IRS Form W-9 is used to provide your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to another person or business entity. This is usually someone who is paying you money and is required to report the payment to the IRS. The most common examples are:
- Income paid to you as wages or an independent contractor.
- Income from gig work such as Uber or DoorDash.
- Dividends from investments such as stocks and mutual funds.
- Real estate proceeds.
- Interest on a loan or real estate mortgage.
- Interest paid on a student loan.
- Gambling or lottery winnings.
- Purchase, sale, or abandonment of property secured by a loan or mortgage.
- Cancellation of personal or business debt.
- Contributions made to an Individual Retirement Account or IRA.
IRS Form W-9 (or an appropriate substitute) is used by persons or businesses required to file info returns with the IRS to get the payee’s (or other individual’s) proper name and TIN. For individuals, the TIN is normally a social security number (SSN).
However, in some cases, people who become U.S. resident aliens for federal tax purposes are not qualified to obtain an SSN. This consists of certain resident aliens who must get information returns but who can not obtain an SSN. These individuals must make an application for an ITIN on Form W-7, Application for Internal Revenue Service Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, unless they have an application pending for an SSN. People who have an ITIN need to provide it on Form W-9.
Below are the different versions of the IRS Form W-9 that we offer. These are the most recent version released by the IRS, revised October 2018.
Instructions For Filling Out IRS Form W-9
By signing the filled-out W-9 form, you:
- You certify that the TIN you provided is correct and accurate or that you are waiting for a
number to be issued to you, - You certify that you are not subject to backup withholding, or
- If you are subject to backup withholding you claim exemption because you are a U.S. exempt payee.
- If applicable, you are also certifying that as a U.S. person, your share of any partnership income from a U.S. trade or business is not subject to the withholding tax on foreign partners’ share of the connected income, and
- You certify that any FATCA code(s) entered on the W-9 indicate that you are exempt from the FATCA reporting.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are a U.S. person and a third party provides you with a form other than the IRS Form W-9 to request your TIN, you must use the requester’s form if it is substantially similar to this Form W-9. Each entity is allowed to use its own form as long as it is substantially similar to the W-9.