General information only — not tax advice.

What Is a W-9 Form? — In Plain Words

Form W-9 has a long official name: Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.

This page explains the form in plain words. Every fact below comes from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sources listed at the bottom of this page.

Short answer

A W-9 is the form you use to give your correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to a person who must file an information return with the IRS. You give the filled-out form to the person who asked for it — the requester. You do not send it to the IRS. The form itself says, at the top: “Give form to the requester. Do not send to the IRS.”

Who asks for a W-9, and why?

The IRS says: use Form W-9 to provide your correct TIN to the person who is required to file an information return with the IRS.

The Form W-9 instructions say the same thing in the form’s own words. An individual or entity — called the Form W-9 requester — who is required to file an information return with the IRS must obtain your correct TIN, to report on an information return the amount paid to you, or another amount reportable on an information return.

The IRS “About Form W-9” page gives these examples of what that information return may report:

The form also says: use Form W-9 only if you are a U.S. person (including a resident alien), to provide your correct TIN.

What is a TIN?

TIN is short for Taxpayer Identification Number.

The form says your TIN may be your Social Security number (SSN), individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), or employer identification number (EIN).

Topic No. 307 gives the same basic idea for Form 1099. A Form 1099 includes your name and TIN, such as an SSN, an EIN, or an ITIN.

What does the form ask for?

At the level the IRS form itself shows, Form W-9 asks for:

This page does not give step-by-step filling instructions. For the full form and its own instructions, see the IRS sources below.

What are you certifying when you sign?

Part II of the form begins: “Under penalties of perjury, I certify that:”

The form also gives a short summary of what signing means. By signing the filled-out form, you certify that the TIN you are giving is correct (or you are waiting for a number to be issued), certify that you are not subject to backup withholding or claim exemption from backup withholding if you are a U.S. exempt payee, and certify the FATCA point above, among the items the form lists.

What is backup withholding?

The IRS backup withholding page says there are situations when the payer is required to withhold at the current rate of 24 percent. That 24 percent tax is taken from future payments to ensure the IRS receives the tax due on this income. That is called backup withholding.

Topic No. 307 words it this way: when it applies, backup withholding requires a payer to withhold tax from payments not otherwise subject to withholding.

The Form W-9 itself says: persons making certain payments to you must under certain conditions withhold and pay to the IRS 24% of such payments. This is called “backup withholding.”

Topic No. 307 says you may be subject to backup withholding and the payer must withhold at a flat 24% rate when:

The form gives a matching caution in its “Purpose of Form” section: “Caution: If you don’t return Form W-9 to the requester with a TIN, you might be subject to backup withholding.”

The form also says you will not be subject to backup withholding on payments you receive if you give the requester your correct TIN, make the proper certifications, and report all your taxable interest and dividends on your tax return.

Topic No. 307 and the IRS backup withholding page both say how backup withholding can stop, in general terms: to stop it, you need to correct the reason you became subject to backup withholding in the first place. That can include providing the correct TIN to the payer, resolving the underreported income and paying the amount owed, or filing the missing return or returns, as appropriate.

Both pages also cover credit for backup withholding. If your Form 1099 shows an amount withheld under the backup withholding rules, report the amount as federal income tax withheld on your income tax return for the year you received the income.

Which payments can backup withholding apply to?

Topic No. 307 says backup withholding can apply to most kinds of payments reported on Form 1099. Its list includes interest payments, dividends, rents, profits, royalties and other income, and commissions, fees, or other payments for work performed as an independent contractor.

The IRS backup withholding page gives a similar list for payments reported on Forms 1099 and W-2G. It includes commissions, fees, or other payments for work you do as an independent contractor.

The Form W-9 itself notes one limit in this area: real estate transactions are not subject to backup withholding.

A caution from the IRS form itself: protect your tax records

Form W-9 contains a section headed “Secure Your Tax Records From Identity Theft.” It says identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your name, SSN, or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.

To reduce your risk, that section says:

The same form also has a section headed “Protect yourself from suspicious emails or phishing schemes.” It says phishing is the creation and use of email and websites designed to mimic legitimate business emails and websites, and that the most common act is sending an email to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

It then states, in the form’s own words: “The IRS does not initiate contacts with taxpayers via emails. Also, the IRS does not request personal detailed information through email or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords, or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank, or other financial accounts.”

The form also states: “Misuse of TINs. If the requester discloses or uses TINs in violation of federal law, the requester may be subject to civil and criminal penalties.”

This page prints no other scam warning, because no other warning of that kind was stated in the IRS sources read in full for this page.

Sources

All facts on this page come from these IRS sources, read in full:

General information only — not tax advice.