What is the IRS thinking,"Do as I say not as I do"? Effective August 7th we were to start using the new backup withholding percentage of 30.5%, however the IRS has not updated their own W-9 on the Internet. Does anyone know when they are going to update their form?

I never thought I'd be an apologist for the IRS, but updating the form would not be high on my priority list. They've got their hands full sending out those little advance payments of next year's refunds.

I'm confused? As far as I know, the W-9 on the IRS website is the updated version. It has a December 2000 revision. Am I missing something?

The current version of the W9 form alludes to backup withholding at the old 31% rate. Perhaps we should keep this version around for ten years from now, when the 31% rate will default back (unless Congress has the courage to make parts of the Tax Reform Act permanent).

Here's an excerpt from Cheryl Riedlinger's
(The Tax Reporting Group) handout at the June ABA Regulatory Compliance Conference:

Under the Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 the backup withholding rate decreases from 31% to 30.5% this year, and then an additional small amount each year to reach 28% by 2006. This change is effective within 60 days after enactment, i.e. August 7, 2001. It will require reprogramming and a change to IRS substitute Forms W-9, W-8, etc. which refer to a specific 31 percent backup withholding rate. Due to the phase-in of the new rates over five years, banks should revise forms to include a reference to "backup withholding under Section 3406 of the Internal Revenue Code" and not indicate a specific rate to avoid annual and costly revision of forms.