If your Ticketmaster account shows TIN matching as pending, it means the legal name and taxpayer identification number you entered haven’t yet been confirmed against IRS records. Usually the fix takes a few minutes: sign in, open your seller or tax information page, check that your name and nine-digit ID are entered exactly as they appear on your Social Security card or IRS assignment letter, and resubmit a Form W-9. If the mismatch stays unresolved, Ticketmaster is required to withhold 24% of your payouts and send that money to the IRS until it’s cleared.
What the Pending Status Actually Means
A Taxpayer Identification Number is the nine-digit code the IRS uses to identify every individual and business for tax purposes. For most people, that’s a Social Security Number. Businesses use an Employer Identification Number, and certain resident or nonresident aliens who can’t get an SSN use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.1Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers
Payment platforms like Ticketmaster are required to verify that the name and TIN you provide match what the IRS has on file before they issue you tax documents. They check this through the IRS TIN Matching Program, an electronic service that lets authorized payers confirm name-and-number combinations before submitting information returns.2Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Matching When the system can’t confirm your details, your account gets flagged as pending, and payouts are typically held or restricted.
Pending is not the same as a confirmed mismatch. It can mean the check is still running, the IRS database hasn’t caught up with a recent change, or something you entered has a small discrepancy that’s blocking a clean match. Whatever the cause, Ticketmaster can’t finalize your tax information until verification goes through.
Why Your Information Might Not Match
The single most common cause is a typo. One transposed digit in your SSN or a misspelled name is enough. Beyond that, a handful of situations trip people up:
- Name changes from marriage, divorce, or court order that were never updated with the Social Security Administration. The IRS pulls its name records from the SSA, so if the SSA still has your old name, the match fails.
- Nicknames or shortened names. Entering “Mike” when your Social Security card says “Michael,” or dropping a middle name the SSA has on record, causes a mismatch.
- Business name confusion. If you’re a sole proprietor, the TIN tied to your income is usually your SSN, not a separate EIN. Entering a business trade name where your personal legal name belongs breaks the match.
- Expired ITINs. An ITIN not used on a federal return for three consecutive years expires automatically, and other outdated information tied to it can cause the match to fail.3Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN
How to Clear the Pending Status
Sign in to Ticketmaster and pull up your tax or seller information page. Compare every character against your Social Security card, or against the IRS letter that assigned your EIN or ITIN. Look for transposed digits, missing hyphens, extra spaces, and name variations. This is where most fixes happen.
Once the information is right, Ticketmaster will ask you to submit a new Form W-9, the standard IRS form that certifies your legal name and TIN.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification If you’re a foreign individual, you’ll submit Form W-8BEN instead.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-8 BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)
After you resubmit, give it a few business days. Your updated information has to run back through the IRS TIN Matching system, and that turnaround isn’t instant. If nothing changes within a week, contact Ticketmaster support. Keep a copy of the W-9 you submitted along with any confirmation emails.
When the Problem Is a Name Change
This is where most people get stuck without knowing why. You changed your name months ago, updated your driver’s license, maybe even filed taxes under the new name, but never told the Social Security Administration. Until the SSA has your new name, the IRS TIN match will keep failing no matter how many times you resubmit.
To update your name with the SSA, request a replacement Social Security card showing your new legal name. Depending on your state and situation, you may be able to do this online. Otherwise, visit a local SSA office with proof of the change, such as a marriage certificate or court order. The new card typically arrives in the mail within 5 to 10 business days.6Social Security Administration. Change Name With Social Security
If the issue is a spelling error in IRS records specifically, you can correct that by calling the IRS at 800-829-1040 or by noting the correction when you file your next return.7Internal Revenue Service. Name Changes and Social Security Number Matching Issues Don’t resubmit your W-9 to Ticketmaster until the update has actually gone through. Resubmitting mismatched information just restarts a process that was never going to succeed.
What Happens If You Ignore It
Leave the mismatch unresolved and federal law requires Ticketmaster to begin withholding 24% of every reportable payment it sends you.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 26 – Section 3406 That 24% comes off the gross amount, before fees or expenses. The withheld money is sent to the IRS and credited against your tax bill for the year, but your cash flow takes an immediate hit.
Backup withholding is triggered when you don’t provide a TIN, when the IRS tells the payer your TIN is incorrect, when you’ve underreported interest or dividends, or when you fail to certify that you’re not subject to backup withholding.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 307 – Backup Withholding A pending status that eventually resolves as a mismatch falls into the second category. If the TIN is missing or obviously invalid (not nine digits, contains letters), the platform is supposed to start withholding right away without waiting for an IRS notice.10Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding B Program
Withholding won’t stop on its own. To turn it off, you have to give Ticketmaster a corrected W-9 that successfully passes TIN verification.
B-Notices If the Mismatch Keeps Failing
When a platform files information returns with TINs that don’t match IRS records, the IRS sends the platform a CP2100 or CP2100A notice listing every problem account.11Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP2100 or CP2100A Notice The platform then sends each affected payee a “B-Notice” telling you your name and TIN don’t match and that backup withholding may begin.
How you fix it depends on which notice it is:
- First B-Notice. Submit a properly completed and signed Form W-9 to Ticketmaster. If the new information matches on re-verification, withholding doesn’t start (or stops if it had already begun).
- Second B-Notice. A W-9 alone isn’t enough. You’ll need to provide a copy of your Social Security card, or, if you use an EIN, an IRS Letter 147C confirming the name and number. The IRS issues Letter 147C on request.10Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding B Program
A second B-Notice hits when the same payee appears on a CP2100 listing twice within a three-year period.10Internal Revenue Service. Backup Withholding B Program Getting Letter 147C means contacting the IRS directly; getting a replacement Social Security card means dealing with the SSA. Neither is difficult, but both take time, and 24% of your payouts keeps disappearing in the meantime.
Getting Withheld Money Back
Backup withholding isn’t a penalty you forfeit. The amounts withheld count as federal income tax payments, the same as paycheck withholding. When you file your annual return, you report the backup withholding as federal income tax withheld, and it’s applied to your total tax liability for the year.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 307 – Backup Withholding If total withholding exceeds what you owe, the IRS refunds the difference.
Your Form 1099 for the year will show the amount that was backup-withheld. Use that figure on your return. You have up to three years from the date you filed the return, or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later, to claim a refund for overpaid withholding.12Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund Miss that window and the money stays with the IRS. If you catch an error after filing, an amended return on Form 1040-X can claim the credit within the same deadline.