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NOT LEGAL ADVICE. NOT TAX ADVICE.

Excite Tax is not a law firm, and no one at Excite Tax is an attorney.
These templates are general information. Sharing them is not legal advice or tax advice, and it creates no attorney-client relationship and no preparer-client relationship with Excite Tax.
Before you send anything, check the current IRS instructions for your notice or form; forms, deadlines and addresses change.
For free or low-cost help, contact a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/litc) or the Taxpayer Advocate Service (https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/).
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W-9 REQUEST LETTER TO A VENDOR
From: https://excite-tax.vercel.app/templates/w9-request-letter
Official sources were read on 2026-09-23; check them again before you use this template.
Replace every [BRACKETED] field. Delete any line that does not apply.

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[DATE]

[VENDOR NAME]
[VENDOR ADDRESS or EMAIL]

Re: Form W-9 needed before payment

Hello [CONTACT NAME],

Thank you for your work with [BUSINESS NAME]. Before [the first payment / the next payment / year-end], I need a completed and signed Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, so the payments can be reported correctly.

Please:
1. Download the current Form W-9 from the IRS (irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf).
2. Complete it with the legal name and tax classification that match your tax filings, and your taxpayer identification number.
3. Sign and date it.
4. Return it to me [by secure upload at [LINK] / by mail to [ADDRESS] / by fax to [NUMBER]] by [DATE]. Please do not email it unencrypted, and do not send it to the IRS.

Without a correct taxpayer identification number, the IRS rules may require backup withholding from your payments.

If your business name, tax classification or number changes, please send an updated form.

Thank you,

[YOUR NAME]
[TITLE]
[BUSINESS NAME]
[PHONE]

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WHAT TO ATTACH
- A link to the current Form W-9 on irs.gov (or a blank copy of it).
- Nothing from you to the IRS: the completed form stays in your records.

WHERE TO SEND IT (check the current official instructions)
- Form W-9 is given to the requester and is not sent to the IRS. Source: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

SOURCES
- IRS — Low Income Taxpayer Clinics: https://www.irs.gov/advocate/low-income-taxpayer-clinics (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- IRS — Instructions for Form 9465 (07/2024): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i9465 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- IRS — About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-9 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- IRS — Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 (03/2024): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw9 (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- IRS — Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf (retrieved 2026-09-23)