W-9 Form: What Is It, and How Do You Fill It Out?

w9 tax form meaning

Financial institutions may ask a new client to fill out a W-9 as it is a useful way of collecting and recording a customer’s details. Real estate businesses may also ask tenants to complete a W-9 as a method of storing their information as well. The FATCA code(s) entered on this form (if any) indicating that I am exempt from FATCA reporting is correct. If you’re not sure what type of business entity you should select, the IRS has provided a summary table for guidance as part of the Form W-9’s instructions. The different tax forms and their corresponding requirements might feel overwhelming and complex. But by breaking it down piece by piece and gaining a greater understanding of what the forms are actually for, managing them gets simpler.

Barbara is a financial writer for Tipalti and other successful B2B businesses, including SaaS and financial companies. She is a former CFO for fast-growing tech companies with Deloitte audit experience. Barbara has an MBA from The University of Texas and an active CPA license.

Do I Have to Pay Taxes if I Fill Out a W-9?

This is the federal agency’s way of ensuring that the appropriate taxes are paid, even if the taxpayer is not correctly identified. W-9 forms are for self-employed workers like freelancers, independent contractors and consultants. You need to use it if you have earned over $600 in that year without being hired as an employee. If your employer sends you a W-9 instead of a W-4, the company has likely classified you as an independent contractor. Form W-9, or Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, is completed when a person or company pays another person or company (e.g., independent contractors and freelancers). Most importantly, the person completing the W-9 form isn’t employed by the company but earns some form of income or payment from the company.

Remember that the only reason anyone would ever need a W-9 from you is because they need it to send you some kind of IRS form. Yes, a W-9 is most often used for individuals who are self-employed. If a worker is an independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed, Form W-9 must be provided to those whom you have earned over $600 from without having been hired as an official employee. First, the payor is required to begin withholding taxes from future payments. Now, if you read the fine print in the W-9 instructions carefully, it seems to indicate that most people aren’t required to sign this form at all. You’re generally only required to sign it if the IRS has notified you that you previously provided an incorrect TIN.

Line 3 – Federal Tax Classification

Individuals and sole proprietors will almost never be exempt from backup withholding, but in certain situations corporations are exempt. The payee codes and circumstances https://www.bookstime.com/ are listed on the third page of the W-9. If you qualify for one of these conditions, you would place the appropriate code number in the first space for line 4.

  • Under backup withholding, a payer is required to withhold a flat rate of 24% from certain types of payments made to a payee and remit that amount to the IRS.
  • W-9 forms are used in many different situations, often for independent contractors or freelancers.
  • A TIN may be a social security number (SSN), individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), or employer identification number (EIN/FEIN).
  • W-9 forms may also be required in certain real estate or property transactions, cancellation of debt, or even for certain IRA contributions.
  • A W-9 form is crucial to filing your taxes if you’re a contract worker, a freelancer or self-employed.
  • For Taxpayer Identification, select only one appropriate box from a choice of Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • The payee codes and circumstances are listed on the third page of the W-9.

Instead of filling out a Form W-9, new hires are often asked to fill out a W-4 to provide their taxpayer information to their employer. The Form W-9 is used to prepare a range of various informational returns to the IRS. The most common situation occurs when an independent contractor completes work for a company and receives payments. If that independent contractor receives more than $600 in a calendar year, they are required to be sent a Form 1099-MISC and self-report their own taxes.

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You’re not required to receive a W-9 or file a 1099 for contractors to whom you pay less than $600 in a tax year. A W-9 worker, more commonly called a 1099 worker, is a self-employed w9 tax form meaning person who works as an independent contractor with a business. A 1099 employee is responsible for paying their own taxes, so businesses don’t withhold taxes from their paychecks.

  • These can be found at the IRS Forms webpage and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue Forms webpage.
  • Use your EIN if you file as a multi-member LLC classified as a corporation or partnership.
  • If your entity is exempt from backup withholding, you’ll fill in the first line with your code.
  • But by breaking it down piece by piece and gaining a greater understanding of what the forms are actually for, managing them gets simpler.
  • It provides more accurate information to the Internal Revenue Service.
  • Generally, if a company is required to file an information return with the IRS to report amounts of $600 or more paid to you during a tax year, it may ask you to complete a W-9 tax form.
  • Put more simply, you must file all 1099-NEC forms that indicate payments to nonemployees for the 2023 tax year by Jan. 31, 2024.
  • If you’re classified as an independent contractor, your employer’s tax “savings” will come out of your pocket as self-employment tax.

You, as the payer, should request that they submit a copy of this form. Therefore, before starting any work with a person or business, be sure to ask for a Form W-9 if they haven’t already provided you with one. Failing to do so could make you required to pay withholding taxes on the money that you pay them. A taxpayer can also be subject to civil penalties for providing incorrect information that leads to incorrect withholding.

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Our tax pros speak the tricky language of taxes and are committed to helping you better understand your return. If you’re required to complete an IRS W-9 Form, you may come across terminology with which you are not familiar. Review the list below for explanations to a few common terms found on this form. When you hear that you need to fill out a W-9, you might think it will be a complicated tax form. The good news here is that filling out a W-9 is a fairly short form.

w9 tax form meaning

When she’s not writing, Barbara likes to research public companies and play Pickleball, Texas Hold ‘em poker, bridge, and Mah Jongg. If applicable, insert your FATCA code A through M from the W9 form instructions or indicate “Not Applicable.” You can ask the FFI requesting form W9 whether a code is required. A W9 form is an IRS form used to provide a person’s Tax Identification Number (TIN) to their payer (or whomever is responsible for filing an information return with the IRS). The official name of the W9 form is the Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification form. This guide defines what a W9 form is and provides a linked Form W-9 from the IRS website.

If you are a sole proprietor, you could use either number, but your SSN is preferable. Only certain businesses or entities with any reason for exemption need to fill out these spaces. If this applies to you, you’ll need to provide a number or letter code that indicates that reason. Your unique TIN must be submitted with all of your tax forms so that the IRS can easily identify your tax information. Access a complete payments platform with simple, pay-as-you-go pricing, or contact us to design a custom package specifically for your business. If your business has any employees or operates as a corporation or partnership, it probably needs an EIN to do business and file with the IRS properly.