Shopify requesting personal TIN when store is an INC ?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A business owner is questioning why Shopify is requesting the personal TIN/SSN of the company owner despite the business being incorporated with its own EIN.

The Issue:

  • Shopify is asking for personal tax information even though the business provided its corporate EIN
  • The owner has contacted Shopify twice, and both times supervisors promised to follow up but never did
  • Customer service representatives appear unfamiliar with the specific tax compliance requirements

Proposed Explanations:

  • One commenter suggests this relates to IRS 1099 reporting requirements, particularly for certain business structures (single-member LLCs, S-Corps, pass-through entities)
  • They recommend using the owner’s SSN as their personal TIN and escalating to Shopify’s Tax Compliance team

Owner’s Concerns:

  • Questions the legality of providing SSN to private companies (believes it should only go to government)
  • Previously had similar issues with Stripe’s payment setup in France
  • Cites past problems with Shopify’s tax guidance on sales tax collection, making them skeptical of advice
  • Plans to contact the IRS directly for clarification

Key Point: The owner emphasizes that incorporated businesses have separate legal identities with their own EINs, which should replace personal SSNs for tax purposes.

Status: Unresolved; owner awaiting IRS guidance.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Anyone has this request from Shopify ? We are an INC and gave our EIN, tax id info, but they want the persobal one from the owner. He does not have a TIN personnally. Unless we do not get the question

Contacted them twice, the customer service has no idea what it is about, told us after 30 min, someone would get in toucb but noone did

Anyone knows of this please ?

2

This is a common issue many business owners face with Shopify’s tax compliance requirements.
Why Shopify is asking for personal tax information:
Shopify needs to comply with IRS reporting requirements, particularly for 1099 reporting. Even though you have an INC with an EIN, they may still need the business owner’s personal tax information in certain situations, especially if:

  1. You’re a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship
  2. You’re the sole owner of an S-Corp
  3. Your business structure requires pass-through tax reporting

Regarding the TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number):
If the owner doesn’t have a separate TIN, they should use their Social Security Number (SSN). For individuals, the SSN serves as their TIN. There’s no separate application needed - the SSN is the TIN for personal tax purposes.
How to resolve this:

  1. Provide the owner’s SSN where Shopify asks for the personal TIN
  2. Contact Shopify again but ask to speak specifically with their “Tax Compliance” or “Payments Tax” team, not general customer service
  3. Try these contact methods:
  4. Use Shopify’s help center and search for “tax forms” or “1099”
  5. Submit a support ticket specifically categorized under “Payments” or “Tax Issues”
  6. Ask to escalate to a supervisor who handles tax compliance
3

Except, we are not to give the ssn except to the government.

I checked already.

Lousy Stripes payment did request when trying to set up a selling point in France and told them, they were not allowed to ask this.

Sometimes people request stuff that they have no right to.

Maybe i should contact IRS directly.

4

P.s like i said, contacted shopify twice and it was escalated to a supervisor twicewho was to contact me but never did.

They sometimes do stuff they do not understand or thought through.

5

Somethimg else I must mention is that I cannot trust what you or Shopify answer here because they were bugging us about charging taxes to customers. They had a beautiful response lile yours about compliance but had to exchange for hours with them to leave is alone because we check state by state’s rules every year on tĥe type of product that is taxable as well as shipping, the amount sold in each state required before charging taxes and they did not know this.

So, you understand i have to reach Irs but i read on their website in the past to never give away personal ssn

Will try to remember to come back here when i get an amswer

6

Here’s a more detailed explanation:

Corporations have their own identity:
When you incorporate your business, you create a separate legal entity from yourself. This entity, the corporation, has its own assets, liabilities, and tax obligations.

  • EIN replaces SSN:
    Instead of using the owner’s SSN, the corporation uses its own EIN for reporting income and taxes to the IRS

  • Compliance and identity:
    The EIN serves as the corporation’s primary identifier with the IRS and other regulatory bodies, ensuring proper tax compliance and identity verification.7

  • Protection:
    The EIN helps separate the personal and business finances and provides a layer of protection for the business owner’s personal assets