IRS name control generator
The IRS matches a 1099 to its records by the TIN and a four-character name control taken from the name. If your name line produces a different name control than the IRS has, the form fails name/TIN matching.
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The rules, from Publication 1220
- Up to four characters: letters, digits, hyphens and spaces only. A hyphen or space is never first, and blanks can only come at the end, as in LO for Sunny Ming Lo.
- Individuals and sole proprietors: the first four characters of the last name. For a hyphenated last name, the first part. A sole proprietor's trade name is ignored.
- Two last names: for Spanish names, the first last name (Juan Garza Morales is GARZ). For a married name added without a hyphen, the second (Jane Smith Jones is JONE). "de", "del" and "de la" are part of the name (Elena de la Rosa is DELA).
- Corporations: the first four significant characters of the name. "The" is dropped when more than one word follows it (The Meadowlark Company is MEAD) and kept when only one word follows (The Flamingo is THEF).
- Partnerships: the trade name or dba first, otherwise the partnership name, with the same "The" rule. Some partnerships with EINs not assigned online use the last name of the first partner.
- Estates: the decedent's last name. If the estate's EIN was assigned online, the first four characters of the primary name line instead.
- Trusts: usually the individual's last name, but the rules depend on how the trust is set up and whether its EIN was assigned online. Check Publication 1220 for your case.
EINs assigned online start with 20, 26, 27, 45, 46, 47, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 or 86.
Examples from the IRS
| Name | Name control |
|---|---|
| Joe McCedar | MCCE |
| Brandy Cedar-Hawthorn | CEDA |
| Elena de la Rosa | DELA |
| Kim Van Nguyen | NGUY |
| The Meadowlark Company | MEAD |
| The Flamingo | THEF |
| George Giraffe PSC | GEOR |
| Rosie's Restaurant (partnership) | ROSI |
| Howard J. Smith, Estate | SMIT, or HOWA if the EIN was assigned online |
Using the name control in IRIS
IRIS CSV files have no name control column: IRIS works it out from the name you enter. That is why the name line matters. Put the person's legal name, not a nickname or a trade name, in the name fields, and use the name exactly as on the W-9. In a FIRE file, the name control was a field of its own in the B record, and the FIRE converter uses it to split names correctly.
Frequently asked questions
What is an IRS name control?
What is the name control for an LLC?
Does IRIS need the name control?
Sources
- IRS Publication 1220 (Rev. 5-2026), Part E, Exhibit 1 Name Control
- IRS Publication 1099 (2026), General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
Last reviewed November 1, 2026.