There has been a lot of confusion with the new tax law changes regarding single-member LLC's and with the IRS issuing multiple EIN's.

According to the IRS, here is the proper way to fill out a W-9 Form if you are a single member limited liability company:

Name = Your personal name exactly as it appears on your social security card

Business Name = The name of your limited liability company

Check appropriate box = Check the box for Limited Liability company and then put "D" (for disregarded entity) as the tax classification

Address = The mailing address you want your 1099's sent to

Taxpayer Identification Number = You must list your social security number, neither of the EIN's the IRS issues a single-member LLC can be used for filing income taxes

Here is another thread on this subject that will give further explanation of the purpose of the two EIN's.


Here is the proper way to fill out a W-9 Form if you are a limited liability company classified as a partnership or a corporation under the LLC's name:

Name = The name of the limited liability company

Business Name = leave blank or enter any other d/b/a name you use; for instance, my name is Virtual Business Services of OK, LLC and my d/b/a name is Virtual Business Services

Check Appropriate Box = Check the box for limited liability company and then enter "C" if you are a corporation or "P" if you are a partnership as the tax classification

Address = The mailing address you want your 1099's sent to

Taxpayer Identification Number = Enter your Employer Identification Number (EIN), you should only have been issued one EIN if you are a partnership or corporation

Hopefully this will help clear up some of the confusion.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

Rebecka - what a great post - I know this is a source of confusion for so many of us...we all want to learn as much as we can to handle the tax paperwork for our businesses but some of it is just so intimidating. Your post is a major help - thank you!

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Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, taxes can be so confusing!

What if you are a sole proprietor? Which would that fall under?

If you are a sole-p you will complete the W-9 form as follows:

Name = Your personal name exactly as it appears on your social security card

Business Name = Your business name as registered with your State, if no business name has been registered then leave blank

Check appropriate box = Check the box for sole proprietor

Address = The mailing address you want your 1099's sent to

Taxpayer Identification Number = You must list your social security number

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

Thanks!!! You've helped out a lot. I want to be prepared.

Thanks a WHOLE bunch. If I hadn't read this, I would have thought that I could use my EIN (sole proprietor). You've saved me a great big headache.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by The Write Exec

Thanks a WHOLE bunch. If I hadn't read this, I would have thought that I could use my EIN (sole proprietor). You've saved me a great big headache. Thanks again.

If you have an EIN as a sole-p you can use that in lieu of your SSN. I should have mentioned that.

If you are a sole-p and do not plan to have employees then you do not have to register for an EIN, but if you have one you certainly can use that.

The EIN issue only gets tricky with single-member LLC's, because the IRS will issue you more than one.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

Rebecka, the IRS only issued me 1 EIN # on my single member LLC. It mentioned I should use that for tax purposes? I'm confused now. I really really dont want to provide my ss#.

Originally Posted by CASbyMari

Rebecka, the IRS only issued me 1 EIN # on my single member LLC. It mentioned I should use that for tax purposes? I'm confused now. I really really dont want to provide my ss#.

Have you received your confirmation letter from the IRS yet? When you do, check to see what entity classification they gave you. Unless you specifically stated on your SS-4 application that you were a single-member LLC then they will automatically assume you are a partnership and only issue one EIN. It will state that you are required to file a Form 1065 Partnership return.

You will have to file a Form 8832 to change your entity classification from a partnership to a single-member LLC.

They also issued me just one EIN, but I think I filed before they changed the law.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services