Legal and tax information: who you are, what Stripe asks for, and how to change it

Before you can be paid, Stripe has to know who it's paying. That means your legal name, your taxpayer ID and, if you sell as a company, who owns it. This guide explains the three ways a US seller can be set up, exactly what Stripe asks for in each case, where you do it, and how to fix or change it afterwards.

Everything here is the platform's standing policy. Nothing in it changes per shop. It is a plain-English guide, not tax or legal advice — see the last section.

Who you are for tax purposes

Stripe asks this first, and everything else follows from the answer. Pick the one that matches how the IRS sees you, not how you think of yourself. If you're unsure, the letter the IRS sent when you registered is the fastest way to tell — and a tax professional is the right person to confirm it.

Individual or sole proprietor. You sell as yourself. You haven't registered a separate legal entity, or you've registered a business name but still file everything on your own personal tax return. Most independent makers are here. You'll be identified by your own legal name — the name on your Social Security card — and your SSN or ITIN. If you have an EIN as a sole proprietor you may use it, but the name on file is still yours, not a trade name.

Source: Etsy Help: How to Verify Your Seller Information for Etsy Payments · Etsy Help: How to Update Your Legal Name and Taxpayer Information · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/identity-verification (Business structure → United States, sole_proprietorship)

Single-member LLC — a "disregarded entity." You've registered an LLC with your state, you're its only member, and you file its income on your personal return. The IRS calls this a disregarded entity: for federal tax purposes the LLC and you are the same taxpayer. Stripe classifies this as a single-member LLC.

The plain-English test: find the letter the IRS sent when you got your EIN. If it says "sole mbr" next to your name, you are probably a disregarded entity. Talk to a tax professional to confirm — the letter is a strong hint, not a ruling.

Because the IRS treats the LLC's income as yours, your tax form is generally issued in your own name and SSN, not the LLC's name and EIN, even though the LLC is what's registered. Stripe's tax-reporting tools follow the same rule (not yet accountant-confirmed).

One exception: a single-member LLC that has elected to be taxed as a corporation counts as a corporation, not as a disregarded entity. If you filed IRS Form 8832 or 2553 to make that election, use the next branch.

Source: Etsy Help: How to Update Your Legal Name and Taxpayer Information ("What if I file taxes as a disregarded entity in the US?") · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/identity-verification (Business structure → United States, single_member_llc and private_corporation) · https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/single-member-limited-liability-companies

Multi-member LLC or corporation. Your business has more than one owner, or it's incorporated, or it's a single-member LLC that elected corporate tax treatment. You'll be identified by the business's legal name and EIN exactly as registered with the IRS — again, the IRS letter shows the matched name and number — and Stripe will also need to know who owns it (see the next section).

Source: Etsy Help: How to Update Your Legal Name and Taxpayer Information ("I'm registered as a business (entity)") · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/identity-verification (Business structure → United States, multi_member_llc, private_corporation)

What Stripe asks for

Stripe collects this, not us. The labels below are the ones you'll see in Stripe's onboarding form.

You are	Stripe asks for
Individual or sole proprietor	Legal name · Date of birth · Home address · SSN (or ITIN; an EIN if you hold one as a sole proprietor) · your bank account
Single-member LLC (disregarded entity)	Everything above for you as the owner, plus the LLC's Entity name and Legal business address, and its EIN if it has one
Multi-member LLC or corporation	Entity name · Legal business address · EIN · Beneficial owners who own 25% or more (each one's legal name, date of birth, home address and SSN) · a representative who can act for the business · your bank account

Two things to expect. Stripe checks the name-and-TIN pair against IRS records, and it checks identity against government databases. If either check can't be completed from the details alone, Stripe may ask you to upload a government-issued photo ID — a driver's licence, state ID or passport — directly into its form. That request comes from Stripe, inside Stripe's pages.

Source: Etsy Help: How to Verify Your Seller Information for Etsy Payments (field lists for individual and business enrolment; ID upload criteria; owners of at least 25%) · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/identity-verification (owner information required for private companies; verification and document requests) · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/required-verification-information (canonical US field list)

Where you do it

Go to Settings → Legal & tax (/settings/legal-tax) and start Stripe onboarding from there. That opens Stripe-hosted onboarding: a set of Stripe pages, on Stripe's domain, where you enter and submit everything above. When you finish, Stripe sends you back to Why Stationery.

We never see or store your ID, your SSN or EIN, or your date of birth. Stripe collects it, verifies it and keeps it. What Why Stationery keeps is a status snapshot — which requirements are complete, due or past due, the deadline if there is one, and your business type — plus our own log of when we contacted you about it. That is deliberate: the fewer places your identity lives, the fewer places it can leak from.

