8. The Case of the TIN Match

PREVIOUSLY: THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE SCHEDULED FORMS

Since uncovering Tax1099’s “schedule your filing” feature, Walter had been walking on air. The scheduling feature allowed Walter to set up his forms ahead of time. If he needed to make edits before the scheduled date, he could do so without filing a corrected form.

“Filing taxes,” he thought, with a good-humored smile … What he had once considered to be a complicated process was becoming clear, with the help of Tax1099.

Walter had to wonder what else Tax1099 could do to simplify his tax season. What features still remained to be discovered? Was there anything Tax1099 couldn’t do?

THIS WEEK

With sudden urgency, Walter decided he would make a list of his ideal efiling platform. 

1. A software that could help with vendor management and collecting vendor information.
2. A solution that could integrate with accounting software and Excel spreadsheets.
3. A platform with easy-to-use form editing capabilities.
4. A method for scheduling forms to be submitted to the IRS and states.

So far, so good. Tax1099 had the tools Walter was looking for. But there was one big piece of the puzzle Walter hadn’t looked into yet: TIN matching.

Walter had heard of TIN matching from his grandmother, the founder of a dog walking business. His grandmother excelled at finding ways to keep herself out of trouble with the IRS. One of her favorite ways of avoiding trouble had always been TIN matching.

“Now, Walter,” his grandmother had said, “There’s something that you need to know. It’s important that your vendor’s Taxpayer Identification Number matches the vendor’s name in the IRS’ system.”
“But, why?” Walter had asked.
“If you file with incorrect information, you could face penalties from the IRS. Even if you file with information the vendor gave you.”

Walter had determined never to cross paths with the IRS again. So, he decided to get back to investigating Tax1099’s features. How could he check vendor TIN-name combinations? 

Opening his browser to Tax1099, Walter tabbed over to the “People.” He selected “Manage Recipient.”

From the top of the table, Walter selected “Bagel, Bread, & Butter” as the Payer. His recipients loaded into the table.

In the action column for each recipient, he saw a “Request TIN Match” button.
“Hmm,” he thought, curious.

He selected the button, and a message came up: “Click OK to request the TIN match.”

“A-ha!” So that was how Walter could request an individual TIN match. Requesting the match would check the combination against the IRS database. The results could take up to 48 hours to return, depending on the traffic going through the IRS’ system. 

The notification sound from his phone startled Walter. He had a new email from Tax1099, confirming the TIN match request.

But what if he wanted to request TIN matches for all his vendors at once?

Walter glanced across the page. One of the blue buttons above the table read, “Bulk TIN Match.”
Walter selected the check boxes to the left of a couple of his vendors, then clicked on the Bulk TIN Match button.

A notification popped up: “Click on Proceed to request bulk TIN match.”

To the left of the Action column, Walter spied a “TIN Status” column, with a “sort by” option. This must be where the TIN match results would display.

Very good. Walter had cracked another case, and in record time.

RECAP

Walter found Tax1099’s vendor management tools organized under the People > Manage Recipients tab. From the Manage Recipients screen, Walter could request TIN matches. The results of a TIN match would show in the same screen. Walter could sort the table by rejected TIN matches, if any should come back rejected.

NEXT WEEK

Walter wondered what else he would learn over the next couple weeks. He wandered out of his office into the main floor of his bakery.
The bagels were looking especially delicious. He sneaked one from the display case, and snatched a Texas-shaped pat of butter from the fridge.
Then, he stopped.
Texas.
He smacked a palm to his head. He had forgotten all about state filing requirements!
It seemed he had his next mystery.