How will PayPal use my TIN or SSN and how do I add it?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced transitional reporting requirements for payments received for goods and services, which will lower the federal Form 1099-K reporting threshold over a 3-year period. We’ve summarized the IRS thresholds for Form 1099-K below.

You may have been notified to provide your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and confirm your tax status if you’ve received payments for goods or services through PayPal, and don’t have a TIN updated in our records. This is required by the IRS and US state revenue authorities.

To ensure that payment information is accurately reported, where required, please update your account information by providing a TIN to avoid any potential limitations (such as tax holds) and 24% backup withholding. A TIN can be a Social Security Number (SSN), Employer Identification Number (EIN), or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN.)

If you have multiple PayPal accounts, you’ll need to confirm your taxpayer status for each account. You will also receive a tax form for each applicable PayPal account.

Here's how to confirm your taxpayer status in 3 steps for each of your PayPal accounts.

1. Log in through the Confirm Taxpayer Status Button in the email we’ve sent you.
2. Choose your taxpayer status from the dropdown menu.
3. Enter your US TIN, your name, and your business type.

Here’s how to add your TIN to your PayPal account:

1. Click the Settings icon next to "Log out."
2. Click Add your SSN.
3. Add your information and click Save.

Then, if necessary, we’ll send you the relevant tax form in January per IRS reporting requirements. If you’ve already entered your TIN, you may have received a notification if the information doesn’t match IRS records. Log in to confirm that it’s correct.

Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs:

When confirming your taxpayer status, enter your name as it appears in line 1 of your 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ. If you’d rather provide your Employer Identification Number, submit your Form W-9 to ensure that what we enter on your Form 1099-K matches IRS records. You can upload your completed tax form through your PayPal account using the alert dashboard, Message Center, or limitation.