The W-9 for 2026: which revision is current

Why there's no 2026 W-9

Unlike Form W-4 or the 1099s, Form W-9 has no tax year printed on it. The IRS revises it only when the rules behind it change — the current revision came out in March 2024, the one before it in October 2018. The IRS's About Form W-9 page, last reviewed in June 2026, still lists the March 2024 revision as current and shows no recent developments.

So “W-9 form 2026 PDF” simply means the current form. Download it from irs.gov rather than from a site that asks you to create an account first; the official PDF is free and fillable.

What the March 2024 revision changed

Line 1 is now called “Name of entity/individual”, and the form itself tells sole proprietors and disregarded entities to put the owner's name on line 1 and the business or disregarded entity's name on line 2. On the older form, the line 1 label only said to use the name shown on your income tax return.

Line 3 became line 3a, and the first box lost the words “or single-member LLC”. The old form asked a single-member LLC to tick the combined box — or, if it was owned by another LLC, to tick the LLC box. The current form says a disregarded entity checks the box for the tax classification of its owner. The LLC box is now only for LLCs that aren't disregarded, with C, S or P in the space.

Line 3b is new. A partnership, trust or estate — or an LLC taxed as a partnership — ticks it when it gives the form to a partnership, trust or estate it owns an interest in and has foreign partners, owners or beneficiaries. The IRS added it so the receiving entity can meet its reporting duties, for example on Schedules K-2 and K-3.

Is a W-9 on the 2018 form still OK?

A W-9 has no expiry date, and nothing in the current instructions says a form signed on an earlier revision stops counting. What triggers a new form is a change in your details: the instructions say you must give a new W-9 if the name or TIN on the account changes, and must update a requester you claimed exemption with if you're no longer an exempt payee — for example a C corporation that elects to become an S corporation.

If a requester sends you the 2018 version today, you can fill it in. For most individuals the result is identical. For a single-member LLC, a partnership or a trust, the 2024 wording of line 3a and the new line 3b matter, so it's worth asking whether they'll take the current revision instead.

What did change for 2026: the 1099 thresholds

The form stayed the same, but the rules for what requesters report moved. For payments made after December 31, 2025, the $600 threshold for most payments on Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC rose to $2,000 per payee per year, and the IRS may adjust it for inflation from 2027. Royalties are still reported from $10, and gross proceeds paid to attorneys from $600. The same $2,000 threshold applies to backup withholding on those payments.

For payment apps and online marketplaces, the Form 1099-K threshold went back to more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions a year, retroactively. Either way, income below a reporting threshold is still taxable.

One detail: the exempt payee chart on the March 2024 W-9 still speaks of “payments over $600 required to be reported”. That text predates the 2025 law; the 1099 instructions carry the new figure.

When to give a client a new W-9

Not every January. Send a fresh one when your legal name changes, when you switch the number you use (for example from your SSN to a new EIN), when you move — though for an address change alone, the instructions let you write “NEW” at the top of line 5 on the form you send. It's also sensible to send one when your LLC's tax classification changes, because line 3a would no longer be right.

Sources

• IRS — About Form W-9 (current revision, recent developments)
• IRS — Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
• IRS — Form W-9 (Rev. October 2018)
• IRS — Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024): What's New
• IRS — Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC: $2,000 threshold
• IRS — Fact sheet FS-2026-07: Form 1099-K threshold