TIN Matching is a free pre-filing service offered by eServices of the Internal Revenue Service; to payers of income subject to backup withholding. The program is completely voluntary. TIN Matching assists the payer in determining if the payee TIN/name combination contained on their Form W-9; matches the TIN/name combination contained in IRS tax filing records. Benefit to using this service is to be notified of potential TIN errors that can be corrected before filing your 1099 data and eliminate or reduce penalties currently assessed at $50 per incorrect return. InCompass now enables you to create a Bulk Tin Matching file, which is uploaded to the IRS site for inspection. A few hours later, you will receive an email indicating a response is waiting. You can view the results of this file via the RTO System.
Step 1 is to apply for an IRS Payer Account. Users must register online with eServices and create a username, password and PIN that will enable you to access the system electronically. Once the online registration is completed, you will receive a confirmation token at your home address. You must validate online within 28 days of the initial registration.
Once you have been established as a user on the TIN Matching system, you will log in with the username and password established during the registration process. Upon login, users must accept the TIN Matching Terms of Agreement. You will then be prompted to enter a TIN Type, TIN, and Name to be matched against IRS records.
Potential users are encouraged to begin the registration process for an IRS Payer Account (PAF) using the link to the IRS website below. Note: as part of this registration you will be asked for your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your most recent individual income tax return in order to verify your identity.
https://la2.www4.irs.gov/e-services/Registration/Reg_Online/Reg_RegisterUserForm
After you have registered with the IRS eServices, go to the Tax Reports menu, and choose the Report Type: TIN Matching File for IRS to generate a file to upload to the IRS. Steps follow:
Enter the tax year you will be filing; and then click View/Print. The process creates a file formatted per IRS guidelines of accounts that will receive a 1099 for the specified tax year. When completed, you will be prompted to save a copy of the file to your desktop.
Click Save. We recommend you save it to your desktop using a generic name such as report.txt
Note: the filename should end with .txt
Here is a sample file and layout description of the fields:
1;890888908;Rosebud Racing;98765
2;333224444;John Doe;12345
First Column = 1 for Federal ID and 2 for Social Security Number (This is pulled from the ‘Number to Use for Tax ID’ field)
Second Column = TIN Number
Third Column = Tax name from either Managing Owner or Partnership field
Fourth Column = RTO Account Number
Use this file to upload your accounts to the IRS for TIN Matching. Using the link below, you will login with your Payer Account information and choose to upload the file you created from the RTO system and saved to your desktop.
http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=109646,00.html
Within a few hours, an email will be sent to you indicating a response is waiting. Log back into the IRS site and go to your 'Mailbox' to retrieve your results. Download the file to your desktop. Proceed to the HB menu selection TIN Results to upload the IRS results back into the RTO System.