get. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I guess the IRS doesn't want to make you jump through hoops for you to pay them taxes.

Depends on who answers the phone apparently. Instructions here, http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publis...

I gave up my Amazon seller account because they started asking for EIN/ITINs, I am too paranoid to let the US have anything to do with my taxes unless absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately the payments sign up also requires proof of a US billing address.

It is easily possible to get an EIN however as a non-US company with no US presence; you have to call a nice IRS person in Indiana if memory serves.

You can get a US based billing address by leasing a UPS store mail box.

Not even that. Just sign up for a registered agent service.

    The other alternative would be to integrate payments 
    into     an existing distributed work platform like 
    Bossa or     PyBossa, and recruit your own audience of 
    participants     through advertising.

You can't access Disneyland, go create your own.

If only it were that easy. I have btw, asked questions about how to create my own crowd source. There isn't much on logistics.

Pay attention. You can get an EIN easily. This is trivial.

>You only need a social security number if you're doing it as a personal account.

The EIN still requires SSN(ITIN or another EIN) :

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employ...

"All EIN applications (mail, fax, electronic) must disclose the name and Taxpayer Identification Number (SSN, ITIN, or EIN) of the true principal officer, general partner, grantor, owner or trustor. "

EDIT: my bad with foreign rules, thanks vitovito below

Except if you're a foreign entity. Quoting from the domestic instructions probably won't help the original poster.

"IF the applicant...

Is a foreign person needing an EIN to comply with IRS withholding regulations

THEN...

Complete lines 1–5b, 7a–b (SSN or ITIN optional), 8a, 8b–c (if applicable), 9a, 9b (if applicable), 10, and 18."

Note "SSN or ITIN optional." That's per the SS-4 form. Per a sibling post, the IRS will also issue foreign entities an ITIN if necessary.

I have no idea, as I've never been a Canadian with a Canadian company who has to get on Amazon MTurk after next week.

But this is part of your core competency as an entrepreneur. You're supposed to be able to figure this stuff out. All the pieces are in this thread: get an EIN, maybe get an ITIN, maybe that means you have to petition at your local US Embassy, maybe get an address in the US, maybe that means a UPS Store box, maybe that means a registered agent.

And then when you do figure it out, write a long blog post about it that details the "exact steps I need to take" so people in your position in the future can learn how to do it. Do it on your company blog so future clients can see that if you're going to be this diligent about figuring out how to take care of your own business, maybe you'll be that diligent in taking care of theirs.

Sorting this stuff out is your job, all the programming stuff is ancillary.

that was very inspirational. You are absolutely right this is something an entrepreneur must figure out on his own. This is why entrepreneurship is great.

If Amazon is no longer letting foreign companies use Mechanical Turk, the obvious solution is to incorporate a US company (or a US branch of your foreign company) and then sign up for MT.

Seriously, it's not rocket science. Incorporation can take as little as a 5 minutes using a service like LegalZoom, and acquiring an EIN (which is part of the incorporation process) can be done online in a minute or two. Then you open up a US bank account, which may require you to physically show up at a US bank. Once you have the EIN and bank account, you sign up for Mechanical Turk.