Information returns
Form W-9: who fills it out, line-by-line instructions, due date and backup withholding
Form W-9 gives your correct TIN to a payer who files information returns like Form 1099-NEC. Who must fill it out, what goes on each line for sole proprietors and LLCs, when it's due, the 24% backup withholding rule and the $50 and $500 penalties.
Prepared by Aldro Accounting · Updated · Sources checked
The quick answer
Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, is how a U.S. person gives their correct TIN to a business that must file an information return with the IRS, such as Form 1099-NEC. You give it to the requester, not the IRS. If you don't provide a TIN, the payer may have to withhold 24% of reportable payments as backup withholding.
What Form W-9 is for
The IRS says to use Form W-9 to provide your correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to the person who is required to file an information return with the IRS. The payer uses your name, TIN and address to report what it paid you.
Information returns that rely on a W-9 include Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation, 1099-MISC, 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-B, 1099-S, 1099-K, 1098, 1099-C and 1099-A.
The form tells you to give it to the requester and not to send it to the IRS. The requester keeps it on file.
Who fills out a W-9, and who asks for one
Use Form W-9 only if you are a U.S. person, including a resident alien. That covers U.S. citizens and resident aliens, domestic partnerships, corporations, companies and associations, estates other than foreign estates, and domestic trusts.
A nonresident alien or a foreign entity doesn't use Form W-9. It gives the requester the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233 instead.
The business asking for the form is the one that may have to report the payment. For Form 1099-NEC, a business reports payments to a non-employee for services totaling $600 or more in a calendar year, or $2,000 or more for payments made after December 31, 2025. P.L. 119-21 set that $2,000 threshold for payments after 2025 and indexes it for inflation for years after 2026.
Line-by-line: what goes where
Line 1 is required. For a sole proprietor or a disregarded entity, the owner's name goes on line 1 and the business or disregarded entity's name goes on line 2. The name on line 1 should never be a disregarded entity.
Scroll sideways to see all columns.
| You are | Line 1 | Line 2 | Line 3a | Part I TIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Your individual name | Business or DBA name, if any | Individual/sole proprietor | SSN or EIN (the IRS encourages SSN) |
| Single-member LLC (disregarded) | Owner's name | LLC's name | Owner's classification, not the LLC box | Owner's SSN, or owner's EIN if it has one |
| LLC taxed as partnership or corporation | LLC's name as on its tax return | Any DBA name | LLC box with code P, C or S | The LLC's EIN |
| Corporation or partnership | Entity's name as on its tax return | Any DBA name | C corporation, S corporation or Partnership | The entity's EIN |
Line 3a asks for the federal tax classification of the person or entity named on line 1. Check only one of the seven boxes. An LLC checks the LLC box and enters C, S or P for how it is taxed, unless it is a disregarded entity. A disregarded entity checks the box for its owner's classification instead.
Line 3b is new on the March 2024 revision. A flow-through entity completes it to show it has direct or indirect foreign partners, owners or beneficiaries when it gives the W-9 to another flow-through entity in which it has an ownership interest.
Line 4 holds exemption codes: exempt payee codes for backup withholding and codes for exemption from FATCA reporting. Generally, individuals, including sole proprietors, are not exempt from backup withholding.
Part I is the TIN. Part II is the certification, signed under penalties of perjury. Cross out item 2 in Part II if the IRS has told you that you are currently subject to backup withholding because you failed to report all interest and dividends.
Which number goes in Part I
A sole proprietor shows their individual name on line 1 and may use either an SSN or an EIN, if they have one. The IRS encourages the SSN.
A single-member LLC that is disregarded enters the owner's SSN, or EIN if the owner has one. An LLC classified as a corporation or partnership enters the entity's EIN.
A resident alien who doesn't have and isn't eligible for an SSN enters their IRS ITIN in the Social Security number space. If the IRS deactivates an ITIN because it expired, the ITIN may still be used on Form W-9.
For a joint account, list first and circle the name of the person or entity whose number is in Part I. For a trust, estate or pension trust, list and circle the entity's name and don't furnish the trustee's or personal representative's TIN unless the entity isn't named in the account title.
When a W-9 is due, and when to give a new one
Form W-9 has no IRS filing date because it never goes to the IRS. The requester asks for it so it has a correct TIN before it pays you.
If you don't have a TIN yet, you can write "Applied For" in Part I. The 60-day exemption from backup withholding only covers interest, dividends and certain payments on readily tradable instruments. Any other reportable payment, such as nonemployee compensation, is subject to backup withholding immediately, even while you wait for a TIN.
You must furnish a new Form W-9 if the name or TIN on the account changes.
Backup withholding and penalties
Persons making certain payments to you must, under certain conditions, withhold and pay to the IRS 24% of those payments. This is backup withholding. A payer that withholds it from nonpayroll payments files Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax.
