I doubt that it allows something to go in with no TIN or no provider number.  But it doesn't mean the number is right.  IRS validation of a TIN Number isn't usually handled realtime by anyone and where it is handled it seems to usually be by a batch process overnight.  I don't know about provider number verification but I would be surprised if it was any different (the federal government is involved in that number too as I recall).  I've worked with some very popular 'customizable' software products using 'baseline functions' and found far more bugs than the folks that paid for their customizations.  My thought is that they left the baseline buggy to encourage spending more on a customized product.