Requiring a W-9 for buying a banner spot on a site?
 

I had someone contact me about buying a banner spot on one of my blogs. After a few emails we agreed on a price etc. So I sent him an invoice as per his request and today he sent me back an email telling me that that since I am in the US he will need me to fill out a W-9 form. Is that normal? I have sold banner spots in the past and never had anyone ask this. To me it is a media buy and the invoice should be good enough for his tax records.

think it's accounting CYA

yes normal

Whether you give or receive
 

Whether you give or receive money you have to fill out a 1099 or 1099-Misc
Generally it's a $600 threshold, but there are lower amounts.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-...rmation-Return

I guess I was wrong about this. I just assumed it was like buying traffic from someone.

I'm not an accountant, but I do not believe a W9 us necessary to buy from an established business. Who 1099s Staples or Google? Same thing. In my experience, companies in adult which seek a W9 are bad credit risks and are hoping they get a freebie when some people don't want to give out that data. I've been very agreeable over the years with adult companies who asked for my info and they attached wrong info to my social. No more.

That was my thought as well. Over the years I have sold banners, links and posts and I have bought traffic, banners and links etc and I have never had anyone ask me for a W9 before buying something from me. I can see it I was getting hired to do a job for them as a contractor because I do that kind of stuff all the time, but if you bought an ad spot on google you wouldn't ask them for a W9.

It caught me a little off guard.

We're all slaves to a fucking pathetic system of filling out forms so we can be a slave to taxation. It's better to be a hamster in a cage running on a wheel all day.

I should add that none of the companies which seemed suspicious to me ever 1099ed me. So, whatever they thought they were doing, it wasn't that.

You should be exchanging this information on traffic buys too. It is how you prove to the IRS that the money was spent on your business and therefore should not be taxed as profits.

If they are a publicly traded company it's required by the SEC.

For B2B one-time purchases, no matter the size? Like I said, I'm not an accountant. Do you have a link to anything which says that is a rule for the SEC or IRS? I'm happy to learn, although it has been my experience that only poor payers request that sort of thing.

We were recently contacted by the IRS and said we need to get W-9s from any provider we write off as an expense.

There must be some sort of rule for what does and does not count and I just don't think it could be everything. For example, if you take business associates out for dinner, I'm sure you don't get a W9 from Ruth's Chris. When you buy office supplies, you don't get a W9 from Amazon or Staples.

So does anyone have a link to a government site with info on when this should be applied?

Well, without putting too much thought into it; Ruth's Chris would be filed under entertainment; Amazon & Staples probably supplies. Service providers not exactly the same.

That being said, we thought it was a weird request, but got the W9 anyway

Just wondering how one would define service providers for tax or SEC filing purposes. Would an attorney count? I don't really think advertising as exactly a service.

If the attorney is on retainer; probably. Not sure about the advertising unless it is a monthly thing.

I charge for service and ads and receive payments as a corporation.

Never had anyone ask for W-9 once they realized the checks were not made out to me.

you cant tell people how to do their taxes LOL

Wait for it; we just recently received our mail from the IRS. I doubt that you are special

guess I'm going to contact my accountant next week.

About what I was thinking!

Good idea

That's just the basic instructions which say people who work for you on a contract basis need to be 1099ed. Advertising is a product which exists whether or not someone buys it, so it seems unlikely that it's sale is somehow employee-like work.

Pretty sure my accountant thought that was weird for someone to ask for that info and I'm not seeing any kind of official IRS or even SEC link in this thread with any special case details.

as far as I know, when you are paying a corporation you do not need w9... when paying a "sole proprietor" you DO need one... for that case there is $600 rule, but really, paying some random person few states away is kinda suspicious so probably safest to get w9 + invoice to make sure you are covered...

but when paying a corporation, an established business, that has a website, etc... w9 is not required... that's why you don't get w9 from your host or when buying some computer hardware from newegg or photoshop subscription from adobe...


Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, this is just my opinion, contact your local accountant/lawyer for details

Get a CPA's opinion or an IRS enrolled agent (Accounting certification).
You are possibly liable in an audit situation for 28% backup witholding if you pay anyone without first obtaining a W9 and verifying the taxpayer ID.

If you want to try to decipher the fine print ...
http://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw9/ar02.html