What Is a W-9 Form? Who Can File and How to Fill It Out

Backup withhold on any reportable payments if the payee makes a withdrawal from the account after the close of 7 business days after you receive the awaiting-TIN certificate. Treat as reportable payments all cash withdrawals in an amount up to the reportable payments made from the day after you receive the awaiting-TIN certificate to the day of withdrawal. Requesters may establish a system for payees and payees’ agents to submit Forms W-9 electronically, including by fax. A requester is anyone required to file an information return. A payee is anyone required to provide a taxpayer identification number (TIN) to the requester.

Backup withholding requires businesses to put aside advance taxes for people who have had certain tax issues. These problems include not providing an accurate tax ID or failure to report interest or dividend income. At the end of the year, businesses are expected to tally up their payments to W-9 workers and report them to the IRS and the contractors, usually on Form 1099-NEC.

Part I – TIN

It is expected that requests as part of normal business operating activities will be fulfilled. Return your completed Form W-9 to the business that asked you to fill it out. Ideally, you’ll deliver it in person to limit your exposure to identity theft, but this method often isn’t practical.

• The client must then figure out how to deduct the $400,000 in legal fees, if that is allowed.
• Is my reimbursement going to be a tax liability for me?
• There is a section where a box must be checked to indicate what type of person or entity is completing the form, such as a trust or estate, an individual, a corporation, a partnership or an exempt payee.
• When beginning to work as either an independent contractor or an employee, you should expect to fill out some paperwork providing your personal identifiable information.
• As an independent contractor, vendor, freelancer or other individual receiving nonemployee compensation, you typically do not work for the person or business as an employee.
• There are 18 different 1099 forms, each one relating to the nature of the income.

However, the ITIN holder will have to apply to renew the deactivated ITIN if there is a need to file a tax return. For more information, see the Instructions for Form W-7. If you do not collect backup withholding from affected payees as required, you may become liable for any uncollected amount. In the post, you’ll find information about requesting W-9s for business vendors and contractors.

Are W9 forms different every year?

If you’ve made the determination that the person you’re paying is an independent contractor, the first step is to have the contractor complete Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. This form what is a w9 tax form can be used to request the correct name and Taxpayer Identification Number, or TIN, of the payee. The W-9 should be kept in your files for four years for future reference in case of any questions from the worker or the IRS.

You should submit a new Form W-9 whenever any information you provided on the previous one has changed. Fill out a new form if your name, business name, address, Social Security number, or employer identification number has changed. Amanda Bellucco-Chatham is an editor, writer, and fact-checker with years of experience researching personal finance topics.