How to Fill Out a W-9 for a Business: Lines, TIN, and Signature

To fill out a W-9 for a business, download the current March 2024 revision from IRS.gov, enter your legal business name and any trade name, check the box that matches your federal tax classification, provide your address and taxpayer identification number, and sign the certification in Part II. Hand the completed form to the company that asked for it. The W-9 is never sent to the IRS. If you leave the form incomplete or give incorrect information, the requester may have to withhold 24% of every payment to you and send it to the IRS as backup withholding.¹

Use the Current March 2024 Revision

Download the fillable PDF directly from IRS.gov. The March 2024 revision split the old Line 3 into Lines 3a and 3b and added a checkbox for entities with foreign owners, so an older version may be rejected. Third-party sites sometimes host outdated forms or charge a fee for what the IRS provides free.

Line 1: Legal Business Name

Enter your legal business name exactly as it appears on your federal tax return.² For a sole proprietorship, that is your personal name as shown on your Form 1040. For a corporation, partnership, or multi-member LLC, use the entity name as it appears on the entity’s return. For a single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity, put the owner’s name on Line 1, not the LLC’s name.³

Line 2: Trade or DBA Name

Line 2 is for a trade name, “doing business as” name, or disregarded entity name that differs from what you put on Line 1. If your business operates only under its legal name, leave Line 2 blank. A single-member LLC uses Line 2 for the LLC’s name while the owner’s name sits on Line 1.³

Line 3a: Federal Tax Classification

Check one box that matches how your business is taxed at the federal level. The seven options are:²

Individual/sole proprietor. Use this for a sole proprietorship or a single-member LLC that is a disregarded entity owned by an individual.
C corporation. A corporation taxed under Subchapter C.
S corporation. A corporation that has elected pass-through taxation under Subchapter S.
Partnership. An entity with two or more owners filing as a partnership.
Trust/estate. A trust or estate that files its own return.
LLC. A limited liability company that is not a disregarded entity. Enter a letter in the space provided: C for C corporation, S for S corporation, or P for partnership.
Other. Rarely used; covers tax-exempt organizations and certain trusts that do not fit the boxes above.

How LLCs Should Check the Box

The correct box for an LLC depends on how the LLC is taxed, not on its state-law form. A multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership checks the LLC box and enters P. An LLC that has elected corporate taxation checks the LLC box and enters C or S depending on the election.²

A single-member LLC that has not elected corporate status is a disregarded entity. Do not check the LLC box. Check the box that matches the owner’s tax classification, which is usually Individual/sole proprietor when the owner is a person. The IRS treats the owner as the taxpayer, and the form has to reflect that.³

Line 3b: Foreign Partners, Owners, or Beneficiaries

Line 3b applies only if you checked Partnership, Trust/estate, or LLC taxed as a partnership on Line 3a. Check it if your entity has any foreign partners, owners, or beneficiaries. Most domestic businesses with only U.S. owners leave it blank.²

Line 4: Exemption Codes

Line 4 has two optional fields: an exempt payee code (1 through 13) and a FATCA reporting exemption code (A through M). Most sole proprietors, partnerships, and standard LLCs leave both blank because the exemptions do not apply to them.³

Corporations are the most common business type that fills this in. A standard corporation enters code 5 in the exempt payee field because corporations are generally exempt from backup withholding on most payment types. Tax-exempt organizations, government entities, financial institutions, and real estate investment trusts each have their own codes. The full list of exempt payee categories and FATCA codes appears in the requester instructions for Form W-9 on IRS.gov.

Lines 5, 6, and 7: Address and Account Number

Line 5 is your street address, including any apartment or suite number. Line 6 is your city, state, and ZIP code. Use the address where your business receives official tax correspondence so that year-end forms and any IRS notices about mismatched information reach you.

Line 7 is an optional space where a requester may ask you to enter an account number for their internal tracking. Leave it blank unless you have been asked to fill it in.

Part I: Your Taxpayer Identification Number

Part I asks for your nine-digit taxpayer identification number. Which TIN you enter depends on your business structure:

Sole proprietors can enter either their Social Security Number or an EIN if they have one.
Single-member LLCs that are disregarded entities enter the owner’s SSN or EIN, matching the name on Line 1.
Corporations, partnerships, and multi-member LLCs enter the entity’s EIN.
Trusts and estates enter the EIN assigned to the trust or estate.

Get this number right. Providing an incorrect TIN can trigger a $50 penalty for each failure, up to $100,000 per calendar year.⁴ It can also cause the requester to start backup withholding at 24% on future payments until the mismatch is fixed.¹

If your business does not yet have an EIN, apply online at IRS.gov and you will typically receive it immediately. In the meantime, write “Applied For” in the TIN space and give the number to the requester as soon as you have it.

Part II: Certification and Signature

Signing Part II turns the form into a document executed under penalty of perjury. Your signature certifies four things:

The TIN on the form is correct.
You are not subject to backup withholding, or you have crossed out this item if you are.
You are a U.S. person, meaning a U.S. citizen, resident alien, or domestically organized entity.
Any FATCA exemption code you entered is correct.

If the IRS has notified you that you are currently subject to backup withholding for failing to report all interest and dividends on a prior return, cross out item 2 in the certification section before signing. Leaving it intact when it does not apply to you puts you out of compliance.² Willfully providing false information on a document signed under penalty of perjury is a felony.⁵

Electronic Signatures

Many requesters accept W-9s through electronic portals. The IRS allows electronic signatures on the form as long as the system includes the same perjury language found on the paper form and requires an electronic signature as the final step of submission.⁶ If a requester sends you a fillable PDF to sign outside a formal portal, confirm the perjury statement is on the form before signing.

Foreign Businesses Should Not Use Form W-9

Form W-9 is only for U.S. persons: U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and entities organized under U.S. or state law. A foreign business should not complete a W-9 and instead provides the requester with the appropriate form in the W-8 series, such as Form W-8BEN-E for foreign entities.⁷

Submitting the Form to the Requester

Give the completed W-9 directly to the person or company that asked for it. The form is never filed with the IRS.² Because the form carries your TIN, use a secure method. An encrypted requester portal is ideal; encrypted email or certified mail works when a portal is not available.

The requester uses your W-9 to prepare year-end information returns showing what they paid you, most commonly Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation or Form 1099-MISC for rent, royalties, prizes, and other miscellaneous income.⁸ Keep a copy of every W-9 you submit. When the 1099s arrive, you can compare what each requester reported against your own records and catch discrepancies early.

When to Submit a New W-9

A W-9 has no set expiration date, but it becomes invalid once the information on it is no longer accurate. Send a new form to each affected requester whenever your business changes its legal name, address, TIN, or federal tax classification. The IRS considers documentation invalid on the date the requester knows or has reason to know that circumstances have changed.⁶ Typical triggers are converting from a sole proprietorship to an LLC, obtaining a new EIN, or moving your business address.

If the IRS notifies your requester that the TIN on file does not match its records, the requester will ask for a corrected W-9. Send it back promptly to keep 24% backup withholding from starting on your future payments.¹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding
2
IRS. Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024) Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
3
IRS. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6723 – Failure to Comply With Other Information Reporting Requirements
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7206 – Fraud and False Statements
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E (10/2021)
8
Internal Revenue Service. Information Return Reporting