Response to Letter 6112 or 6112-A: TINs were on file at the time of payment

Template from tincompliance.com. A written response to IRS Letter 6112 or 6112-A from the Campus Backup Withholding unit (Covington, KY). Under IRM 4.19.26.10.6.1 and 4.19.26.10.7.2 the only response that relieves a payer of backup withholding on a payee listed with a missing TIN is a signed written statement that the payee TINs were on file when the reportable payments were made, accompanied by the TINs. Corrected 1099s alone, explanations about software or staff changes, oral statements, and truncated TINs are rejected (IRM 4.19.26.10.7.4, 10.7.7, 10.1.2, 7.1). Respond within 30 days of the letter; one 30-day extension is available. Not legal advice; have your adviser review.

[Company legal name]

EIN: [00-0000000]

[Address on file with the IRS]

[Date]

Internal Revenue Service

Attn: Backup Withholding

P.O. Box 122658

Covington, KY 41012

Re: Letter [6112 / 6112-A] dated [letter date]; Form 945 for calendar year [year]; List of Payees enclosed with the letter

Statement that payee taxpayer identification numbers were on file at the time of payment

Dear Sir or Madam:

[Company] responds to the above letter, which proposes backup withholding under IRC 3406 on payments reported on Forms [1099-NEC / 1099-MISC / other] for [year] to the payees listed with a missing taxpayer identification number (TIN).

1. The payee TINs were on file when the payments were made

For each payee identified below, [Company] had obtained the payee's TIN before the first reportable payment of [year] was made, and relied on it in good faith. The TIN was omitted from the information return as filed because of [describe the reporting error in one sentence, for example: a mapping error in the export from the vendor master to the filing software]. The omission was a reporting error; it was not a failure to obtain the TIN before payment.

The schedule below lists each payee on the List of Payees, the payee's full TIN, the date the TIN was received, the document it was received on, and the date of the first [year] payment. Full TINs are shown as the IRS requires; none is truncated.

Copies of the Forms W-9, each dated and signed by the payee on or before the first payment, are enclosed as Exhibit A. [If a TIN was documented other than on Form W-9: the dated record on which it was received is enclosed; the IRM does not require the information in any particular form (IRM 4.19.26.10.7.2).]

2. Payees for which no TIN was on file at the time of payment [delete if none]

For the payees listed below, [Company] did not have a TIN on file when the [year] payments were made and does not contest the computed backup withholding for those payees. [Company] has obtained the TINs since and has [begun backup withholding / stopped payments] pending the TIN. [If applicable: Forms 4669 signed by these payees, showing that the payees reported the income and paid the tax, are enclosed as Exhibit B with Form 4670, and [Company] requests relief from the tax under IRC 3402(d) as applied by IRC 3406(h)(10).]

3. Payees who are exempt from backup withholding [delete if none]

The following payees are exempt recipients under Treas. Reg. 31.3406(g)-1 [corporations / tax-exempt organizations / government entities]: [names and the basis for each, with evidence such as the entity's IRS determination or public registration]. No amount was withheld from these payees and none was reported as withheld.

4. Form 945 and liability schedule

[Choose one:] (a) No backup withholding was required for [year] for the reasons above, and no Form 945 is due. / (b) A signed Form 945 for [year] is enclosed, reporting backup withholding of $[amount] on the payees in section 2, together with [Form 945-A / the monthly summary on line 7] showing the liability by period. [Deposits of $[amount] were made on [dates]; confirmations are enclosed.]

Include the liability schedule with any Form 945 you enclose. Under IRM 4.19.26.9.6, without it every deposit is treated as more than 15 days late and penalized at 10%. Filing or signing a Form 945 preserves eligibility for First Time Abate on the penalties; a return the IRS prepares under IRC 6020(b) does not (IRM 4.19.26.11.2.4).

5. Request

[Company] requests that the proposed backup withholding for the payees in section 1 [and section 3] be withdrawn and that the case be closed [with no change / with the enclosed Form 945 accepted as filed]. [If penalties are proposed on the amount in section 2: [Company] requests First Time Abate of the failure-to-file and failure-to-deposit penalties; no penalties have been assessed on Form 945 for the three preceding years and all required returns have been filed. / [Company] requests abatement of the penalties for reasonable cause, as follows: ...]

Please direct any questions to [name, title], [phone], [email]. Written correspondence should be sent to the address above.

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this statement, including the accompanying schedule and exhibits, and to the best of my knowledge and belief it is true, correct and complete.

[Signature]

[Name], [Title: an officer of the company]

[Date]

Enclosures: Exhibit A, Forms W-9 [and dated TIN records]; [Exhibit B, Forms 4669 and Form 4670]; [Form 945 for [year] with liability schedule and deposit confirmations]