Contractor Won't Give a W-9 or SSN: 1099 and Backup Withholding

Should I get a W-9 from a contractor before I pay them?

Yes. Ask for a Form W-9 when you hire the contractor, before the first payment. The IRS counts a request made at the start of the relationship as part of acting responsibly (Publication 1586), and it suggests the W-9 as the way to get a US person's name and taxpayer identification number, or TIN: a Social Security number, employer identification number or individual taxpayer identification number (IRS general instructions).

The W-9 gives you the contractor's legal name, federal tax classification, number, address and signed certification. You need those to file a correct Form 1099-NEC. The classification also shows whether the payee is a corporation, which is generally exempt from backup withholding on these payments (requester instructions).

If the contractor refuses or never answers, backup withholding applies to reportable payments, and the 1099-NEC is still filed.

A case is not simple when the contractor refuses, when you have already paid without a number, when an IRS notice lists a wrong name and number, or when the contractor has disappeared. Whether withholding was due on payments already made turns on exact dates and amounts, so those are the cases to have a professional check. Gather one list before you decide anything: each contractor's legal name, entity type, number status (on file, missing, or mismatched), the dates you asked, and what you paid in each year.

What if a contractor won't give me a W-9 or Social Security number?

When a contractor gives no usable number, backup withholding applies to reportable payments, and the IRS expects written follow-up requests. For a payee who refuses or neglects to give a number, the IRS says to begin backup withholding immediately and make the annual requests (Publication 1281). The response is withholding, not a bar on paying: the contractor is paid less the withholding, and the 1099-NEC is still filed. Whether the payment is deductible is covered below.

• Explain why you are asking. The number goes on the Form 1099-NEC the IRS matches to the contractor's return. Without one, 24% of each reportable payment is withheld, and the contractor claims that amount as a credit on their own return. The contractor gives the W-9 to you, never to the IRS (Form W-9).
• Accept the right kind of number. An individual gives a Social Security number or an individual taxpayer identification number. A sole proprietor may give either that number or an EIN, but the individual's name goes first (Publication 1281).
• A contractor who is not eligible for a Social Security number and has a federal tax purpose, such as a return to file, can apply for an ITIN on Form W-7 (IRS: ITIN). The contractor applies, not you. Until a number arrives, backup withholding applies to reportable payments.
• Treat an obviously wrong number as missing. A number with more or fewer than nine digits, or with a letter in it, counts as missing (Publication 1281).
• "I applied for one" does not delay it. The 60-day wait for a number applies only to interest, dividends and certain tradable-instrument payments. Contractor pay is subject to backup withholding at once, even if the payee has applied and is waiting (requester instructions).
• Use only a number the contractor gave you. A number you guessed or looked up that proves wrong starts the notice process described below.

When must I withhold, how much, and from which payments?

Backup withholding is a flat 24% of a reportable payment when the payee has not given a usable TIN, or when the IRS tells you the number is wrong (IRS: backup withholding; Topic no. 307). For a contractor, a reportable payment is pay you would report on Form 1099-NEC.

The running-total rule is in section 3406(b)(6). The text on that page is an older edition and still shows $600. Public Law 119-21 replaced that figure, for payments after 2025, with the section 6041(a) amount: $2,000, adjusted for inflation from 2027 (IRB 2026-19; Publication 15; IRS 1099 instructions). Proposed regulations spell out the details, including that only payments of the same kind to the same payee are added up. They are not final.

A corporation is exempt only for what the W-9 instructions list. The word "Company" or "Co." in a name does not prove corporate status. A W-9 that shows an EIN and a corporation classification is the simplest support (Publication 1281; requester instructions).

California adds 7% state backup withholding when federal backup withholding applies, with limited exceptions (FTB). Check your own state's tax agency for its rule.

How do I deposit, report and give the contractor credit for the tax I withhold?

You hold the withheld tax for the IRS: deposit it, report it on Form 945, and show it on the contractor's Form 1099-NEC. Backup withholding is reported on Form 945, a separate annual return from payroll Forms 941 and 944. The form asks for backup withholding you withheld or were required to withhold, so tax you should have taken but did not belongs on it too (Form 945 instructions).

In your books, record the expense at the full amount, the cash paid at the net amount, and the difference as withheld tax owed to the IRS. Clear that liability when you deposit it or pay it with Form 945.

The contractor gets credit by reporting the box 4 amount as tax withheld on their own return (IRS: backup withholding). If the contractor is a partnership or S corporation, the partners or shareholders claim it (Topic no. 307).

The trap is withholding the tax and never depositing it. Tax that must be withheld but is not withheld or deposited can bring the trust fund recovery penalty, 100% of the unpaid tax, against each responsible person who willfully fails to pay it (Form 945 instructions; section 6672). The trust fund recovery penalty guide is written for payroll tax; the Form 945 instructions apply the same penalty to backup withholding.

