Can Ascen share a worker's tax ID with a client?

Last updated: November 11, 2026

Applies to: Staffing partners, and the clients they place workers with, when a client asks for the tax ID of a worker or independent contractor engaged through Ascen. It covers every worker type: US W-2 employees, US independent contractors (1099), Canadian T4 employees and workers outside the US and Canada.

Summary: No: Ascen won't provide a worker's tax ID (including an independent contractor's) when a staffing partner or client asks, so the client needs to ask the worker directly. If what the client actually needs is tax details to pay Ascen's invoices or set Ascen up as a vendor, it needs Ascen's W-9 instead.

Why Ascen can't share it

A tax ID is the worker's own personal tax information. Depending on the worker, it may be a Social Security number (SSN), an ITIN, the EIN of a contractor's business, or a tax number from another country.

Ascen holds it because we run the worker's pay and tax forms: it is how we report their pay, for example on the year-end W-2 or 1099 for US workers or the T4 for Canadian employees. See Why Ascen asks for your Social Security number, ID, and work history. We treat it as sensitive personal data and protect it, so we don't send it to staffing partners or clients when they ask for it. See How Ascen protects your data (security overview).

The answer is the same whether the client asks Ascen directly or the staffing partner asks on the client's behalf, and whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

What the client can do instead

The client needs the worker's own tax ID. The client asks the worker directly. It is the worker's information, so the worker decides whether to share it.
The client is setting up payment or a vendor record. This is usually what an accounts-payable team means by "tax ID", and it needs the details of the company that invoices it, not the worker's. When Ascen invoices the client for the work, Ascen is the vendor the client pays, so the client needs Ascen's W-9. Request it, along with remittance details or vendor forms, from accountsreceivable@ascen.com. See Requesting Ascen's W-9, remittance details, or vendor forms.

If you're the staffing partner

You can pass this answer on to your client: Ascen can't provide the worker's tax ID, and the client would need to request it from the worker directly. If the request is really about paying invoices or vendor setup and Ascen invoices your client, point the client to Ascen's W-9 as above.

If the request comes from a government agency, attorney or other organization rather than the client, see How do agencies, attorneys and other organizations contact Ascen about a worker?

Where to get help

Email support@ascen.com with questions about this or any other request for a worker's information. For Ascen's W-9 and other billing or vendor documents, email accountsreceivable@ascen.com.