Taxpayer asks:
Hi there. I work for a church that has musicians perform on a regular basis (at least once a month). We cut them a check each time they perform; nothing is run through payroll. Do they need to fill out a W-9? If yes, what do I need to do on my end? Appreciate any help you can offer.
Taxgirl says:
If you intend to treat the musicians (who I am assuming are not incorporated) as independent contractors, then you should have them fill out a form W-9. I don’t know the going rates for musicians these days (as a pretty sad trombone player and only a decent floutist, I can’t say) but I’m guessing that it is likely that you would pay out more than $600 in a taxable year. To ensure that you’re in compliance at the end of the year, I would issue a form W-9 to the musicians in advance of their performances. If you’ve already paid out some for 2009, just issue one now, no worries. It’s just easier to do it at the beginning in case there are compliance or backup withholding issues.
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I couldn’t resist.
Hi there…We had a guy sell some vehicles for us on a commission type basis ~ on a couple of transactions ~ he would mail me the total sales amount or have it wired into our business account and then he would ask me to issue back to him a commission check, yet he had me make it out to his daughter and then have me deposit into his daughter’s account ~ I want to 1099 him for these commission amounts, but he will not respond to me a W-9 form ~ I realize now that he is trying to dodge taxes, but did not think that at the time ~ until the request to deposit it into his daughter’s account (which I thought was odd) ~ is there any way to report him to the IRS as refusing to give out his TIN/SSN? Thanks so much!
Darcy