You log in to Stripe and there is a banner asking you to provide your tax information, or an error that says 'Verify your tax information'. Or an email from PayPal asks you to confirm your taxpayer status and add your SSN. Sometimes the message warns that payouts will be paused if you don't.
This is almost always genuine and not something you did wrong. US payment companies are required to report what they pay to sellers, and they can't do that without your legal name and a taxpayer identification number (TIN) that the IRS recognises. The fix is usually five minutes of typing your name and number exactly the way the IRS has them. The only hard case is a mismatch, and that has a clear route too.
Why Stripe and PayPal have to ask
The IRS says payment card companies, payment apps and online marketplaces are required to fill out Form 1099-K, send it to the IRS each year and send you a copy by January 31. For payments made directly by card, the IRS says you get one no matter how many payments you received or how much they were for. For payment apps and marketplaces, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act restored the old threshold retroactively: the IRS says they are not required to file unless your payments exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200. They may still send you one below that, and some states use lower thresholds. PayPal lists $600 for Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland.
The second reason is backup withholding. The IRS says a payer must withhold a flat 24% if you don't give your TIN in the required manner, or if the IRS tells the payer your TIN is incorrect, and it lists payment card and third party network transactions among the payments this covers. In January 2026 the Treasury and IRS proposed regulations under which third party settlement organizations generally would not have to backup withhold below the same $20,000 and 200 transaction line, but those are proposed rules. Either way, the platform needs a verified name and TIN on file, which is why the request reaches people who sell very little.
None of this changes what you owe. The IRS is clear that whether or not you receive a Form 1099-K, you must still report your income on your tax return.
Sell from a free OneSol page through your own Stripe or PayPal account, so every sale lands in one account you can match against your records. Payments come with Pro.Start free →What Stripe asks for, and where to enter it
Stripe needs your legal name, your TIN (SSN, EIN or ITIN), your business type and your address. Stripe's help says it requires a TIN before it can process payments, and it may ask for a Form W-9 to confirm it, especially after you change your name, address, tax ID or business type.
- To check or correct your tax ID, go to Settings, then Business, then 'Business Details'. Stripe says you can edit the type of business, legal name and tax ID there.
- To change your business type or upload IRS letters, use the tax settings page under Settings, 'Tax details' (dashboard.stripe.com/settings/taxation).
- After you submit a W-9, Stripe says you can download a PDF copy from the 'Compliance and documents' section (dashboard.stripe.com/settings/documents).
- If you only gave the last four digits of your SSN when you signed up, Stripe says the representative will be required to provide the full 9 digit SSN or ITIN at $500K of the account's lifetime payment volume. That is the usual reason Stripe suddenly asks for your full SSN.
- If your Stripe account was set up through another platform and you manage it in an Express dashboard, the platform may require tax details once you reach 600 USD in charges, and Stripe pauses payouts if they aren't collected and verified.
Sole proprietor, LLC or company: which name and number to use
Most failed verifications come from entering the right number with the wrong name, or a business name with a personal number. Stripe's US guidelines by business type are the reference, and it notes they are not a guarantee of a match because every case is different.
- Sole proprietorship: your individual name and SSN, or the EIN if your sole proprietorship has one. Enter your name as it appears on your Social Security card. A DBA or shop name is not your legal name.
- Single-member LLC owned by an individual (not taxed as a corporation): the owner's individual name and SSN or EIN. Stripe says the LLC's name or EIN should not be used.
- Multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership or corporation: the LLC's name and EIN.
- Corporation: the business name and the corporation's EIN.
- No SSN or ITIN: Stripe says it can't support you as an individual or sole proprietorship account, and suggests changing the business type if a registered company is the more accurate structure.
Fixing 'The IRS couldn't recognize your tax ID and name together'
This is Stripe's TIN mismatch message, and 'Verify your tax information' is its sibling. Both mean the name and number you typed are not the pair the IRS has on file. Stripe says even small differences in spacing, hyphens, accents or apostrophes cause it, and its own example is that 'Jane Doe-Smith' must include the hyphen. Your information stays unverified until you re-enter it and it passes.
Find the IRS's version of your name first, then copy it exactly:
- SSN: check your Social Security card. If you don't have it, or you are sure it matches and still get the error, Stripe points you to the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov/ssnumber to request a card or update your name, for example after a marriage.
- EIN: check your SS-4 confirmation letter or Letter 147C for the exact business name. If you don't have either, Stripe says to call the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 and ask for a Letter 147C.
- ITIN: check the letter the IRS sent when it issued your ITIN. Stripe gives the IRS ITIN line, 800-908-9982, if you don't have it.
- Brand new EIN: Stripe says a TIN often fails simply because the IRS hasn't updated its database yet. If it was issued less than 3 months ago, upload your SS-4 letter in the tax settings page.
- Still failing with a Letter 147C: upload a copy of it in Settings, under the tax settings page.
- Also check the obvious: an EIN entered where your business type expects an SSN, or the other way round, and transposed digits.
What happens if you ignore it
Stripe says that if it is missing required information about your tax status, your payouts may be paused. Customers can still pay you, but you can't transfer the balance to your bank account or debit card until you submit a W-9 and complete any other outstanding requirements. Stripe asks you to complete a tax form request within 14 days of being notified to avoid disruption. For Express accounts, Stripe says payouts should unpause automatically within two business days of an accurate W-9 when nothing else is outstanding.
The IRS side is slower but costs more. When a name and TIN don't match its records, the IRS notifies the payer with a CP2100 or CP2100A, and the payer sends you a 'B' notice with a Form W-9. Answer the first one with a signed W-9. If you are listed a second time within three years, the IRS says you must send a copy of your Social Security card or, for an EIN, a Letter 147C. Ignore them and the payer can start withholding 24% of your payments.
PayPal's tax information request
PayPal says the IRS requires it to report information about account holders who receive payments above the annual thresholds, so it asks customers approaching the threshold to confirm their US taxpayer status. You get an email and an account alert when you log in. PayPal accepts an SSN, EIN or ITIN, and says providing one helps you avoid potential limitations such as tax holds, and 24% backup withholding.
- From the email: click 'Confirm Taxpayer Status', choose your status from the dropdown and enter your TIN, name and business type.
- From your account: open Settings with the icon next to 'Log out', click 'Add your SSN', enter your information and click 'Save'.
- If you have more than one PayPal account, PayPal says to confirm each one.
- Sole proprietors give their own SSN and the name on line 1 of their Form 1040. A single-member LLC disregarded from its owner gives the owner's TIN.
- If PayPal says your TIN failed verification, its listed causes are an invalid or incomplete number, a name or TIN that doesn't match IRS records, or a business name that differs from the legal name used with the IRS. You then complete an equivalent Form W-9, and PayPal warns that a continuing mismatch can lead to an IRS B-Notice later in the year.
Prevent it next time
Keep one record of the exact legal name and TIN pair the IRS has for you, copied from your Social Security card, SS-4 letter or Letter 147C, and use it everywhere you sell. When you form an LLC, get an EIN, change your name or change business type, update Stripe and PayPal the same week, because those are the changes that trigger new verification. And open requests by logging in to the Dashboard or PayPal directly rather than through a link in an email, so you know the request is real.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice, and your own situation may differ. Check with the IRS or an accountant if you are unsure which name or number applies to you.
Selling through OneSol
If you sell from a OneSol page on Pro ($9/month), payments go through your own Stripe or PayPal account straight to you, so tax requests come from Stripe or PayPal and are fixed in their dashboards as above. OneSol doesn't hold your money, file taxes or give tax advice.