Payee Tax Information
How Greenroom collects tax IDs and handles W-4/W-9 tax forms
Greenroom handles two different kinds of tax information very differently. The payee's tax ID (SSN or EIN) is kept on the payee record when it's entered in Greenroom; when the payee enters it in our tax partner's secure setup instead, it's kept there. The W-4 / state withholding elections are always kept by our tax partner, the system of record for them. Greenroom's own database never stores filing status, dependents, or withholding allowances: a manager can transcribe values from a signed paper form on the payee's behalf, covered below, but even then they pass straight through to our tax partner rather than landing in Greenroom's database.
The company-side entry, replacement, tax-setup links, and private-document controls in this guide require Admin or Payroll. Approvers can read tax-setup status, but cannot reveal a full EIN or open private signed withholding or packet documents. A full SSN is never available on screen, to any role.
Tax ID and tax form by payee type
| Payee type | Tax ID | Tax form |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | SSN | Federal W-4 (plus state, if applicable) |
| Loan-out | EIN | Signed W-9 |
| Contractor | SSN | Signed W-9 |
| Vendor | EIN | Signed W-9 |
Loan-outs and vendors are treated as businesses and carry an EIN; employees and contractors are treated as individuals and carry an SSN, regardless of how either has actually structured their own tax affairs. A loan-out specifically must have an EIN — a single-member LLC filing under the owner's personal SSN can't be saved as a loan-out; see Payee Types for that rule.
Signing the W-9
For loan-outs, contractors, and vendors, the W-9 is part of the start-work packet and is signed with our tax partner, not uploaded. The payee signs it in their own setup, in the same session as the rest, with no approval first. Their Tax form (W-9) step reads "Complete your W-9 so you can be paid. It opens our tax partner's secure signing page over this one. Close it when you're done." Complete your W-9 opens that page over the whole screen, inside Greenroom, under a bar titled Your W-9 with Close. However the payee closes it, the step reads the W-9 back. When our tax partner already holds their tax ID but the W-9 isn't signed, for example after they entered the tax ID and closed the page before signing, the step's first sentence reads "Your tax id is with our tax partner. Sign your W-9 to finish it." instead. It shows W-9 complete once the W-9 is signed, or a signed copy of it is uploaded in Greenroom, even if the payee's payment method isn't finished there yet. If our tax partner is still confirming the tax ID by then, the step is done all the same: it adds "Our tax partner is confirming your tax ID. Nothing more is needed for your W-9.", their to-do list reads W-9 complete; confirming the tax ID, and the step's badge reads Payroll waits for tax ID. If our tax partner doesn't accept the tax ID, the step opens again with the reason, for example "Our tax partner did not accept the tax ID: it is not a valid number. Open your W-9 to correct it.", and the to-do list reads Tax ID not accepted; correct it in the W-9. A payee marked W-9 not required has nothing to sign: their Tax form (W-9) step is checked off with Nothing to sign and reads W-9 not required — exemption on file., with no button, their setup emails don't mention a W-9, and once they have a record with our tax partner, the W-9 card on their Profile reads W-9 not required — exemption on file.
Opening the W-9 also creates the payee's record with our tax partner, if nothing else in their setup has yet. That needs their legal name (or business name) and address saved first (until then the step reads "Finish your personal details first. Your tax form opens right after."), and your company connected to our tax partner, which happens when Greenroom approves your company. Once the payee's setup is approved, opening the W-9 no longer creates the record: for a payee approved without one, the step reads "Your tax form opens once [company] connects you to payroll. You can finish everything else now." until you choose Connect to payroll on their Finish payee setup. On your side, Finish payee setup shows where it stands: "Payee's step, not started yet — they sign their W-9 from the Tax form step in their portal." until the payee has a record with our tax partner, then "Waiting on the payee — they sign their W-9 from the Tax form step in their portal.", and once it's complete "W-9 complete — signed with our tax partner." While our tax partner is still confirming the tax ID, the complete line goes on "Our tax partner is confirming their tax ID, and payroll can't pay them until it is confirmed. Nothing more is needed from them for the W-9.", and the step's badge reads Payroll waits for tax ID here too. If our tax partner doesn't accept the tax ID, the line gives the reason, then "Waiting on the payee — they correct it from the Tax form step in their portal." A signed copy uploaded in Greenroom counts as the signature only when our tax partner holds no signature of its own, or its signature can't be read. The line then reads "W-9 complete — signed copy uploaded.", or, while our tax partner doesn't yet have everything the W-9 asks for, such as the tax ID, "Signed copy uploaded — their tax ID isn't confirmed with our tax partner yet.", and the setup's to-do list reads Signed copy uploaded; tax ID not confirmed yet. For a payee marked W-9 not required the line reads "W-9 not required — exemption on file." A W-9 that your company's own packet includes is left out of a start-work packet, with the note Completed in tax & payroll setup in this packet, so there's only ever one W-9 to sign. See Payee Onboarding for what else the packet holds.
