Who needs to fill out a W-9?
Any U.S. person who receives a payment a business may have to report. That reaches a good deal further than freelancers: landlords, account holders, prize winners, settlement recipients, and vendors of every size.
The test in three parts
- 1. Are you a U.S. person?
- A U.S. citizen or resident alien, or an entity organized in the United States. If not, you need a Form W-8 instead
- 2. Is somebody paying you?
- Outside of payroll. Wages use a Form W-4
- 3. Is the payment reportable?
- Nonemployee compensation, rent, interest, dividends, royalties, proceeds, prizes, settlements
- If all three are yes
- You complete Form W-9 and give it to the payer
Situations that trigger a W-9 request
| Situation | Who asks | Form you can expect later |
|---|---|---|
| You do freelance or contract work for a business | The client | Form 1099-NEC, if paid $2,000 or more |
| You rent property to a business, or through a manager | The tenant business or property manager | Form 1099-MISC, box 1 |
| You open a bank or brokerage account | The institution | Form 1099-INT, 1099-DIV or 1099-B |
| You sell on a marketplace or take card payments | The platform or processor | Form 1099-K, above $20,000 and 200 transactions. Seller detail |
| You receive royalties | The publisher, label or licensor | Form 1099-MISC, box 2 |
| You settle a legal claim | The insurer, defendant or law firm | Form 1099-MISC, box 3 or box 10 |
| You win a prize or award | The organizer | Form 1099-MISC, box 3 |
| You sell real estate | The title or closing agent | Form 1099-S |
| You are paid as an attorney | The paying party | Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC box 10 |
| You settle an insurance claim | The carrier, before it releases the check | Form 1099-MISC box 3, on the taxable part. Detail |
| You supply goods or services to a company as a vendor | Accounts payable | Form 1099-NEC for services |
| You cancel or settle a debt | The lender | Form 1099-C |
| You receive a grant or stipend from an organization | The grantor | Form 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC, depending on the facts |
Accounts payable cannot know in January which vendors will cross the reporting threshold by December, and the penalty for filing a return without a TIN falls on the payer. So most companies collect a W-9 from every vendor as a matter of routine. Being asked for one says nothing at all about you.
Find your entity type
Lines 1, 2, 3a and Part I are decided entirely by how your business is structured, and structure here means federal tax classification rather than whatever your website calls you. A one-person consultancy and a two-member LLC doing identical work fill in different boxes and hand over different numbers. Pick the page that matches you and the entries fall out of it.
- Independent contractors
Freelancers and consultants paid per project, outside payroll.
- Sole proprietors
Unincorporated one-person businesses, with or without a DBA.
- Single-member LLCs
Disregarded entities. The most misfiled W-9 of all.
- Multi-member LLCs
Which letter goes in the LLC box, and when.
- S corporations
Including LLCs that elected S corp treatment.
- C corporations
Mostly outside 1099 reporting, still asked for the form.
- Partnerships
General, limited and LLP, plus the Line 3b question.
- Nonprofits
501(c)(3) and other exempt organizations.
- Trusts and estates
Grantor trusts, irrevocable trusts, decedents estates.
- Landlords
Rent, property managers and Form 1099-MISC box 1.
- Gig workers
Rideshare, delivery and marketplace platforms.
- Attorneys
Settlement proceeds and the corporate-payee exception.
- Real estate sellers
Form 1099-S and the principal residence exclusion.
- Airbnb hosts
Short-term lets, and whether it is a rental or a business.
- Churches
Exempt without applying, and no determination letter.
- Government contractors
SAM.gov, FAR 52.204-3 and where the W-9 fits.
Who does not complete a W-9
| If you are... | What you use instead |
|---|---|
| A foreign individual | Form W-8BEN, to claim non-U.S. status and any treaty benefit |
| A foreign entity | Form W-8BEN-E, or W-8ECI, W-8EXP or W-8IMY depending on the facts |
| An employee | Form W-4. Your employer withholds and issues a Form W-2 |
| Being paid as an individual by another individual | Nothing. A private person paying you to mow their lawn has no reporting obligation and no reason to collect a W-9 |
| A vendor selling only goods, not services | You may still be asked. Payments purely for merchandise are generally not reportable on 1099-NEC, but payers often collect the form anyway |
Certification 3 in Part II states that you are a U.S. person. Signing it when you are not is a false certification, carrying a $500 civil penalty under IRC 6682, and it can cost you treaty benefits you were entitled to. Ask the requester for the correct Form W-8. The difference
What if you are the requester?
If you are the one collecting forms, the obligation runs the other way. You have to make a reasonable effort to obtain a TIN from every payee, keep a record of that effort, and begin withholding when it fails. The penalty for a missing or incorrect TIN on a return lands on the filer, and “the vendor never answered” only helps you if you can show what you asked for and when.
- How to request a W-9, with wording that gets a response
- What to do when a vendor refuses
- When to start withholding at 24%
- Run TIN matching before you file the return
- Substitute Form W-9 requirements
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to fill out a W-9 for a one-time $200 job?
If the client asks, yes. There is no floor below which a W-9 request becomes improper, and a payer holding no TIN may still be required to withhold. The $2,000 threshold is measured at year end against everything that client paid you during the year, so a single small job can sit inside it once the rest of your work is added up.
Does everyone who asks have a right to my SSN?
A business that is paying you and may have to report the payment has a legitimate need. One that is not paying you does not. If in doubt, ask what payment it relates to before you send anything. Handling requests safely
I am an employee. Why is my employer asking for a W-9?
Usually a mistake, occasionally a warning sign. Employees complete a Form W-4. If an employer treats you as a contractor for work that looks like employment, that is a worker classification question, and signing a W-9 does not settle it.
Do I need a separate W-9 for every client?
Every payer needs its own copy, and there is no central registry the IRS or your clients can look you up in.
Are corporations exempt from filling out a W-9?
No. Corporations are exempt from some 1099 reporting, which is a much narrower thing. Payers still need a certified TIN, and several payment types (including legal services and medical payments) stay reportable even to corporations.
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.