What name and number to give the requester
Page 5 of the Form W-9 instructions carries a fifteen-row table that resolves almost every awkward case: joint accounts, a minor’s custodial account, a revocable trust where the grantor is also the trustee, a sole proprietorship, an estate. When Line 1 does not obviously cover your situation, this is the authority.
Most people never need this table. You are an individual, you put your own name on Line 1 and your own Social Security number in Part I, and that is the end of it. The table exists for everyone else: the two of you who hold an account jointly, the parent managing a custodial account, the successor trustee who has just discovered that the trust now needs an EIN of its own.
Below is the table as the instructions set it out, with the footnotes that do most of the real work.
Accounts where you give a name and SSN
| Type of account | Name and SSN to give |
|---|---|
| 1. Individual | The individual |
| 2. Two or more individuals, a joint account, other than an account maintained by a foreign financial institution | The actual owner of the account. If the funds are combined, the first individual on the account 1 |
| 3. Two or more U.S. persons, joint account maintained by a foreign financial institution | Each holder of the account |
| 4. Custodial account of a minor, Uniform Gift to Minors Act | The minor 2 |
| 5a. The usual revocable savings trust, where the grantor is also the trustee | The grantor-trustee 1 |
| 5b. A so-called trust account that is not a legal or valid trust under state law | The actual owner 1 |
| 6. Sole proprietorship, or a disregarded entity owned by an individual | The owner 3 |
| 7. Grantor trust filing under Optional Filing Method 1 | The grantor * |
Accounts where you give a name and EIN
| Type of account | Name and EIN to give |
|---|---|
| 8. Disregarded entity not owned by an individual | The owner |
| 9. A valid trust, estate, or pension trust | The legal entity 4 |
| 10. Corporation, or an LLC electing corporate status on Form 8832 or Form 2553 | The corporation |
| 11. Association, club, religious, charitable, educational, or other tax-exempt organization | The organization |
| 12. Partnership or multi-member LLC | The partnership |
| 13. A broker or registered nominee | The broker or nominee |
| 14. Account with the Department of Agriculture in the name of a public entity, such as a state or local government, school district or prison, that receives agricultural program payments | The public entity |
| 15. Grantor trust filing Form 1041, or under Optional Filing Method 2 requiring Form 1099 | The trust |
The footnotes matter more than the rows
Read these. Three of the four change what you actually write.
Joint accounts have enough wrinkles of their own to warrant a separate page: W-9 for a joint account.
Who signs, when the name and the number belong to different people
The instructions handle this separately, and the rule is narrower than people assume. For a joint account, only the person whose TIN appears in Part I signs, and then only where a signature is required at all. For a disregarded entity, the person identified on Line 1 signs. So a single-member LLC does not sign as the LLC; the owner signs, because the owner is on Line 1.
The full signature requirements
Custodial accounts are covered in full at W-9 for minors, UTMA and custodial accounts.
The cases that catch people
- A revocable living trust where the grantor is trustee reports the grantor, under the grantor’s SSN. Row 5a. When the grantor dies the trust usually becomes irrevocable, gets its own EIN, and moves to row 9. Every payer holding the old form then needs a new one.
- A disregarded entity owned by a person reports the person and uses an SSN (row 6). A disregarded entity owned by a company reports the company and uses an EIN (row 8). Same entity type, different row, different box in Part I.
- A custodial account reports the minor, not the custodian. The child’s SSN goes in Part I even though a parent completes the form.
- An estate is row 9 and needs its own EIN. The decedent’s Social Security number stops being the right answer at the date of death.
- A joint account at a foreign financial institution is row 3 and works differently from a domestic joint account: each holder gives their own name and number.
The instructions carry this as an explicit caution, and it surprises people who assume that a U.S. LLC always means a U.S. form. If your single-member LLC is organized in the United States but you are not a U.S. person, the analysis follows you rather than the LLC, and the correct document is the appropriate Form W-8. Signing a W-9 in that situation is a false certification.
Frequently asked questions
Whose name goes first on a joint account W-9?
The actual owner of the account. Where the funds are combined and no single owner can be identified, the first individual listed on the account. The form asks you to list that person first and circle their name, and only the person whose TIN appears in Part I signs.
My child was asked for a W-9 on a custodial account. Who completes it?
For a Uniform Gift to Minors Act account the number belongs to the minor. The instructions say to circle the minor’s name and furnish the minor’s SSN. An adult custodian handles the paperwork, but the TIN is the child’s.
Only one person on our joint account has an SSN. What then?
That person’s number must be furnished. The footnote to the table is explicit about it.
Our revocable savings trust has the grantor as trustee. Whose TIN?
The grantor-trustee’s. That is row 5a of the table, and it is why so many living trusts report under a personal Social Security number rather than an EIN.
Does a trustee ever put their own TIN on a trust W-9?
Almost never. Footnote 4 tells you not to furnish the TIN of the personal representative or trustee unless the legal entity itself is not named in the account title.
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.