Where the tax ID is entered
The tax ID lives as a field labeled SSN or EIN inside the Personal info (or Business info, for loan-outs and vendors) card on the payee detail page — it isn't a separate "Tax ID" page or tab. While a payee is still being set up (before approval), that card deliberately shows only name and contact info; the tax ID, date of birth, and address are collected later, in the finish-setup flow, where the tax ID field is labeled Social Security number or Business tax ID (EIN).
Who can enter the tax ID, and what clears the readiness item
A payee completing their own setup through their self-service portal never sees an SSN/EIN field in Greenroom. What happens next depends on the payee's type:
- Employees enter their Social Security number in our tax partner's secure tax setup, after approval. Once our tax partner has validated it, the readiness checklist marks the tax item done as Tax id kept with our tax partner, even though the SSN field on the payee's page stays empty, because the number is kept there rather than in Greenroom.
- Loan-outs, contractors, and vendors give their tax ID on the W-9, in our tax partner's flow. Once our tax partner holds it, the readiness checklist marks the tax item done as Tax id kept with our tax partner, with the SSN or EIN field on the payee's page left empty, and their Signed W-9 row on the Documents card stops being required: it reads optional, with the note Signed with our tax partner, or Tax id with our tax partner; W-9 not signed yet until they sign (Signed copy uploaded once a copy is uploaded to that row). A tax ID entered in Greenroom, while completing the packet on Finish payee setup or on the payee's Personal info or Business info card, clears the tax item as well, but then the signed W-9 upload stays required, and the checklist reads Collect required documents until one is uploaded, since our tax partner can then hold a tax ID that came from Greenroom with no W-9 signed for it. Once our tax partner shows the W-9 signed, though, it counts as the signed W-9 even with a tax ID in Greenroom: the Signed W-9 row reads optional with Signed with our tax partner, and the start-work packet card's W-9 row reads Complete under its own name. Where our tax partner's status was read before it began reporting signatures (October 17, 2026), it shows only that the tax ID is there, so that packet row is labelled Tax id with our tax partner instead, and it never reads as a signed W-9 beside a Documents card still asking for one. A payee marked W-9 not required owes no tax ID at all (see below).
Once a tax ID is stored in Greenroom, it's shown masked (•••-••-1234 for an SSN, ••-•••1234 for an EIN) with a Replace option — Greenroom never redisplays a stored number by default. A business's EIN can be viewed in full through an audited view action. A Social Security number can't be viewed on any Greenroom screen: the field's note reads "Greenroom shows only the last four digits of an SSN." The one place a full SSN appears is a union fund report PDF, for a union set up to print full SSNs on it. When one of the payee's engagements, past or present, is under such a union, the note says so: "The full number prints only on the [union] fund report PDF for an approved payroll they were paid on, which a teammate with Payroll or Admin can generate from Reports. Greenroom staff never see it." Replacing a number is a clean overwrite: there's no way to recover the previous value once it's replaced.
A W-9-exempt payee owes no tax ID at all
Mark a loan-out, contractor, or vendor W-9 not required and the payroll-readiness checklist stops asking for a tax ID entirely: the tax item isn't on their checklist at all, neither as a blocking gap nor as a "pending" note. The exemption records that no 1099 is owed for them, so there's no number for Greenroom to hold. See Payee Types.
This is different from a demo company, where the checklist reads "Demo — tax details are collected when this production goes live." That one says later; the exemption says never, and the two aren't interchangeable.
An Approver's fund report PDF keeps SSNs to their last four digits, even for a union whose authorized full report prints them. Fund report CSVs also keep only the last four.
The W-4 and state withholding are recorded through our tax partner
For employees, the actual federal W-4 and any state withholding forms are never stored in Greenroom's own database — the values live with our tax partner, the system of record. The forms open once the payee is approved, since approval is what sets the payee up there. On Finish payee setup, a manager picks one of three ways to get there, presented as an explicit choice ("How the W-4 gets recorded"):
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Payee completes it themselves | The payee fills out their W-4 (and state withholding) on our tax partner's secure pages. Once approval has connected them, Send tax setup link emails them the link; before approval the option explains that the W-4 "stays available after you approve their setup." A manager can send the link, but can't fill this one in on the payee's behalf. |
| Enter from a signed paper W-4 | A manager who physically holds the payee's signed paper Form W-4 (plus a state form like NY's IT-2104) transcribes its values straight to our tax partner, on the payee's behalf. This option is offered only once approval has connected the payee. It opens on the form fields; keeping a copy of the signed paper form is Optional and comes after, one slot per form ("Signed Form W-4", "Signed Form IT-2104"), kept with that entry. |
| Skip for now | Nothing to do yet: the W-4 doesn't hold up submitting or approving the setup, and it stays available after approval. Follow up with the payee afterward. (The option's own description reads "Defer the optional W-4 until after approval".) |
An unfinished W-4 doesn't stop payroll, but it costs the payee
The W-4 blocks neither onboarding nor payroll. An employee whose federal or state forms aren't finished is still paid, and our tax partner withholds at the standard single rate: in Greenroom's words, "Until they finish, taxes are withheld at the standard single rate, which can be more than they'd choose." The setup screens label the employee tax step Recommended before payroll, and the submit screen lists every such employee in a Tax forms not finished notice (see Processing Payroll). Payroll is still refused for an employee our tax partner itself reports as blocked, or whose status Greenroom can't read.
