Payer's Identification Number: ( 77-7777777 )
What exactly is this? I have this required after clicking on the amount of tax withheld from sales of some RSUs.
Is it:
- My SSN
- The Account Number from Etrade (Brokerage I sold my stock in)
- Another Option?
Answers
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Hi sofacan, it sounds like you received a Form 1099-B reporting the sale of some shares. Every Form 1099 should include the payer's tax identification number (also referred to as a TIN). The payer's identification number is a unique nine-digit number that is assigned to a business entity by the IRS. The brokerage that issued Form 1099-B to you should have included their TIN on the form they sent you. This is the number that the software is prompting you to enter.
You are considered the payee/recipient of the form, so your SSN should also be included in a separate box provided on the 1099-B for that information. The software won't specifically ask you to enter your SSN again on the 1099-B screens though. We will automatically assign the income to the SSN of the person who received the form.
You can refer to this official version of Form 1099-B on the IRS website. You will see in the boxes on the left side of the form that the form issuer is required to enter the payer's TIN (the brokerage's TIN) and the recipient's TIN (your SSN).
When the IRS processes your tax return, they will be looking for the 1099-B to be accounted for. They will use the payer's identification number that you enter to match the income to what has already been reported to them by your brokerage.
