Photographer pays others to edit some photos. She has w-9 information for the one person she paid more than $600. She is sole proprietor who is not otherwise required to have an EIN. But just double checking that since form says Payers TIN using her own SSN is acceptable.
Thanks for your help.
Yes, a sole proprietor can use her Social Security Number as her tax ID number. The IRS says that's what they prefer. Personally I don't like giving out my personal SS# any more than necessary, so I use an EIN for business purposes.
It's easy to get an EIN - the IRS says it takes 15 minutes to get it on line. Start by filling out Form SS-4:
The instructions are here:
Then take that information and use it for the on-line application, which starts here:
Here is a tip I learned the hard way: if you get an EIN for your proprietorship and change its name, you are in for endless pain.
The IRS won't issue you another EIN, and there's no way I can tell to change the name, so every year I get notices from clients saying that their EIN matching system rejected my EIN because it doesn't match the name under which I now do business. I tell them to tell the IRS the old name and that seems to work.
The long term solution seems to be to move everything into my single member LLC.
R's, John
That goes along with the IRS preference that you don't use an EIN if you are a sole proprietor. According to the IRS you should only need to send a letter to the address where you file your 1040, to notify them of a change of name. If that doesn't work, you could file suit against them in Federal District Court. That should get their attention.
The one that already has an EIN? Unless you have it taxed as a corporation, I don't see the IRS treating it any differently.
In article <XnsAB537CF37A454spamtraplexregiacom@130.133.4.11> you write:
Worth a try.
It has an EIN that matches the name. When I changed from multi- to single member, the name didn't change.
BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.