A loan-out's, contractor's, or vendor's W-9 is different. Until our tax partner holds their tax ID, it's labelled Required before payroll, and a run that includes them is refused (for example "[name]: W-9 not signed"), unless that payee is marked W-9 not required. While our tax partner is still confirming the tax ID, the refusal says so, for example "[name]: tax ID still being confirmed by our tax partner", and once the W-9 is finished, the setup's to-do list labels it Payroll waits for tax ID instead. Once it holds the tax ID, the W-9 reads Recommended before payroll and an unsigned W-9 no longer holds up payroll; their readiness checklist lists W-9 not signed as an advisory (a ready payee's chip reads Payroll-ready · W-9 not signed) until it is signed, or a signed copy is uploaded. A run is still refused, signed or not, while their payment method isn't finished with our tax partner, for example after they chose direct deposit there and stopped before adding an account: "[name]: payment method not finished with our tax partner. Ask them to finish it in their setup, or switch them to paper check."
The manager-entry path still doesn't make Greenroom the system of record
Even when a manager transcribes a signed paper W-4, the entered values pass straight through to our tax partner and are validated against its live form on the way — Greenroom's own database never stores the filing status, dependents, or withholding amounts. The manager-entry option is employee-only; contractors, loan-outs, and vendors sign their own W-9 instead. The signed paper W-4 itself (the physical document, not its values) can be uploaded and retained as a payee document, separately from the values sent to our tax partner.
On the employee's record
Whichever path was used, if the payee later completes (or corrects) their W-4 on our tax partner's own pages, our tax partner eventually publishes a signed copy — a teammate with Admin or Payroll can see and download it from a "Signed forms on file" list on the payee's record, once one exists. Greenroom only re-authorizes that download and passes it through; the file itself stays with our tax partner.
Day to day, an approved employee's record shows a Tax withholding card instead of the actual elections. It carries an overall status (Complete, Verifying while our tax partner checks the Social Security number, or Action needed) with a sentence saying what's left, for example "The payee needs to finish their tax forms. Until they finish, taxes are withheld at the standard single rate, which can be more than they'd choose. Send them the tax setup link.", and a row per form: Federal W-4 always, then exactly the jurisdictions our tax partner lists for the payee (such as NY IT-2104, or NYC withholding for a New York City resident). Once the forms are done and no jurisdiction is listed, the card shows a generic State withholding row marked Complete rather than naming a state. Each row reads Complete, Needs attention, or Not synced, reflecting what our tax partner has on file, regardless of which of the three paths above got it there. While something is still needed, Send tax setup link emails the payee their secure link and copies it for you. It sends to the email saved on their record, so while the record has unsaved changes it waits, with "Save your changes first: sending uses what's saved.", and for an archived payee it's refused until they're restored (see Archiving Payees). There's no Greenroom screen listing filing status, dependents, or additional withholding amounts, because Greenroom doesn't hold that data. Once the card reads Complete and every form on it does too, the record folds it under Show completed setup ([N]), below the payee snapshot (see An approved payee's record).
State and local tax
Which state and local taxes apply to a payee is worked out automatically from the payee's address and the jurisdictions our tax partner determines apply (or, before a company is fully connected to our tax partner, Greenroom's own estimate calculations) — there's no screen where you manually pick a payee's tax jurisdictions. If a payee's address changes in a way that affects their tax jurisdiction, update their address on the Personal info card; there's no separate jurisdiction field to maintain alongside it.
Best Practices
- For a loan-out, contractor, or vendor who isn't marked W-9 not required, have the payee complete their W-9 in their own setup early: until our tax partner holds their tax ID, a run that includes them is refused. If you enter the tax ID in Greenroom instead, upload their signed W-9 to the Documents card as well
- Double-check SSN/EIN entries before saving; a replaced value can't be recovered once overwritten
- Follow up directly with an employee whose W-4 is still outstanding after approval: until it's complete they're paid with withholding at the standard single rate
- Confirm loan-out EINs are genuinely the entity's EIN, not a rekeyed SSN
- Consult a tax professional for complex multi-state situations or unusual classifications
Next Steps
Continue with Role & Pay to configure pay rates and benefits, or see Union Configuration for union-specific settings.