Taxpayer Identification Number - TIN

Categories: Tax, Tech

Yes, you have one. Believe it or not, in the 1950s, they actually wanted to tattoo this number and/or your Social Security Number on your body. Serial numbers. Bar code. Weird immigration issues then that come with all this.

But you can imagine that we've had, over time, something like a billion American taxpayers, so...you need big numbers to track everything. Lot o' dough.



Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)