How To Fill Out a W9 for an LLC? (Step by Step Guide)

Published by Jon Morgan | Co-Founder & Chief Editor

Last updated: April 22, 2026

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Filling out a W-9 for your LLC comes down to three things: your legal business name, your tax classification, and your taxpayer identification number. Once you know which boxes apply to your entity type, the whole form takes under 10 minutes.

I've spent 9 years consulting with LLC owners on tax compliance, and I've helped hundreds of them get this right on the first try.

Here's a line-by-line breakdown of the W-9 so you can fill it out correctly — and avoid the mistakes that trigger IRS backup withholding.

Quick Summary

Filling Out a W-9 Form

To fill out a W-9, you'll need your legal name, your official company name, and a clear sense of which tax classification your entity falls under.

Line 1: Legal business name

Enter your legal name exactly as it appears in IRS records — no shortcuts, no abbreviations that don't match.

Bad or missing taxpayer IDs are the most common W-9 mistake I see, and they're expensive ones. A mismatch can trigger a 24% IRS backup withholding, which delays your payments and creates a paperwork headache for everyone involved [2].

Line 2: Name of your company or disregarded entity name

Enter the full name of your company exactly as it appears in IRS records.

Line 3: LLC tax classifications

Here's where most people get tripped up. Let's go through each LLC federal tax classification and how to handle it on the W-9.

C-Corporation tax status (C)

A C-Corp is an LLC that has elected to be taxed as a corporation by the IRS.

Steps to fill out a W-9 as a C-Corporation:

• If your LLC is taxed as a C corporation, check the box on line 3 of IRS Form W-9 and enter "C" to the right of the LLC box.
• On line 1, include the legal name of the LLC exactly as it appears on IRS documentation.
• TIN — Enter your EIN (Employer Identification Number).

In our experience, this classification applies whether your LLC has one member or many. C-corp tax status isn't locked to a specific ownership structure — it's an election.

"Double-check all information before submitting the W-9. Make sure your name, LLC name, and EIN match exactly what's on your tax return. Even small inaccuracies can cause processing delays or trigger tax withholding issues."

- Jon Morgan, CEO, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Venture Smarter

S corporation tax status (S)

An LLC that wants to be classified as an S corporation must first file Form 2553 with the IRS.

Steps to fill out a W-9 as an S-Corporation:

• If your LLC is taxed as an S corporation, check the box on line 3 of IRS Form W-9 and enter "S" to the right of the LLC box.
• Name — Enter the legal name of the LLC as it appears on IRS documentation on line 1 of the form.
• TIN — Enter your EIN (Employer Identification Number).

Like the C-corp election, S-corp status is a tax classification choice — not a structural requirement. Single-member and multi-member LLCs can both qualify.

Partnership tax status (P)

Drawing from our experience running multiple LLCs, all LLCs with more than one member that have not chosen to be treated as an S or C company for federal tax purposes will be treated as a partnership by default.

Steps to fill out a W9 as a Partnership:

• LLCs with two or more members should check the box on line 3 of the Form W-9 and enter "P" to the right of the box if they are operating as a pass-through entity.
• Name- Enter the legal name of the LLC, as it appears on IRS documentation on line 1 of the form.
• TIN- Enter the EIN, employer’s identification number.

The partnership itself is not subjected to tax, only the members.

Single-member LLC (disregarded entity)

The IRS does not consider a single-member LLC to be a separate entity from its owner. In this situation, single members must fill out their Form W-9.

Steps to fill out a W9 as a Single-Member LLC:

• Unless the single-member LLC has chosen to be classified as a C or S corporation, it should enter its owner's tax classification on line 3.
• Name- Enter the legal name of the LLC’s owner, as it appears on official documentation on line 1 of the form.
• TIN- Enter the owner’s SSN, social security number.

A disregarded entity is considered a Sole Proprietorship or single-member LLC by the IRS.

Any foreign business will be considered a disregarded entity and may fall under one of these LLC classifications:

• Foreign General Partnership (GP)
• Foreign Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
• Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC)

If you're a Foreign General Partnership (GP) or Foreign Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), check the fourth box on the W-9 and complete lines A–D as instructed.

If you're a Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC), the same applies — check the fourth box and fill out lines A–D.

Line 4: Exemptions

Individuals or organizations that are not subject to backup withholding or FATCA reporting can indicate it on line 4. They may do so by entering any of the four correct codes on this line.

Line 5 & 6: Address

To register, you must first type in your complete address. Then, go through the three statements in Part 2 and sign them to verify that they are correct.

Part II: Certification

By electronically signing your Form W-9, you verify that the data is accurate.

What is Form W-9?

Form W-9, officially titled "Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification," is the form you ask contractors, freelancers, and other payees to complete when they receive money from your business.

It's used to:

• Confirm whether someone is eligible to work in the US
• Identify whether they're a US person or a foreign national, and what type of taxpayer they are (business, individual, etc.)

Anyone who receives income from you must hand over their taxpayer identification number (TIN) and certify that it's correct.

That includes:

• Sole proprietorship
• Corporation
• S corporations
• Partnership
• Limited Liability Company (LLC)

The IRS requires a W-9 from anyone who receives $600 or more in non-employee compensation from your business in a year. One important note: an LLC member is treated as an employee and doesn't need to submit a W-9.

What is Form 1099?

IRS Form 1099 is an information return that reflects a contractor's yearly earnings as reported by the business that paid them [3].

Contractors and freelancers fill out the W-9 to give their information to the businesses they work with. That information then gets used to file the 1099 at year-end.

Bottom line: the W-9 feeds the 1099. No W-9, no accurate 1099.

W-9 Form Updates You Should Know (March 2024 Revision)

The IRS released an updated W-9 in March 2024. If you're filling one out now, this is the version you should be using [4].

The biggest change is the addition of Line 3b. It applies specifically to LLCs taxed as partnerships that have foreign partners or owners. If your LLC checks "P" on Line 3a and is submitting the form to another flow-through entity, you're required to complete Line 3b to disclose any foreign ownership interest.

The IRS also cleared up how single-member LLCs should handle Line 3a. Disregarded entities should check the box that reflects the owner's tax classification — not the LLC box itself. I've seen this one catch people off guard.

Don't use an old version of the form. Outdated filings can create mismatches in IRS records. Pull the current version directly from IRS.gov before you start.

FAQs

References:

1. https://taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/statistics/pdf/table_14_22_24_0.pdf
2. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc307
3. https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1099-misc