Pattern

Regex for US ITIN

Individual Taxpayer ID — like SSN but starts with 9.

The US ITIN regex is ^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$ — copy it below, or open it in the explainer for a token-by-token breakdown.

The pattern

^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$

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What it matches

912-70-1234
999-99-9999

What it doesn't match

912-69-1234
912-93-1234
123-45-6789

Notes & gotchas

Issued by the IRS to people who need a US tax ID but aren't eligible for an SSN. Starts with 9, group is 70-88 or 90-92 or 94-99.

Code in your language

Use the explainer's Code tab to generate ready-to-paste snippets in JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go, Ruby, and PHP for this pattern.

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Token-by-token breakdown

Every part of the pattern, left to right:

Token	Meaning
`^`	start of string (or line in multiline mode)
`9`	literal text “9”
`\d{2}`	exactly 2 times: digit (0–9)
`-`	literal text “-”
`(`	start of a capturing group
`7`	literal text “7”
`\d`	any digit (0–9)
`\|`	OR — try the alternative
`8`	literal text “8”
`[0-8]`	any of: 0–8
`\|`	OR — try the alternative
`9`	literal text “9”
`[0-2]`	any of: 0–2
`\|`	OR — try the alternative
`9`	literal text “9”
`[4-9]`	any of: 4–9
`)`	end of group
`-`	literal text “-”
`\d{4}`	exactly 4 times: digit (0–9)
`$`	end of string (or line in multiline mode)

About this pattern

US-specific identifiers follow patterns set by federal and state authorities (SSA, IRS, USPS, state DMVs). Regex catches malformed values; final validation usually requires an authoritative lookup.

Quick usage in different languages

This exact pattern — with the correct escaping and idioms for each language:

JavaScript: /^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$/.test(value)
Python: re.match(r"^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$", value)
Java: Pattern.compile("^9\\d{2}-(7\\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\\d{4}$").matcher(value).matches()
C# / .NET: Regex.IsMatch(value, @"^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$")
Go: regexp.MustCompile(`^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$`).MatchString(value)
Ruby: /^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$/.match?(value)
PHP: preg_match('~^9\d{2}-(7\d|8[0-8]|9[0-2]|9[4-9])-\d{4}$~', $value)

The explainer’s Code tab regenerates these for any pattern you paste, and the downloadable cheat sheet bundles the breakdown, all seven snippets, and the pitfalls below onto one printable page.

Common pitfalls

Anchored to the whole string. This pattern uses ^ and $, so it requires the entire input to match. To find it inside a longer text, drop the anchors and use the global (g) flag.
Escape it correctly per language. In Java and JavaScript strings each backslash must be doubled (\\d); in Python, Go, and C# use raw/verbatim strings so the backslashes survive.
Validate beyond format. Matching the format doesn't guarantee the value is real. Confirm the us itin against a source of truth (database, API, or checksum) where it matters.

Standards & sources

This pattern is based on the following authoritative specification(s) and issuing authorities. Formats can change — always confirm against the primary source.

U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Related patterns

More patterns in the United States 🇺🇸 category: