Checking a name and TIN before you file
Every W-9 problem that reaches an IRS notice is, at bottom, a name and TIN pair that does not agree with IRS records. TIN Matching lets a payer find that out in March instead of the following February.
Who may use it, and what it returns
- What it is
- A free IRS service that validates a name and TIN pair
- Who can use it
- Payers and authorized agents who file information returns
- Where
- The IRS e-Services portal, after registration and identity verification
- Modes
- Interactive, up to 25 pairs at a time; bulk, up to 100,000 in a file
- What it returns
- A match or mismatch indicator, never the correct name
- What it prevents
- CP2100 notices, B notices, corrected returns, and 24% withholding
What a mismatch actually costs
When a payer files a 1099, the IRS matches the name and TIN on it against its own records. That comparison is mechanical: the pair either agrees or it does not. A mismatch then starts a chain that runs for months, consumes staff time on both sides, and ends with withholding taken out of the payee’s reportable payments until somebody establishes what the correct name is. Here is the sequence in full.
One check before filing prevents all six steps. The full B notice cycle
How a payer uses it
Register for IRS e-Services
Registration involves identity verification, so it is not immediate. Do it months before you need it; filing season is a bad time to discover how long an identity check takes. Access requires that you are a payer or authorized agent filing information returns.
Choose interactive or bulk
Interactive handles up to 25 pairs at a time and answers immediately, which suits onboarding a single vendor. Bulk takes a formatted file of up to 100,000 records and usually returns results within 24 hours, which suits an annual sweep of the whole vendor file.
Submit the name and TIN exactly as you will file them
Take the values off the W-9 rather than out of your invoice records. The point is to test what you are about to file.
Act on mismatches immediately
Contact the vendor, explain that the pair does not match IRS records, and ask them to confirm the name on their Social Security card or the name their EIN was issued under. Do not guess at a correction yourself.
Re-run after corrections
Verify the new pair before filing. A corrected W-9 that still mismatches simply restarts the cycle.
TIN Matching returns an indicator and nothing more. It will not tell you the correct name for a TIN, because that would be a disclosure the IRS is never going to make. Resolution always runs through the payee.
What causes mismatches
| Cause | Fix |
|---|---|
| A name changed by marriage or divorce, never updated with the SSA | The payee updates the SSA record first, then sends a corrected W-9. Recertifying before fixing the SSA record achieves nothing |
| A business name on Line 1 with a personal SSN in Part I | Legal name on Line 1, business name on Line 2. Detail |
| A disregarded LLC’s EIN in Part I | Use the owner’s TIN. Why |
| An EIN issued under a different name than Line 1 shows | Request an IRS Letter 147C to confirm what the IRS holds, then align Line 1 to it |
| A transposed digit | A corrected W-9 |
| Hyphens, apostrophes and suffixes handled differently | Match the SSA record exactly, including or omitting punctuation as it appears there |
| A recently issued EIN not yet in the matching database | Wait and retry. Very new EINs can take time to propagate |
If you are the payee
You cannot use TIN Matching yourself. You can still make sure the pair you hand out is the one the IRS already holds, which removes the problem before any payer goes looking for it. Almost every payee-side mismatch comes down to a name: the one printed on your Social Security card, the one you have been signing for years, and the one your EIN was issued under are not always the same string of characters. Settle that once. Then use the result with everybody, and keep using it.
- Look at your Social Security card and use that name, exactly, on Line 1.
- If your name has changed, update it with the Social Security Administration before you recertify anywhere.
- For an EIN, ask the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line for a Letter 147C if you are unsure what name it was issued under.
- Use the same pair with every payer, every year.
- Answer a B notice promptly. The first one is easy to fix; the second requires SSA or IRS validation. Which documents count
Frequently asked questions
What is IRS TIN Matching?
A free service through the IRS e-Services portal that tells a payer whether a name and TIN pair agrees with IRS records before an information return is filed. It returns a match or mismatch indicator and never the correct name.
Can a payee use TIN Matching?
No. It is restricted to payers and authorized agents who file information returns. As a payee you verify your own details by checking your Social Security card, or by requesting an IRS Letter 147C for an EIN.
What causes most mismatches?
A name never updated with the Social Security Administration after marriage or divorce, a business name on Line 1 with a personal SSN in Part I, and an EIN paired with a different name than the one it was issued under.
How long does registration take?
Longer than you will want it to. IRS e-Services registration involves identity verification, so register well before filing season rather than in the third week of January.
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.