Key takeaways
- Ask for the W-9 before the first payment, and name the lines the vendor must complete.
- A vendor who does not give a TIN the required way triggers backup withholding at 24%.
- For tax years beginning after 2025, which covers the 2026 return filed in 2027, the reporting threshold is $2,000.
- The IRS requester instructions set no retention period for Form W-9, so the firm's own policy has to set one.
What the request has to collect
The returned form has to fill the fields the 1099 needs, so the request should name them. The payee's name goes on line 1. A single-member LLC that is disregarded for tax purposes reports the owner's name on line 1 and the LLC's name on line 2, which is how the IRS requester instructions describe disregarded entities.
For an entity that is not disregarded, the vendor marks its federal tax classification on line 3a. Line 3b is a separate checkbox for a partnership, trust or estate that has foreign partners, owners or beneficiaries. A partnership vendor's classification goes on line 3a like any other entity, and line 3b stays unchecked unless that foreign-owner condition applies.
Part I holds the TIN. Part II is the certification the vendor signs. A form with a TIN and no signature is not complete for the file, even though the number is on it.
If the vendor's remittance address differs from its tax address, ask which one the 1099 should show, and write the answer in the vendor file.
The request wording
Send the request from the vendor record before the first invoice is paid, and keep a copy of what was sent. The message has four sentences, in this order: why the form is needed, what to fill in, how to send it, and what happens if it does not arrive.
The opening sentence states the purpose and the threshold. For example: "Before we send the first payment to you, [Client name] needs a completed Form W-9, which we use to prepare your Form 1099-NEC if the total paid to you for 2026 reaches $2,000." Payments made in 2025 belong to the 2025 return and the earlier rule, so do not quote $2,000 in a request about 2025 payments.
The second sentence says what to fill in: "Please enter your legal name on line 1, your business name on line 2 if you have one, and your federal tax classification on line 3a (and check line 3b only if you are a partnership, trust or estate with foreign partners, owners or beneficiaries), then complete Part I and sign the Part II certification." The vendor can then complete the form in one pass.
The third sentence says how to send it: "Please upload the completed form through [secure link]. Please do not send your Social Security number or EIN by email or in a reply." Keep that rule in every request, because it stops the number from landing in an inbox.
The last sentence states the consequence in plain terms: "If we do not have the form by [date], we will need to withhold 24% of your payments under the backup withholding rules until we receive it." Use a date the firm will actually enforce.
Vendor cases that change the request
A vendor that writes only the LLC name on line 1 creates a name mismatch on the 1099. The IRS requester instructions describe TIN matching, an e-service that compares TIN and name combinations with IRS records before the forms are submitted.
A vendor that writes Applied For in Part I has applied for a TIN and has not received one yet. The IRS requester instructions give that payee 60 calendar days from the date the requester receives the certificate to provide a TIN. Put a reminder for day 60 in the vendor file, and get the actual number before the 1099 is prepared.
If the name and TIN on a returned form do not match IRS records, ask the vendor for a corrected Form W-9 before the 1099 is filed. Do not change the name on the 1099 to match the old form.
When the vendor refuses
Under IRS Topic no. 307, the payer must withhold at a flat 24% rate when the payee does not give the payer its TIN in the required manner. Backup withholding also applies when the IRS notifies the payer that the TIN the payee gave is incorrect.
Worked example: a client pays a contractor $3,000 for services in March 2026, and no W-9 is on file. The client withholds 24% of the $3,000 payment and pays the contractor the balance. The Form 1099 for that contractor reports the amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules.
Use this order. Send the first written request with the date, and send the request again before the next payment. If no W-9 is on file when a reportable payment is due, withhold 24% from that payment. Keep sending requests on the same schedule. When a W-9 with a TIN arrives, stop withholding from the next payment, and tell the client in writing which payments were withheld and why.
The usual failure is a firm that asks in January. By then it is looking at withholding it should already have taken on every earlier reportable payment, and it has to explain the gap to the client. The fix is at vendor setup: the request goes out with the engagement, and the reminder goes out before the first payment.
Thresholds and due dates by tax year
For tax years beginning after 2025, which covers the 2026 return filed in 2027, the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC set the minimum threshold for reporting certain payments at $2,000. The same instructions say the amount may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027.
For payments made in 2025, the 2025 return uses the earlier threshold. Check the 2025 instructions for Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC for that figure, rather than applying $2,000 to 2025 payments.
For tax year 2026, Section 6071(c) requires Form 1099-NEC on or before January 31, 2027. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, and the IRS rule is that a due date falling on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next business day. The Form 1099-NEC date is therefore Monday, February 1, 2027. Form 1099-MISC is due February 28, 2027 on paper, which is a Sunday, so the paper date is Monday, March 1, 2027. The electronic Form 1099-MISC date is March 31, 2027.
Attorneys need a separate check. The IRS instructions say to enter gross proceeds of $600 or more paid to an attorney in connection with legal services in Box 10 of Form 1099-MISC. A law firm paid $600 should be reviewed even when the $2,000 threshold would not be reached.
The instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC are labeled Revised 12/2026.
Storing the TIN and keeping the form
The IRS requester instructions do not set a storage method, so the rules below are firm practice rather than IRS requirements. Keep the signed form in a restricted folder with the vendor record, and limit access to the people who prepare payments and 1099s.
Do not paste a TIN into a shared spreadsheet, a ticket or an email. On any working copy, show only the last four digits. The full number stays on the signed form.
The IRS requester instructions do not state a retention period for Form W-9. The IRS recordkeeping page says you must keep records as long as needed to prove the income or deductions on a tax return. Keep each W-9 at least as long as the payment records and the return they support, and write that period into the retention policy.
Do not apply the four-year rule by mistake. The IRS recordkeeping page says to keep all records of employment taxes for at least four years. That covers payroll records. A contractor's W-9 falls under the firm's own period unless the firm chooses four years for it.
Keep the signed form, the request log and the date the TIN was received together. The log shows the firm asked for the form, and the signed form shows the TIN was given.