You can come back to Settings → Legal & tax any time. If Stripe still needs something, the same page reopens onboarding at the step that's missing.

Source: https://docs.stripe.com/connect/hosted-onboarding (Stripe-hosted onboarding via Account Links) · Why Stationery Decision 1, 2026-09-02: Stripe verifies; the platform never stores government IDs, SSN/EIN/TIN or date of birth

Updating after you submit

Your legal name, taxpayer ID, address and bank account are edited at Stripe, not here. Go to Settings → Payments (/settings/payments) and choose Manage payouts at Stripe. That opens your Stripe Express Dashboard. Open Account settings to edit personal or business information and the bank account you're paid to.

Date of birth and entity type can't be edited there. Those only change through Stripe Support, and changing entity type (for example, from individual to LLC) usually means Stripe verifies you again from the start. Contact Stripe Support from inside the Express Dashboard.

Expect a change to your name or taxpayer ID to re-trigger verification. Stripe re-checks the new pair against IRS records, may ask you to accept its terms of service again, and may pause your payouts until the new details verify. Orders keep coming in while that happens; only the payout waits. Make these changes when you can afford a short delay, and make them before December 31 so the year's tax form carries the right details.

Source: https://docs.stripe.com/connect/hosted-onboarding (account_update links can't be created for accounts with a Stripe-hosted Dashboard, so edits happen in the Express Dashboard) · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-dashboard (Account settings: personal or business information and payout bank accounts) · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-dashboard-taxes (name, TIN and address editable by the account owner; date of birth and entity type via Stripe Support; incorrect name–TIN pairs can pause payouts) · Etsy Help: What Do I Need to Know About My 1099-K Tax Form? (December 31 accuracy date)

If Stripe can't verify you

Your payouts pause until it's fixed. Nothing else stops: your listings stay live, orders still arrive, and you must still fulfil them. The money simply waits in your Stripe balance until Stripe has what it needs.

You'll know two ways. Stripe shows the outstanding requirement as a banner in your Express Dashboard, and we email you — from legal@whystationery.com — telling you that something is due, what kind of thing it is, and the deadline if Stripe has set one. Our Settings → Legal & tax card shows the same status.

The fix is always the same: go to Settings → Legal & tax and start Stripe onboarding again. Stripe reopens it at the step it needs. Stripe tells us which requirement is outstanding and the kind of problem — a document that couldn't be read, a name that didn't match — but never the underlying data, so our email describes the category and Stripe's own pages show you the detail.

We will never ask you to email us an ID, a Social Security number, an EIN or bank details. Not as an attachment, not as a photo, not "just the last four." Every request for that information comes from Stripe, inside Stripe's own pages, reached from your Why Stationery settings. If an email claiming to be us asks for any of it, it isn't us — forward it to legal@whystationery.com and delete it.

Source: https://docs.stripe.com/connect/handle-verification-updates (requirements, deadlines and the remedy: a fresh onboarding link) · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-dashboard (Notification banner collects currently due requirements) · Etsy Help: How to Verify Your Seller Information for Etsy Payments ("legally unable to share what specific information is unverifiable") · Why Stationery Decisions 1 and 3, 2026-09-02 (Stripe holds the PII; notices come from legal@whystationery.com)

Your bank account name must match your legal name

The account Stripe pays into must be in the same name you verified — your own legal name if you're an individual or sole proprietor, the business's legal name if you're an LLC or corporation. A personal account under a business registration, or a business account under a personal registration, will fail Stripe's checks and hold your payouts.

Change your bank account in the Express Dashboard (Settings → Payments → Manage payouts at Stripe → Account settings). Check the next payout date there after any change.

Source: Etsy Help: How to Update Your Legal Name and Taxpayer Information ("the name on your bank account must match the name or business entity you have provided") · https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-dashboard (bank accounts managed in Account settings)

We can't give tax advice

Why Stationery can tell you how our system works and what Stripe will ask for. We can't tell you which entity type you are, whether you owe tax, what you can deduct, or how to read the letter the IRS sent you. Those questions belong to a tax professional, and the answers depend on facts about your business that we don't have and don't want.

If you're not sure which of the three branches above applies to you, stop and ask before you submit. Choosing the wrong one isn't fatal — but fixing it later means re-verification, a possible payout pause, and a call to Stripe Support.

Source: Etsy Help: How to Update Your Legal Name and Taxpayer Information ("Etsy is unable to provide sellers with specific tax advice") · Etsy Help: What Do I Need to Know About My 1099-K Tax Form? ("When do I need to talk to a tax professional?")