Does the W-9 have to be signed, or can I get the number another way?

For contractor pay, the number does not have to arrive on a signed W-9. For payments other than interest, dividends and broker amounts, the IRS says the payee may give the number in any manner (Publication 1281). The W-9 itself says a payee paid for services must give the correct number but need not sign the certification, unless the IRS has told the payee that an earlier number was incorrect (Form W-9).

Get it in writing anyway. A signed, dated W-9 is the standard proof, and once the notice process below starts, only a signed W-9 (or the validation described there) stops withholding (Publication 1281).

You may use your own form if it is substantially similar, carries the certifications and does not make the payee agree to unrelated terms (requester instructions).

How do I file a 1099-NEC without a W-9, and can I still deduct the payment?

You can still pay and file, with the withholding rules above. If the contractor gave no number, leave the number box on the 1099-NEC blank and file by February 1, 2027 for this year's payments (IRS general instructions).

A missing number is itself an error. A return filed without a required number can draw the per-return penalty for incorrect information returns, which rises the longer it goes uncorrected, unless you show reasonable cause (IRS general instructions). The contractor can owe $50 for each failure to give a correct number (Form W-9). Amounts and relief are in late contractor and employee forms.

Whether the payment is deductible depends on whether it is a business expense you can support. The IRS says expense records should identify the payee, the amount, proof of payment, the date and what the service was (IRS: records to keep). The deduction question is covered in late contractor and employee forms; for payments with no receipt, see paying subcontractors in cash.

How do I chase a missing W-9 at year end, or after the contractor vanished?

When you already paid without a number, the steps are a dated written request, working out and reporting what was due to be withheld, and calendared repeat requests:

1. Send the request in the form the IRS lists. A mailed annual request includes a letter saying the payee must give an accurate number and may face a $50 penalty, a Form W-9, and a return envelope (Publication 1586). Keep proof of mailing.
2. Work out the withholding you missed. Withholding was due on the payment that took the year's total to the threshold (or on the first payment, if the prior-year test in the table above applies) and on every later one. Backup withholding covers payments made while no number was on file (section 3406).
3. Report it on Form 945. The tax you missed goes on line 2 for each year it applies, even though none was taken (Form 945 instructions). Until a Form 945 for the year is filed, the IRS has no time limit to assess it. After that the usual limit is 3 years from the later of the filing date or the April 15 after the year (section 6501).
4. Know who owes the missed tax. The payer owes tax it was required to withhold (section 3406(h)(10); section 3403): for a sole proprietor, the owner; otherwise the business, with the trust fund recovery penalty above reaching a responsible person who willfully fails to pay it. Under section 3402(d) the IRS does not collect the tax if the contractor reported the payment and paid the tax on it, but penalties and interest stay. You claim it by filing Form 4670 with a Form 4669 the contractor signs, a statement that they reported the payment and paid the tax. A vanished contractor cannot sign, and the IRS manual (internal guidance, not law) says a payee who is gone does not change the payer's liability (IRS manual; Form 4669; Form 4670).
5. File the 1099-NEC with the number box blank. Put in box 4 only tax you actually withheld.
6. Calendar the repeat requests. If the first request fails, the IRS expects a first annual request by December 31 of the year the relationship began (January 31 if it began in December) and a second by December 31 of the next year. No annual request is needed in a year with no payments to the contractor or no return to file for them. If you missed one or more required requests, you may make two consecutive annual requests in later years (Publication 1586).
7. Use the number when it arrives. Add it to future returns. A filed return that lacked a number needs no correction unless an amount also changes (Publication 1586).

How do I check that the name and number match: TIN Matching, CP2100 notices and "B" notices?

Match the name and number before you file if you can, and answer any IRS notice on its deadlines. TIN Matching lets a payer check name and number combinations against IRS records before filing. It requires an IRS account, and the payer must be listed in an IRS payer database, which the IRS says adds payers that filed Forms 1099 within the last 2 years to report backup withholding. Not every payer is listed yet, so check the IRS page before relying on it (IRS: TIN Matching). The IRS expects checked returns to draw fewer notices and generally treats a verified match as reasonable cause (requester instructions).

Use the right name with the right number (IRS general instructions):

• Sole proprietor: the individual's name first, any business name second, and the Social Security number or EIN.
• Single-member LLC disregarded as an entity separate from its owner: the owner's name and number, with the LLC name second.
• LLC taxed as a corporation or partnership, partnership, or corporation: the entity's name and EIN.

After you file, the IRS may send a CP2100 or CP2100A notice listing missing or wrong name and number combinations. The notice does not say whether it is a first or second one, so you track that (Publication 1281).

