what is form w 9 
a w 9 form is an internal revenue service irs tax form that is used to confirm a person s name address and taxpayer identification number tin for employment or other income generating purposes the confirmation can be requested for either an individual defined as a u s citizen or a person defined as a resident alien a w 9 form is also known as a request for taxpayer identification number and certification form understanding form w 9a w 9 form is a formal written request for information only and is used solely for the purpose of confirming a person s taxpayer identification number tin an employer or other entity that is required to file an informational document with the irs such as form 1099 must obtain your correct tin to report any earnings or losses that may affect your federal tax return or your taxable income for most individuals the tin will be their social security number ssn 1the w 9 differs from a w 4 form which is more commonly supplied by employees to direct employers in that the w 9 does not inherently arrange for the withholding of any taxes due 2any required taxes based on gains related to the provided w 9 are the responsibility of the tin holder listed on the document unless the taxpayer is subject to backup withholding if backup withholding is required this will need to be noted on the w 9 to properly inform the entity receiving the information of the need to withhold accordingly 1uses of form w 9the information obtained on a w 9 form is most often used to create a version of form 1099 a 1099 form contains information about any income that may have been received by the tin holder that would not normally be listed on a w 2 3however a w 2 is only issued to employees of a company not independent contractors or unrelated vendors 4 this includes but is not limited to income paid to a person as part of a contract certain real estate transactions dividends paid against an investment and various other financial transactions 5the irs requires those who are not defined as u s citizens or resident aliens to use the appropriate w 8 form in place of a w 9 form 6form 1099 is only required to be issued once the minimum income threshold is reached which for most miscellaneous income is set at 600 7 amounts under this threshold must be reported as income by the tin holder but do not require a 1099 form 8even though employees are legally required to supply certain personal information to their employers an employee s privacy is protected by law an employer who discloses an employee s personal information in any unauthorized way may be subjected to civil and criminal prosecution 9