If the payee's name and TIN on an information return don't match IRS records, the IRS sends the payer a notice. The payer may then have to send the payee a "B" notice asking for another TIN. A requester that doesn't collect backup withholding when required may become liable for the uncollected amount.
Under chapter 4 (FATCA), if an account holder fails to provide its TIN, the withholding rate is 30%.
Common W-9 mistakes
Most problems come from the LLC and sole proprietor lines. These are the errors the form's own instructions warn against.
Aldro's flat yearly price covers the business's federal and state returns and its information returns such as Form 1099-NEC, which is where the W-9s you collect get used. Our team prepares and files them.
- Putting the LLC or DBA name on line 1 instead of the owner's name.
- Checking the LLC box for a single-member disregarded LLC instead of the owner's classification.
- Entering a disregarded LLC's EIN in Part I instead of the owner's SSN or EIN.
- Using a last name that doesn't match Social Security records. If you changed your last name without telling the SSA, enter your first name, the last name on your Social Security card and your new last name.
- Skipping line 3b when a flow-through entity with foreign owners is required to complete it. The form points to sections 6698, 6722 and 6724 for penalties that may apply.
- Not crossing out item 2 in Part II when the IRS has notified you that backup withholding applies.
Worked example
Maria runs a design business as a single-member LLC that hasn't elected to be taxed as a corporation. A client asks for a W-9. She writes her own name on line 1 and "Maria Lopez Design LLC" on line 2, checks Individual/sole proprietor on line 3a (not the LLC box), and enters her SSN in Part I. If she skipped the form, the client could have to withhold 24% of each payment. On a $5,000 invoice that is $1,200 sent to the IRS instead of to her.
Common questions
Who needs to fill out a W-9?
Any U.S. person, including a resident alien, a domestic partnership, corporation, company, association, non-foreign estate or domestic trust, that a requester asks for a TIN to file an information return. Foreign persons use Form W-8 or Form 8233.
Where do I send a completed W-9, and when is it due?
Give it to the requester. Don't send it to the IRS. There's no IRS filing date. The payer needs it before paying you to avoid backup withholding.
How does a single-member LLC fill out a W-9?
If the LLC is disregarded, the owner's name goes on line 1 and the LLC's name on line 2. Line 3a gets the owner's classification, not the LLC box, and Part I gets the owner's SSN or EIN.
What is the backup withholding rate?
24% of reportable payments. For nonemployee compensation it applies right away if no TIN is furnished, even when the payee has applied for one.
What is the 1099-NEC reporting threshold now?
$600 or more in a calendar year, or $2,000 or more for payments made after December 31, 2025.
Can a nonresident alien fill out a W-9?
No. A nonresident alien or foreign entity gives the requester the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233.
The cheapest way to get your business taxes done: $399 flat.
Business tax filing is $399 USD a year, and it covers everything tax for that year.
How it works
- Tell us about your business. A two-minute form. No payment is collected through it.
- Get your next steps by email. We’ll email you the next steps within one business day. After you sign up we’ll send you a secure upload link for your documents.
- We file it. Our team prepares and files your return. Add bookkeeping for $20 a month if you want it.
What's included
$399 a year covers everything tax for that tax year.
- Every business return for the year. All the federal and state or provincial business returns you need for the tax year: Schedule C, 1065, 1120-S, 1120 and their state returns in the US; T2, or T1 with T2125, in Canada.
- More than one state. Multi-state returns are included at the same price.
- Your personal return. The owner’s personal return (1040 or T1) is included when it’s needed for the business income.
- Quebec. Quebec returns (CO-17, TP-1 and TP-80) are included. Our Quebec pages are in French, and our team works with you in English.
- Extensions and reminders. Extensions (Form 7004 or 4868) and quarterly estimate reminders are included.
- Information returns. 1099-NEC, T4/T4A and T5018 slips are included in the tax price.
- City and excise returns. City and local business tax returns, and state excise returns such as Washington B&O, are included in the yearly price.
- Franchise tax reports. State franchise tax reports, such as the Texas franchise tax report, are included.
- Estimated tax and instalment amounts. We work out your quarterly estimated tax payments in the US, or your CRA instalments in Canada, and tell you what to pay and when.
- Unfiled past years. Each unfiled prior-year return is $399 per tax year, the same flat price.
- Bookkeeping at $20 a month. Unlimited bank and card accounts, monthly reconciliation and monthly statements.
Basic inventory tracking for online stores, such as Shopify, is included. Full cost-of-goods reconciliation is quoted separately. Payroll processing and sales-tax filing aren’t included in bookkeeping. Prices are in USD. Our team prepares and files your return.
Sources
- IRS: About Form W-9 · checked October 31, 2026
- IRS: Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024) · checked October 31, 2026
- IRS: Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 · checked October 31, 2026
- IRS: Draft Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 · checked October 31, 2026
- IRS: Form 1099-NEC and independent contractors · checked October 31, 2026
This guide explains general rules from the sources listed. It isn’t tax advice for your situation.