How to Fill Out the Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 Form

The Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 is the state-specific tax form every Virginia agency needs on file before it can pay you. Download the current fillable PDF from the Virginia Department of Accounts at doa.virginia.gov,¹ complete it with a legal name and taxpayer identification number that match IRS records exactly, sign it, and return it to the agency that asked for it. The information you provide feeds Cardinal, Virginia’s statewide accounting system, and controls how your payments are reported to the IRS and the Virginia Department of Taxation.

Get the Current Version of the Form

Use the PDF hosted by the Department of Accounts. Some Virginia universities and agencies mirror the form on their own sites, but confirm you have the latest revision before you submit; the revision date sits in the lower-left corner of the PDF. An outdated version can be rejected and sent back.

Filling Out the Form

Legal Name and Business Name

On the “Legal Name” line, enter the name that appears on your federal tax filings. For an individual, sole proprietor, or single-member LLC, that is your first and last name. All other entities use their legal business name.² This name must match the name tied to your Taxpayer Identification Number. A mismatch here is one of the most common reasons vendor records get flagged.¹

The “Business Name” line is optional. Use it only if you operate under a trade name or DBA that differs from your legal name. Sole proprietors and disregarded entities can put their trade name here while keeping their personal name on the legal name line.²

Entity Type

Select one option:

Individual: provide your Social Security Number.
Sole Proprietorship: provide either your SSN or your EIN.
Partnership, Trust, Estate, Government, Non-Profit, S-Corporation, or C-Corporation: provide your EIN.
Limited Liability Company: indicate whether the LLC is taxed as a partnership or a corporation.
Disregarded Entity: a single-member LLC selects this and provides the owner’s SSN if the owner is an individual.

LLC Classification

LLC classification trips up more vendors than any other field. The default tax status depends on how many owners the LLC has. A single-member LLC is treated as a disregarded entity, so check that box, not the LLC box. A two-or-more-member LLC defaults to partnership. If your LLC has elected to be taxed as a corporation, it should have filed IRS Form 2553 (for S-Corp status) or Form 8832 (for C-Corp status); select the LLC box with the corresponding corporate classification.¹ If you are unsure which election your LLC made, check your most recent federal return or the IRS confirmation letter you received when the election was accepted.

Taxpayer Identification Number

Check the box indicating whether your TIN is an SSN or an EIN, then enter the nine-digit number. Resident aliens who do not have an SSN enter their IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in the SSN field.¹ Double-check every digit. A TIN that does not match the legal name you entered will trigger backup withholding and delay your payments.

Mailing Address

Give the street address where you want to receive year-end tax documents such as 1099 forms. A P.O. box is acceptable. Include city, state, and ZIP. An incomplete or outdated address means your tax forms may not reach you.

Exempt Payee Codes

Most individuals do not qualify for an exemption from backup withholding, and the field should be left blank. Exempt payee codes apply to certain entities only. The form lists 13 codes; the most commonly used include:

Code 1: tax-exempt organizations under section 501(a), IRAs, and certain custodial accounts.
Code 2: the United States government or its agencies.
Code 3: a state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory, or their political subdivisions and agencies.
Code 5: a corporation (though corporations are not exempt from backup withholding on medical or legal payments, or payment-card settlements).
Code 11: a financial institution.

¹ S-corporations should not enter an exempt payee code.

Signing the Certification

The certification at the bottom is a declaration under penalties of perjury. By signing, you confirm three things: your TIN is correct, you are not subject to backup withholding (unless the IRS has notified you otherwise), and you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien.¹ If the IRS has previously told you that you are subject to backup withholding because of underreporting, cross out the second certification item before signing.

Sign and date the form. An unsigned form is incomplete and will be returned. Review every field one more time before signing, because the certification makes the whole document a legally binding statement about your tax status.

Where to Send It

Send the completed form to the Virginia state agency that requested it, not to the Department of Accounts. Each agency handles its own vendor setup and forwards the form to the Commonwealth Vendor Group (CVG) for processing.³

Ask your agency contact whether to send the form by secure email, fax, or mail. Most agencies prefer encrypted email because the form contains your TIN. If your vendor record was created through eVA, Virginia’s electronic procurement system, the CVG will look for your form in eVA and cross-check your TIN with the IRS before approving the record. An eVA registration is not complete until the Substitute W-9 has been submitted.³

What Happens After You Submit

The CVG verifies that your TIN and legal name match IRS records. Regular vendor requests take up to five business days to process. Expedited requests can be completed in one business day, but you need a valid reason for the rush.³ Once approved, your record goes active in Cardinal and the agency can issue payments.

Backup Withholding If You Get It Wrong

If you fail to provide a completed Substitute W-9, or if the IRS tells the agency your name and TIN do not match, the agency must withhold 24 percent of your gross payments and send that money to the federal government.⁴ That withholding is not a penalty; it is a tax credit you can claim when you file your federal return. But it ties up a significant chunk of every payment until the issue is resolved, and recovering the money means waiting on your refund. Payments may also be suspended entirely until the agency can confirm your tax status.

If the IRS later identifies a mismatch, the agency will send you a “B Notice” and a fresh W-9. Return a corrected form promptly to stop withholding from starting. A second mismatch within three years requires a copy of your Social Security card or an IRS Letter 147C to verify your identity; a new W-9 alone will not be enough.⁵

A payee who fails to furnish a correct TIN faces a $50 penalty per failure under IRC 6723, up to a maximum of $100,000 in a calendar year.⁶ Because the certification is signed under penalties of perjury, deliberately providing a false TIN or misrepresenting your tax status can also trigger criminal penalties under federal law.

When to Submit a New Form

A completed Substitute W-9 stays valid until something changes. Submit a new form whenever your legal name, TIN, business address, or entity type changes, such as when a trust’s grantor dies or your LLC elects a different tax classification.¹ For address updates, the CVG requires supporting documentation such as an updated form, an invoice showing the new address, or a letter from the vendor.³

Keep a copy of every form you submit. The IRS recommends retaining employment tax records for at least four years,⁷ and holding your W-9 copies for the same period gives you a reference if a dispute about your tax status or withholding comes up later.

1
Virginia Department of Accounts. Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 Form
2
Radford University. Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 Form
3
Virginia Department of Accounts. Commonwealth Vendor Group Frequently Asked Questions
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3406 – Backup Withholding
5
Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding “B” Program
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRM 20.1.7 Information Return Penalties
7
Internal Revenue Service. Employment Tax Recordkeeping