What this form is for
Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (W-9). A W-9 hands your taxpayer identification number to somebody who is going to pay you, so they can report that payment to the IRS and issue you a 1099 at the end of the year. It is never sent to the IRS itself — it goes to the person who asked for it, and they keep it on file.
Who needs it
Independent contractors, freelancers, consultants and other businesses being paid by a US company. Also banks and brokerages asking an account holder to certify their TIN.
When you do not need it
You do not file a W-9 if you are an employee — that is a W-4. You also do not use one if you are not a US person: a non-resident individual or foreign entity uses a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E instead, and signing a W-9 when you are not a US person is a false certification.
Before you start
Have these to hand — stopping halfway to look one of them up is how a ten-minute job becomes an evening.
- Your legal name exactly as it appears on your tax return
- Your SSN, or your EIN if you are paid as a business
- Your tax classification — sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, partnership
- Your current mailing address
How to fill it in
Open the file in the Quire editor. Existing form fields become editable straight away; on a flat scan you can drop your own text boxes, checkboxes and dates exactly where they belong. Sign it with the Sign tool — draw, type or upload your signature — then export.
Everything happens in your browser. A tax or immigration form carries enough personal information that it has no business sitting on somebody else's server, and here it never does.
What goes wrong
- Line 1 must be the name on your tax return. A single-member LLC puts the owner’s name on line 1 and the LLC name on line 2, not the other way round.
- An LLC taxed as a disregarded entity ticks the box for its owner’s classification, not the LLC box.
- Do not email a completed W-9 unencrypted. It carries your full SSN and is a routine target for interception.
Where it goes
Follow the address or e-file route printed in the current IRS instructions for this form. Those change between tax years, so check the instructions rather than reusing last year’s envelope.
This page explains the document and helps you fill it in. It is not legal or tax advice, and it is not affiliated with any government agency.