
How To Fill Out IRS Form W-9 (Step by Step Instructions)
In this video we provide a step by step instructions on how to fill out IRS Form W-9. We also briefly talk about why you need to complete a W-9 Form and where to get the IRS Form W-9 from.
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Transcript
Hello from FreedomTax Accounting, we are an accounting firm where we have been providing quality tax and accounting services now for over 20 years. If you are new to this channel, we provide strategies for small business owners, so they can achieve their financial goals.
In this video we are going to show you how to complete or how to fill out the IRS W-9 form. Know that even though the W-9 is an IRS form, you don’t send that to the IRS, the IRS will not ask you to send them a W-9 form; the W-9 form usually is because another business or another person is asking your information or your business information, they need that information from you because most probably they’re making you or your business some kind of payment, and if a business or an individual is paying you or paying your business, most probably at the end of the year they need to generate a 1099 form to report that income that they’re paying you or they’re paying your business; and they are just making you fill out the W-9 now because they need your name, they need your business name, they need your business address, but most importantly they need your Tax Identification Number. If you are self-employed, you are going to provide them with your social security number. If you are a business, they are going to need your IRS EIN number’. If you are an individual who doesn’t have a social security number, then you need to provide them with your ITIN number.
So, that’s the reason another person or a business is making you fill out the W-9 form, because they just need that information from you, so they can generate the 1099 form at the end of the year. Is a way for them to get your information during the year because they do have some kind of tax reporting that they need to make under your name and under your tax ID.
Now, if you need more information under the W-9 form, you can go to the IRs website. Go here where it says “Search” and you put “W-9”. You search and you go where it says “About the W-9 form”. This is the IRS website where it tells you all the information that you need concerning the IRS W-9 form.
Where do we get the W-9 form? We just go to Google. Go to Google and search W-9 form. Now, usually, the first result says “IRS.gov” and it’s a PDF, that’s the one you want, you want the PDF version of the W-9 form. You click on the link and depending on your Operating System you can fill out the W-9 form online in the browser and then you just download it with the information, or you may have to download the PDF to your computer, and then fill out the form using your PDF program.
This is the W-9 form, as you can see it says, “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification”, this is a form that a business or a person is making you fill out because they need information from you. And as you can see it says “Give form to the requester. Do not send to the IRS”.
How do you fill it out?
The first thing that you need to fill in is your name. Even though you are operating under a business, an LLC, or a corporation, you still have to put your name on this form.
Then here is your business name. If you are a self-employed independent contractor and you’re working under your name, then you can leave that line blank. If you have a DBA, if you have a fictitious name, then you put your DBA in this line. If you have a corporation or an LLC, then you must put your business name, your business legal name.
The third part basically you are going to show them what type of legal business structure you have. Now, if you are self-employed, meaning that you are working by yourself, under your name, under your social, you’re an individual Sole Proprietor and click that button there. If you have an LLC and you are the only owner of your LLC, and your LLC is filing taxes under Schedule-C form, you also mark this box. If you have a corporation, not an LLC, you have a corporation or an inc. corporation and your business files form 1120, then you are a C-Corporation. If you have a corporation or an Inc and you file form 1120-S, then you are an S-Corporation. If you are not working under a business, under a corporation or under an LLC, and you have a partnership with someone, then you’re a partnership. If you have a trust or an estate, then you click Trust/estate.
Now, if you have an LLC, and your LLC, even though it’s a single-member LLC, and your LLC does not file taxes on form Schedule-C; remember, single member’s LLC that files under Schedule-C, they need to click this box over here, but if you have an LLC that does not file under Schedule C, you choose limited liability company. Remember that the LLC, depending on your tax structure, has different ways of filing taxes. If you want more information on how your LLC can file taxes, you can check here Five LLC Tax Filing Requirements | How Does an LLC File Taxes?
If your LLC chose to file taxes as a C-Corporation, meaning that your LLC is filing the corporate tax return for 1120, you are a C-Corporation; here you mark LLC, and in this box here you put the letter C, to let them know that your LLC is filing taxes as a C-Corporation. If your LLC is filing taxes as an S-Corporation, meaning that is filing form 1120-S, instead of C here you put S. If your LLC files form 1065, which is a partnership return, then here you put P. You need to mark the LLC and then put here the type of tax return that your LLC files. If you don’t have any of the above, then you just put “other”.
Now, this part is really not that important, basically the business that is asking for the W-9 form, they just want to make sure to have your correct name, your correct address, and your correct Tax ID number. So don’t stress so much if you make a mistake in section 3.
Now, section 4 is an exception, 99% of the time you leave this blank. We’ve done this for over 20 years, and I think that we have to fill this part out like once, but if you need to know what the exemptions are, you can just scroll down on your W-9 form to the part where it says line for an exception, and here you can read if your business qualifies for one of these exceptions. Let’s go back.
Line 5 you put your business address and you follow this rule, you need to put your number, the street, the apartment or suite, city, state, and zip code. Requester’s name here it’s optional, you can put the name of the person or the business that is requesting you to fill out the W-9, but once again, this is optional. List account number, this is also optional, you don’t have to fill this out.
This is the most important part of the W-9, The Taxpayer identification number ITIN. Now, if you are working as a self-employed or a Sole proprietor, and you are working under your name and your social security number, here you put your social security number, in these boxes. One trick is to click in these boxes, and then put the number inside; do you see how it fills up? You just write down the number and it fills it out.
Now, if you are working under a business, under a corporation, under an LLC, under a trust; then your business has an IRS EIN number, and employer identification number. If you are working under a business that has an EIN number, you are not going to fill out your social security number part, you leave that blank, and over here your fill out your EIN number.
Then you just scroll down and see where it says “Sign”. You put your signature here, you put the date, and you basically print this out and you are done. As you can see it’s a very simple form to fill out.
That’s how to fill out your W-9 form. Remember that this form usually someone or a business is requesting this form because they are going to make some kind of payment and they just one to have in their system your information, in order to make payments towards you, and at the end of the year they are going to provide you with a 1099 and they need this information from you in order to generate the 1099 form.
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