DBA IOLTA

Answer by Ken Golliher:In most states, a law firm can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a professional association. Unless it is prohibited by the rules of that state's supreme court, any one of them could do business under an assumed name. Any one of them could also use an employer identification number, but the IRS would greatly prefer that the sole proprietorship use the SSN of the sole proprietor.

Nevertheless, the contents of an IOLTA account and the interest it earns do not belong to the law firm. The interest goes to the state bar foundation, so the correct number for an IOLTA account is that of the state bar foundation. The account is not subject to information reporting; the fact that the account name and TIN do not match is not relevant as long as you suppress the 1099INTs.