Each name-and-TIN combination is checked against IRS records and answered in seconds — one payee, or a whole list. $0.49 per check, with the instant answer included rather than charged for.
The IRS runs TIN matching two ways. Bulk takes a file, queues it, and replies to a mailbox up to 24 hours later. Interactive takes one name-and-TIN combination and answers it immediately.
We built on the interactive one. Every check — whether you tick one payee or two hundred — is submitted and answered on its own, so results land against your payees while you are still looking at the screen.
That matters most on the day it matters most: the last week of January, when the thing you cannot afford is a list you sent off that comes back tomorrow.
Best when a new contractor has just sent a W-9 and you want to know now, not in February.
Best for a year-end clean-up, before any of it becomes a return.
Each record in an uploaded list is still one interactive request, answered on its own. A list does not become a batch that replies tomorrow.
It answers one question well. Everything sold beyond that is somebody else’s marketing.
| It helps you | It does not |
|---|---|
| Validate a submitted payee name-and-TIN combination before filing | Replace a properly completed Form W-9 |
| Identify records that may need review | Guarantee that a 1099 is correct or complete |
| Catch some name and TIN issues earlier in the workflow | Guarantee no CP2100, CP2100A, B-notice, penalty or backup-withholding obligation |
| Support pre-filing data clean-up | Determine whether a payment is reportable, or which form to file |
| Reduce avoidable correction work | Verify a payee’s identity, business legitimacy or tax status |
A non-match is nearly always a data problem, not a dishonest payee. Three causes cover most of them: a legal name that changed and was never reported to the SSA, a trading name given instead of the legal one by a sole proprietor, and a transposed digit.
The response is the same for all three: check the record against what the payee gave you, and request updated taxpayer information — a completed Form W-9 — where that is appropriate. Keep it; it is what shows you asked.
Correcting a payee’s legal name or tax ID clears their previous result, because that result was an answer about the old details. Check the corrected combination and the new answer stands in its place.
Result States
What the matching process returns, and what to do next.
The name and taxpayer ID agree with IRS records. Review the rest of the payee and form details before filing.
They do not agree. Review for a legal-name, entity or data-entry issue, correct the payee and check again.
No answer yet, or the IRS returned something that was not one. Shown as unverified rather than as a pass.
A verified payee stays verified for 3 years and is not offered for checking again while that stands.
A missing or nonmatching payee name and TIN can create follow-up work after an information return is filed. IRS TIN Matching exists so that eligible payers and authorised agents can validate those combinations before submitting.
If the IRS identifies missing or nonmatching information after filing, it may issue the payer a CP2100 or CP2100A notice — a CP2100 where 50 or more returns carry errors, a CP2100A where fewer than 50 do. The content is the same. These go out twice a year, in October and April. The payer compares the notice against its records and follows the applicable IRS procedures, which can include sending the appropriate B-notice to the payee.
Backup withholding may apply in specific circumstances, currently at 24%. Whether and when it applies depends on the type of issue, the timing, the payer’s records and the applicable IRS procedures — not on any one mismatch by itself.
Incorrect information returns can also create correction work and potential penalties under section 6721. The amounts depend on timing and circumstances: for returns due in 2026 they run from $60 where a return is corrected within 30 days, to $340 where it is corrected after August 1 or not at all, with a higher amount for intentional disregard.
This page provides general workflow information, not tax or legal advice. Consult a qualified tax professional about your own reporting and withholding obligations.
A TIN check involves a real person’s name and taxpayer identification number, so it is worth being exact rather than reassuring.
Requests are made over an encrypted connection to the IRS, under your payer’s authorisation.
Results are stored against the payee in your account. That is what shows you the answer, keeps a matched payee matched, and stops a duplicate being sent. We will not tell you nothing is stored, because that would be untrue.
Payee records sit inside your own account and are reachable only from it.
Your authorisation is kept with its date, the wording you signed and who signed it — so it can be produced rather than asserted.
A result stands for 3 years, then lapses on its own rather than ageing quietly into a claim nobody checked.
TaxFormHero is independently audited under AICPA SOC 2 Type I for the Security trust services criteria, with an unqualified opinion issued by Prescient Assurance LLC in October 2025.
TIN matching is for eligible payers of reportable payments and their authorised agents. You sign a short authorisation for each payer the first time you need one, and we submit under it.
It is not a lookup tool for checking people you have no reporting relationship with, and it should not be used as one.
The IRS limits how often the same payee may be asked about, and an account that ignores that can be shut out for days — mid-season, for everyone filing through it. A pair already sent is not sent again.
Collect taxpayer details with the W-9 portal, validate the combinations here, file Form 1099-NEC and the rest, then get recipient copies out by electronic delivery or print and mail.
The order is the point. A mismatch found in January is a phone call. The same mismatch found in a CP2100 next October is a comparison exercise, a B-notice, and a correction.
See full pricing →$0.49 per combination, answered in seconds, against the records your return will be compared to.
Start CheckingAnswers come straight from our guides. For anything about your own filing, we’ll point you to a person.
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General information, not tax advice. Please don’t type Social Security or tax ID numbers here.