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Create IRS Bulk TIN Matching File

Nina Tchistiakova Updated by Nina Tchistiakova

The IRS e-Services TIN Matching program can be used to verify the Tax Identification Numbers of payees of reportable payments subject to backup withholding (1099 payees). Using the service can help the payer avoid getting IRS CP2100 notices, Notice of Possible Payee TIN Discrepancy, if the TIN/name combination on the information return does not match IRS tax records.

With TIN matching, you may:

• Verify up to 25 TIN/name combinations online and receive immediate results.

• Upload electronic files of up to 100,000 TIN/name combinations and usually receive results the next government business day.

Note that the TIN Matching requires registration for both IRS e-Services and for the TIN Matching service. See the IRS Pub 2108A for proper use of the service.

IRS Pub 2108A specifies these requirements in order to register for TIN Matching in the FAQ section:

6. Who will be able to use the TIN Matching Program and how will it help me to reduce errors on my payee TINs?

Payers or their authorized agents, who submit Forms 1099-INT, DIV, PATR, OID, MISC, NEC and/or B* to IRS may be eligible to enroll in the e-Services TIN Matching program. 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.

The TIN Matching program currently cannot enroll payers who do not submit at least one of these six forms, nor employers submitting Forms W-2, to use the TIN Matching system. Payers may only perform TIN Matching for the TIN/Name combinations for income subject to backup withholding and reported on Forms 1099-B, DIV, INT, MISC, NEC, OID and/or PATR.

7. What is an authorized agent?

An individual or company contracted to transmit information returns to the IRS on behalf of the payer firm. This would include third party service providers, transmitters, service bureaus, etc. An authorized agent must perform TIN Matching research under the account established by the payer firm through eServices.

See also, SSN Verification Upload File to verify employee social security numbers.
Utilities menu - Create IRS Bulk TIN Matching File... (to create the file)
Utilities menu - Read IRS Bulk TIN Matching File... (to read the file)

CFS supports the TIN Matching service through these menu functions by creating a properly formatted file with the TIN/name combination of all vendors checked as 1099 payees entered in the Vendor Payment list, or all 1099-B, -DIV, -INT, -MISC, -NEC, and -PATR form recipients for the currently selected employers in the Client List. The payees of multiple employers may be submitted in the file by selecting multiple employers prior to selecting the menu function. Because the results file can be difficult to interpret, the "Read IRS Bulk TIN Matching File..." was created to read and summarize it for you. Follow these steps to create the TIN Matching Bulk File:

  1. Select the desired employers in the Client List.
  2. Select the "Create IRS Bulk TIN Matching File..." menu item on the Utilities menu of the main screen.
  3. If the user is licensed for only the 941 Payroll program, then the file will be created from the vendors checked as 1099 payees in the Vendor Payment list. If the user is licensed for only the W-2/1099 program, then the file will be created from all 1099-B, -DIV, -INT, -MISC, -NEC, and -PATR form recipients. If the user is licensed for both the 941 Payroll program and the W-2/1099 program and they have both been released (typically late summer), then the user must select whether the employee file will be created from the vendors in the Vendor Payment list or from Forms 1099-B, -DIV, -INT, -MISC, -NEC, and -PATR recipients. Click the appropriate button. A message will be displayed with the file name and path. This file name and path has also been copied to the Windows Clipboard so that it can be pasted into the e-Service's browse window when uploading the file using CTRL+V.
  4. Log into the IRS e-Services TIN Matching website.
    1. Select the organization that begins (TIN M) when logging in (requires prior registration).
    2. Click the "Accept" button.
    3. Click the "Begin Bulk TIN Session" button.
    4. Click the "Browse" button to select the file.
    5. With the cursor in the File Name box, press and hold CTRL and press V (CTRL+V). This should paste the file name and path created in Step 3 into the File Name box. If it does not paste in, then the user must navigate to locate the file name and path that was displayed in Step 3. When the file name is in the File Name box, click the "Open" button (some browsers may use different wording).
    6. Enter an email address to get notification when the results are ready.
    7. Click the "Submit" button. A message will display indicating that the file was submitted.
    8. You will get an email notifying you that the results have been put in your e-Services Maibox.
    9. Check the results (typical process time is minutes to one day)
    10. Log into IRS e-Services (see Step 4 above).
    11. Click the "Mailbox" link at the top center.
    12. Click the link for the TIN Matching results file.
    13. Click the link to "Download" the attachment. Be aware of where the attachment is saved.
    14. Because the results can be difficult to interpret, use the "Read IRS Bulk TIN Matching Results File... " on the CFS Payroll Utilities menu on the main screen. This function will read and summarize the results file for you.
    15. Navigate to and select the saved results file and click "Open".
    16. A summary of the results will be displayed on the screen. If there are any failed TIN/name combinations, then the user will have the option to print the results.
    17. The user can then determine how to correct the TIN/names based on the reason for failure.
Successfully matched TIN/name combinations will be written to a file. Entries in this file will be excluded from future submissions because it is not necessary, or desirable, to resubmit TIN/name combinations that did not fail.

Summary of Possible Result Codes

The result code appears in the last column next to each TIN/name combination in the returned results file.

“0” – indicates the name/TIN combination matches IRS records.

“1” - indicates TIN was missing or TIN is not a 9 digit number.

“2” – indicates TIN entered is not currently issued.

“3” – indicates the name/TIN combination do not match IRS records.

"2" and "3" are common failure codes. Check to be sure the number is entered correctly and is the formatted for the proper type (SSN or EIN) in the CFS program.

“4” - indicates an invalid TIN Matching request.

“5” – indicates a duplicate TIN Matching request.

“6” - (matched on SSN), when the TIN type is (3), unknown, and a Matching TIN and name control is found only on the NAP DM1 database.

“7” - (matched on EIN), when the TIN type is (3), unknown, and a matching TIN and name control is found only on the EIN/NC database.

“8” - (matched on EIN and SSN), when the TIN type is (3), unknown, and matching TIN and name control is found only on both the EIN/NC and NAP DM1 databases.

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Can forms be printed to separate PDF files for each recipient?

Create SSN Verification Upload File

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