US clients and their contractors will have the opportunity to manage tax forms directly through Deel.
Select the Workspace tab on your home page and then choose the Tax Documents tab. From here you can create, edit, and download your tax forms for the relevant year.
This article provides details about American tax Form W-9.
In this article:
What is Tax Form W-9?
The IRS's Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, is a tax form used by US businesses to get information from independent contractors (or freelancers) who are US citizens or US tax residents, regardless of their physical location.
US contractors are required to complete a tax form before they are allowed to sign their contract. There are no exceptions.
Contractors can edit & update their tax forms after signing their contract if changes need to be made.
Contracts that are already signed and have been backdated will require the contractor to complete tax forms for any missing years before they can withdraw funds.
Form W-9 contains the name, address, and Social Security number or tax identification number (TIN) of a contractor. This form is not submitted to the IRS by either party, but returned to the hiring party by the contractor.
You can learn more about the W-9 tax form in our blog post.
What Does Form W-9 Look Like?
This is what the W-9 Form looks like:
If you are a Deel customer, you will be taken through a simplified completion flow.
But the .pdf that you can download on the platform will still match the official document.
If you are an American citizen and taxpayer, we will collect the necessary information to generate the W-9 form if you are a US citizen that is working for a US-based client.
How to complete the W-9
Select the Workspace icon on your home page and then choose the Tax Documents tab. You can then create your missing tax form for the relevant tax year.
You will first identify if you are an American citizen to help us direct you to the correct form. Citizens and tax residents will complete a W-9; non-citizens will fill out the W-8BEN.
You will then be asked enter your personal details, address, tax identification details, and more.
The W-9 Form can be reviewed and downloaded at any time from your Tax Documents tab.
If you wish to manually complete the Form W-9, please keep in mind the following definitions and guidelines from the US government:
If you are filing as an individual:
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Name: Enter your legally given name as shown on your income tax return.
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Business Name/Disregarded Entity Name: Unless you have a business name, trade name, or a disregarded entity name, leave this field empty.
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Check appropriate box for federal tax classification: Check only one box.
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Exemptions — If applicable, refer to exemption codes described on pages 3-4 of the W-9 form.
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Address (State, City, Address, Address 2, Zip) — For Address, include the building number and street name (e.g., "52 Market Street"). For Address 2, include the apartment, suite, unit, building, or floor number. The address must match your income tax return.
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Tax identification number (TIN) — For individuals with a social security number (SSN), the TIN is equal to SSN. For an overview of all valid TINs, please see the IRS's W-9 instructions or this article.
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Sign the form with your full (legal) name and fill in the date of signature.
If you are not filing as an individual or have a unique circumstance, please refer to the IRS's W-9 form for guidance.
Please note: The IRS disregards certain entities for tax filing purposes. An entity is disregarded if the following conditions are met:
- the contractor type is company
- the entity is LLC
- there is only one shareholder in the company
In these cases, the contractor type will be required to complete the individual form.
If you confirm that you are an American citizen and taxpayer, we'll collect the necessary information to
generate the W9 form for US citizens that are working for US-based clients.
We will not be able to generate W9 forms for contractors working for non-US based clients.