What Is a W-9? Definition and Who Fills It Out

A W-9 is an IRS form that independent contractors fill out to give businesses their tax ID number and personal information.

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Updated Dec 9, 2024 · 2 min read

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What is a W-9?

Form W-9 is an IRS document that businesses use to collect a person's tax identification number (TIN). Independent contractors who were paid at least $600 during the year need to fill out a W-9.

Workers with W-9 status don’t usually have income taxes withheld from their payments. Instead, an independent contractor’s clients report payments to the IRS, and it’s up to the worker to settle up, usually through quarterly estimated tax payments.

A business or other entity may also request a completed Form W-9 in a few other situations. Examples include mortgage interest payments, IRA contributions, dividend income, real estate transactions, and proceeds from investment sales.

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Who is required to fill out a W-9?

Independent contractors, gig workers, freelancers and anyone else who is paid outside an employer/employee relationship might have to fill out a W-9 form.

In most cases, the IRS says a business should ask for a W-9 form if it is paying an independent contractor who meets the following criteria:

The worker is not an employee.
The payment is part of your business.
The annual value of the payments is at least $600.

At the end of the year, businesses are expected to tally up their payments to W-9 workers and report them to the IRS and the contractors, usually on Form 1099-NEC.

How to fill out a W-9: A step-by-step guide

The main piece of information that businesses collect on a Form W-9 is the tax identification number of the person they’re paying. This can be a Social Security number or an employer identification number.

But that's not the only information you need to provide on a W-9. Here's a breakdown of how to fill out each section of the W-9.

Line 1: Enter your full name.

Line 2: Enter your business's name.

Line 3a: Asks for your business type. Only check one box.

Line 3b: Check this box only if it applies.

Line 4: Asks for any exemption codes.

Lines 5 and 6: Write your address.

Line 7: Enter any relevant account numbers.

Part I: Enter your social security number or EIN here.

Part II: Sign and date.

If you're asked to fill out a W-9, be sure to put it on the top of your to-do list. Failure to provide an accurate tax ID may subject you to backup withholding: an automatic 24% tax on your earnings enforced by the IRS.

W-9 form 2024

The IRS published an updated version of the W-9 form in March 2024. Unlike some other tax forms, the IRS does not publish new W-9s annually; this was the first update to the form since 2018.

The revised W-9 adds a new line 3b for those who choose "partnership" or "trust/estate," asking them to indicate whether the partnership, trust or estate has foreign partners, beneficiaries or owners.

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What is a W-9 form used for?

Businesses use W-9 forms to collect taxpayer identification numbers for nonemployees who work for them during the year. They can then use these TINs to help them fill out 1099 forms at the end of the year.

Remember that the IRS gets a copy of any 1099s, too, so be sure to accurately report any payments you received during the year when filling out your tax return.

» MORE: What is a 1099, and how does it work?

Form W-9 vs. W-4

The main difference between Form W-9 and Form W-4 is that Form W-9 is for independent contractors and other people who are not employees, while Form W-4 is for more traditional employment relationships.

Though a lot of the information these forms collect is similar, they represent different types of business relationships. Notably, Form W-4 requests information used to calculate tax withholding.

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