What Is a W-9, and Why Do I Need One?

What Is a W-9?

The Form W-9 is a standard IRS form for reporting payments made to non-employees and contractors. Every February, Roaming Hunger uses information on the Form W-9 to report to the IRS what we have paid to our vendor partners in the last fiscal year. We will then send you a Form 1099 to use in your annual tax return.

How Do I Fill Out My Form W-9?

As of April 2025, we are no longer accepting or storing W-9s uploaded as PDFs or images. Please do not upload any scans or screenshots of your Form W-9. Instead, this information must be entered on Tab 3 (Tax Forms) of your Payment Details page (click here for a how-to on Tabs 1 and 2).

Before you begin, you must know your own business' information as registered with the IRS. Roaming Hunger cannot independently verify how you have registered your own business. If you are not an Individual/Sole Proprietor using your social security number, you may find your registered information on your EIN Verification Letter (sample below). If you or your accountant do not have access to your EIN Verification Letter, you must request a new one from the IRS. Roaming Hunger cannot provide this for you.

Name and Business Name

The first section of your W-9 is for names. If your business is classified as an Individual/Sole Proprietor, enter your full personal name here. If your business is any other classification, enter only your registered company name as it appears on your EIN Verification Letter. If you enter any name other than what is on that letter, your W-9 will be rejected and you will have to start again.

Using the sample information above, here is how to enter it correctly, adding no extra words, symbols, DBAs, or punctuation:

IMPORTANT: If you've entered your company name differently here than you did in Tab 1 (Address), even if there is one letter or one comma difference, you will see this error: "Does not match name or company name of the beneficiary owner entered in the Address tab." If you see this error, you must return to Tab 1 and edit your Company Name to match your EIN Verification Letter.

Tax Classification

To pass scan, you must check your exact tax classification, as registered with the IRS. That includes the correct type of LLC, if applicable. If your business is a single-member LLC, choose Individual/sole proprietor. Please note, Roaming Hunger cannot advise you of your tax classification. You must consult your business' accountant.

Business Address

Your address will be assembled from the fields below. Be careful in choosing a state, as you must click one of the 2-letter options. For instance, if you are located in New York, you must select "NY" from the dropdown. You cannot complete this form if you type out "New York."

Sign and Date

The last step before clicking Next is to type your full name as a signature and enter the exact email address you have been using to complete your Payment Details.

What's Next? Am I Done?

Once you submit your Form W-9, you'll be directed to a page that says "Done." What this means is, you've successfully submitted your information, and it is ready to be scanned. Once a day, all submitted W-9s are scanned against IRS records. If you have entered information that does not match what is on your EIN Verification Letter, you will receive an email that says "Your TIN has failed validation." If you receive this email, please return to your Payment Details page and ensure that you have only submitted information that exactly matches what is on your EIN Verification Letter.

After 24 hours, if you have not received a validation failure email, and you see a new Payment History page on your Dashboard, you will know this is complete.

What if I don't work in the USA?

Rather than a Form W-9, you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN (individual) or W-8BENE (company).