Sole Proprietor or Partnership for a Married Couple?

[Travis Rush]

Hello everyone, my wife and I are just starting out and we were hoping for some guidance on an issue.

Basically we are trying to fill out a W-9 and aren't sure if we should be a "sole proprietor" or a "partnership." My limited understanding is that in a community property state (such as Arizona) a married couple can be considered a sole proprietor. I have been looking for a CPA, but I was hoping for some advice in the meantime.

We first purchased the property in May of 2022. It is a single family home and we are renting out by the bedroom while living in the master bedroom.

The issue is that one of the applicants we received is in a program for human trafficking victims and the first few months of her rent would be paid by a scholarship from a local church. Her background and credit history are all fine and I don't have a problem with any of this. The church has asked that I provide a W-9. I've read some forum posts and learned that this isn't too unusual, but I'm not sure how I should go about filling out Section 3 of the form.

Any help is much appreciated. Also if you know any CPAs that are familiar with the house hacking strategy in the Phoenix area, I would appreciate their contact informaton.

[Travis Rush]

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I wanted to post the resolution here just in case someone eventually gets here via a search. I ended up choosing "sole proprietor" thanks to the advice above.