For a second notice, count the 30 business days from the day you receive the IRS notice, as the regulation does (26 CFR 31.3406(d)-5); Publication 1281 is inconsistent on the start.

Do not ask for the number by phone in response to a notice, and mark the outer envelope "IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION ENCLOSED". Track each account for three years after its first notice (Publication 1281). Notice 972CG is a different notice about penalties; see late contractor and employee forms.

What should the W-9 file hold for each contractor, and when do I ask again?

Keep one file per contractor that proves what you asked for, when, and what came back. Ask for a new W-9 when the contractor's name, number or tax classification changes, such as a corporation changing its election (Form W-9), and when a notice says the number is wrong (Publication 1281).

Keep copies of the 1099s you file for 3 years from their due date, or 4 years if backup withholding was imposed (IRS general instructions). The IRS requires you to keep W-9 information confidential and use it only to comply with the tax laws (IRS general instructions). In your books, add a W-9 status field to each contractor record and a running total against the threshold, so no payment goes out without one on file.

What if the contractor is not a US person?

A foreign contractor generally gives a Form W-8 instead of a W-9 (Form W-9). For reportable pay, a nonresident alien is subject to backup withholding unless a signed Form W-8BEN is on file (Publication 1281); a foreign company uses Form W-8BEN-E. Income from sources outside the US paid to a nonresident alien is normally not reported on an information return (IRS: foreign source income), and pay outside information reporting is outside backup withholding (requester instructions). A US citizen or resident alien living abroad is a US person and gives a W-9 (Form W-9). Other withholding, reported on Form 1042 rather than Form 945, may apply (Form 945 instructions), and backup withholding does not apply to an amount that other withholding already covers (section 3406(g)(2)). Who counts as foreign, where the pay is sourced, treaty forms and what to assume for a payee who gave no form are in paying contractors abroad.

Example

Illustrative amounts in US dollars.

A new helper refuses a W-9

A landscaper asks a new helper, an individual, for a W-9 before a $2,500 job. The helper refuses, and she paid him nothing last year, so no prior-year rule applies. This payment takes the year's total past the $2,000 threshold, so she withholds 24% ($600) and pays him $1,900. If $600 is her only Form 945 tax for the year, it is under the $2,500 deposit threshold and she pays it with Form 945. At year end she files his 1099-NEC with $2,500 in the pay box, $600 in box 4 and the number box blank, and she asks him again by December 31.

An editor never replies

A consultant pays a freelance editor, a sole proprietor she did not pay last year, $1,500 each in March, June, September and November: $6,000 in all, with no W-9 and no request until December. The year's total reaches the $2,000 threshold in June, so June, September and November, $4,500, were reportable: she should have withheld 24%, or $1,080. In December she mails a letter, a W-9 and a return envelope. The editor does not reply. She files the 1099-NEC for $6,000 with no number and nothing in box 4, keeps the mailing proof, and calendars a second request by December 31 of next year. She also reports the $1,080 on Form 945, line 2, as tax she was required to withhold. If that is her only Form 945 tax for the year, she pays it with the return, unless relief applies: the IRS can relieve her of it only if she shows the editor reported the income and paid the tax, using Forms 4669 and 4670, and the editor has to cooperate for that. She made no request at the start of the relationship, which the IRS counts toward acting responsibly when it weighs a penalty waiver.

A shop gets a CP2100A

A shop's CP2100A, the first for that account, lists a vendor, a sole proprietor, whose name and number do not match. The shop checks its records: the vendor's W-9 shows exactly what the shop filed, so it sends the First "B" notice and a new W-9 on the deadlines in the table above. The vendor does not return it, so the shop starts withholding 24% on later payments. On a $3,000 payment it withholds $720, pays $2,280 and holds the $720 for Form 945 under the deposit rules above. A second notice for the same combination in a later calendar year, about a different year's returns, would bring the Second "B" notice.

Different for you?

• You are not sure the contractor needs a 1099-NEC at all: see which contractors get a tax form.
• Forms were never filed, a Notice 972CG arrived, or you want to know about the deduction: see late contractor and employee forms.
• The contractor works outside the US: see paying contractors abroad and records for contractors abroad.
• The worker may really be an employee: see contractors who may be employees.
• You paid in cash with no receipt or tax ID: see paying subcontractors in cash.
• You withheld and did not deposit, or an IRS officer called: see the trust fund recovery penalty.
• A contractor was paid without a number, backup withholding was due and never taken, or a CP2100 arrived: these decide what you owe for past payments, which years need a Form 945, how the filings are fixed, how the withholding is booked and what your books must hold so no payment goes out without a W-9. Gather the contractor list, payment ledger, requests sent and notices, then get bookkeeping help.