Form W-9 for a single-member LLC
This is the most misfiled W-9 in circulation. A single-member LLC with no tax elections is a disregarded entity, and a disregarded entity reports its owner rather than itself.
Name, box, number, and what gets reported
- Line 1
- The owner’s name
- Line 2
- The LLC’s legal name
- Line 3a
- Individual/sole proprietor, the first box. Not the LLC box
- Line 4
- Blank
- Part I
- The owner’s SSN or EIN. Never the LLC’s own EIN
- Applies when
- One member, and no Form 8832 or Form 2553 election
You paid the filing fee, the state has your LLC in its register, the bank issued an account in the LLC’s name, and your contracts go out under that name. Then a client sends a W-9, and every instinct points the same way: put the LLC on Line 1, check the LLC box, use the LLC’s EIN. All three feel right. All three are wrong. By default an LLC with one member is disregarded as an entity separate from its owner for federal tax purposes, so it files no federal income tax return of its own and its income lands on the owner’s return instead: Schedule C if the owner is an individual, or the owner’s corporate return if the owner is a corporation. For income tax purposes the LLC is simply not there, and the W-9 has to say the same thing.
None of this is buried in a revenue ruling. The note under Line 3a reads: A disregarded entity should instead check the appropriate box for the tax classification of its owner. Part I is blunter: Do not enter the employer identification number of a disregarded entity. Both sentences are printed on the Rev. March 2024 form, an inch or two from the boxes people fill in wrong.
Do not check the LLC box on Line 3a, do not put the LLC name on Line 1, and do not enter the LLC’s EIN in Part I.
What to put on each line
When a single-member LLC does check the LLC box
Only when it is no longer disregarded. An LLC stops being disregarded when it elects corporate treatment:
| Your LLC | Line 1 | Line 3a | Part I |
|---|---|---|---|
| No elections filed (the default) | Owner name | First box, individual/sole proprietor | Owner SSN or EIN |
| Filed Form 8832 electing C corporation treatment | LLC name | LLC box with C | LLC EIN |
| Filed Form 2553 electing S corporation treatment | LLC name | LLC box with S | LLC EIN |
| Owned by a corporation, no elections | The parent corporation name | The parent classification: C or S corporation | Parent EIN |
| Owned by a partnership, no elections | The parent partnership name | Partnership | Parent EIN |
If you cannot remember filing Form 8832 or Form 2553, you almost certainly did not. Those elections require a deliberate filing and produce an IRS acknowledgment letter that arrives by mail. Nobody elects corporate treatment by accident, and no accountant does it on your behalf without telling you, so an absence of paperwork here counts as real evidence rather than a gap in your memory. No letter means no election, which means disregarded.
But my LLC has its own EIN
If the owner is not a U.S. person, none of this applies and the answer changes completely: see a foreign-owned U.S. LLC.
Very common, and it changes nothing here. A disregarded LLC needs an EIN to run payroll, to pay certain excise taxes, and often just to open a bank account. That EIN is real and it has its uses. It is simply not the number Part I is asking for. Part I wants the TIN of the taxpayer named on Line 1, and on a disregarded LLC that taxpayer is the owner.
The payer files a 1099 showing the LLC’s EIN with the owner’s name, or the LLC’s name with the owner’s SSN. Either way the pair fails IRS matching. The payer receives a CP2100 notice, sends you a B notice, and if you do not correct it must begin 24% backup withholding. Meanwhile the income reported under the LLC’s EIN does not appear against your SSN, so the IRS may also send you a notice about unreported income.
There is one narrow exception in the instructions: a disregarded entity with a U.S. owner that is itself required to provide a Form W-9 in certain FATCA contexts. It surfaces around account openings and almost never around ordinary vendor payments. If a bank specifically asks for the LLC’s own EIN and cites that requirement, ask them to put the request in writing, then check it with your accountant. Keep the letter either way.
A worked example
Dana Whitcomb owns Northfield Media LLC, an Oregon single-member LLC with an EIN, a business bank account, letterhead, and no tax elections of any kind. A client asks for a W-9. Here is the version that works, followed by the version that generates notices for everybody involved.
That second version goes wrong at every point on the page: the wrong name on Line 1, an LLC box checked for a disregarded entity, an empty letter code, and the wrong TIN in Part I.
How to fix a W-9 you already sent incorrectly
Fill in a corrected form
Complete a fresh W-9 with the owner on Line 1, the LLC on Line 2, the first box on Line 3a, and the owner TIN in Part I. Sign and date it with today’s date.
Send it with a short note
Say plainly: Please replace the Form W-9 I sent on [date]. My LLC is a disregarded entity, so the form should show my own name and TIN. Accounts payable teams deal with this constantly and will not be surprised.
Ask whether a 1099 has already been filed
If it has, the payer will need to file a corrected 1099. Better to raise it in March than to discover it when an IRS notice arrives.
Check for withholding already taken
Any backup withholding already deducted is not lost. It appears on your 1099 as federal income tax withheld and is credited against your tax on your return. How to recover it
Mistakes to avoid
- LLC name on Line 1. The owner belongs there.
- Checking the LLC box at all. A disregarded entity checks the box for its owner’s classification instead.
- Checking the LLC box and leaving the letter space empty. Where the box genuinely applies, C, S or P is mandatory.
- The LLC EIN in Part I. Prohibited on the face of the form.
- Leaving Line 2 blank. The payer then cannot match your invoices to the W-9.
- Treating “LLC” as a tax classification. It is a state-law entity type; Line 3a asks about federal tax classification, which is a separate question with a separate answer.
What gets reported about you
Your client issues a Form 1099-NEC in the owner’s name and TIN. The income lands on Schedule C of the owner’s Form 1040, exactly as it would for a sole proprietor without an LLC. The LLC files nothing federally. State filings (annual reports, franchise taxes, state income taxes) are a separate matter and vary by state.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my LLC not get its own line on the form?
Because for federal income tax purposes it is not a separate taxpayer. Limited liability is a state-law protection; it has no bearing on which TIN the IRS matches a 1099 against.
My client insists on the LLC name on Line 1. What do I do?
Point them at the note under Line 3a and the bold instruction in Part I, both printed on the form itself. If they still insist, ask them to confirm in writing, keep that confirmation, and expect a mismatch notice.
Does electing S corporation status change my W-9?
Yes, completely. Check the LLC box, write S, put the LLC name on Line 1, and use the LLC EIN. S corporation guidance
What if my single-member LLC is owned by another company?
Then Line 1 shows that company, Line 3a shows that company classification, and Part I shows that company EIN. The disregarded entity always reports its owner, whoever the owner is.
Is a single-member LLC the same as a sole proprietorship on this form?
For W-9 purposes, effectively yes. Both check the first Line 3a box and report the owner TIN. The only difference is that the LLC name goes on Line 2. Comparison
General information, not tax advice. This page explains a federal tax form in plain English. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and W9Form.org is not affiliated with the IRS. Verify everything against the official Form W-9 page on IRS.gov and speak to a licensed professional about your own situation. How we source and review these pages.