Hi,
Does anyone know the laws behind contracting with someone out of the US? I called the IRS, they did not help. The accountant suggests submission of a form by the Independant contractor to obtain an alien tax id number??, however, he was unsure how to gain the actual forms. Are there business owners here that have dealt with this issue that would be willing to share information?
Thank you in advance,

I've hired people from outside the USA before. The burdon of tax reporting is on them, unless you have an employer-employee relationship with them.

Thank you for the information. Would it be possible to ask you for more information??
When filing your taxes, or claiming wages paid out to a contractor, you were not required to place an identification number with the paid amounts on file?

It's not required when you file. It might be required if you are audited, but it depends on the nature of the relationship between you and the entity you are contracting with. If your accountant is suggesting that they need a TIN, there may be a good reason for that. I suspect he's thinking that there might be some question about this being an employee-employer relationship. If the IRS audits you, and if they find that you actually had an employee-employer relationship with this person, there is the possibility of some significant penalties.