W-9, settlement, oh hell no!! wtf

[jackson212]

i am on my last case. ive been suing like a madman in federal court and getting settlement checks sent in.

i have never encountered a situation where i had to file a w-9, so thats where i am now.

i sued for fdcpa, fcra, etc.

the settlement agreement does not explicitely spell out why im being paid, but generally says language to the effect that i sued them, and we are now settling. ive performed pursuant to the agreement. today i get a letter that before they can cut a check, they need me to send a W-9. nothing in the settlement agreement says anything about a W-9.

can i just say to hell with your W-9 and force the court to enforce the agreement? they are not the IRS and neither is the court, and i am ready to say to hell with them........or am i being unreasonable?

the amount is less than $2,000, more than $1,000 but i cant say more than that.

is there a law that says i have to send a W-9 before getting a settlement, ive never heard of anything like this before. i dont want to pay taxes on this, and i kinda wanna give them hell for even asking me to send a W-9 but like i i said this is new territory for me

[jackson212]

by the way, ive been gone for months, its good to be back around here.

i hope you crusaders are kicking some JDB and CA a$$. keep fighting the fight!!!

[Coltfan1972]

i am on my last case. ive been suing like a madman in federal court and getting settlement checks sent in.

Sorry I don't know the answer to your question, but I could not pass up a big, HELL YES, when I read this.

[crash5050]

Same here

[1stStep]

I set up a special LLC and got an EIN for all my lawsuit activity... that way I do not expose my SSN.

[TomnTex]

I set up a special LLC and got an EIN for all my lawsuit activity... that way I do not expose my SSN.

Besides doing this, I would also drag it out until after the 17th of this month so that they can't try something in this tax year. At least you might have another year to fight it if they do.

[1stStep]

It's too late ... anything like that had to be submitted by 2/15 of this year.

[Anza01]

Besides doing this, I would also drag it out until after the 17th of this month so that they can't try something in this tax year. At least you might have another year to fight it if they do.

Anything after the 17th of this year can't be claimed in 2012?

[BV80]

Welcome back, Jackson! Take off your coat, and stay a while.

WTG on your cases. Good job!

[Coltfan1972]

I set up a special LLC and got an EIN for all my lawsuit activity... that way I do not expose my SSN.

Nice !!

[Huey Pilot]

i am on my last case. ive been suing like a madman in federal court and getting settlement checks sent in.

i have never encountered a situation where i had to file a w-9, so thats where i am now.

i sued for fdcpa, fcra, etc.

the settlement agreement does not explicitely spell out why im being paid, but generally says language to the effect that i sued them, and we are now settling. ive performed pursuant to the agreement. today i get a letter that before they can cut a check, they need me to send a W-9. nothing in the settlement agreement says anything about a W-9.

can i just say to hell with your W-9 and force the court to enforce the agreement? they are not the IRS and neither is the court, and i am ready to say to hell with them........or am i being unreasonable?

the amount is less than $2,000, more than $1,000 but i cant say more than that.

is there a law that says i have to send a W-9 before getting a settlement, ive never heard of anything like this before. i dont want to pay taxes on this, and i kinda wanna give them hell for even asking me to send a W-9 but like i i said this is new territory for me

You are probably stuck. Rule is if you are an independent contractor and/or if you as a non-employee have performed work and been paid more than $600.00, those payouts/earnings are required to be reported to the IRS by the person/company (Payor) making the payment. They will have to send you a 1099 at the end of the year. For reporting on their side you have to fill out the W-9. It's no big deal. You can deduct your expenses against it not to exceed the amount paid. Like lottery winnings on the poker machine. If you put in 3000.00 and took out 2000.00 you can only expense the 2000.00. Pretty standard stuff across the industry. Suggest you not ignore it.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Same if you loose a law suit - send the JDB a for W-9 to fill out before you pay one penny.

Check out this link to the form and read the fine print instructions.

HP

Edited April 6, 2012 by Huey Pilot
Omission.

[WhoCares1000]

Yeah, that is the dirty secret about laws such as FDCPA and TCPA. Any settlements or rewards that you receive that do not cover actual damages are taxable. That is why they need the W9. The income is considered other income and you can expense any attorney's fees or stuff like that up to the amount you received from the court or settlement.

[1stStep]

If memory serves, judgments are not taxable, but settlements are.

[jackson212]

if i do NOT send a w-9, do they have a legal right to hold the settlement check and FORCE me to send it? nothing in the settlement agreement says anything about a w-9 form

if they do not send my check pursuant to the settlement agreement, do i have a legal right to ask the court to enforce the agreement?

ive done everything in the agreement i was supposed to

the agreement does not say whether this is for actual damages or not

Edited April 6, 2012 by jackson212

[Coltfan1972]

Why could the settlement agreement not just state the settlement is for actual damages. They could do the usual we dispute but in an effort to resolve we are paying 2K toward alleged emotional distress.

[Huey Pilot]

if i do NOT send a w-9, do they have a legal right to hold the settlement check and FORCE me to send it? nothing in the settlement agreement says anything about a w-9 form

if they do not send my check pursuant to the settlement agreement, do i have a legal right to ask the court to enforce the agreement?

ive done everything in the agreement i was supposed to

the agreement does not say whether this is for actual damages or not

I suspect this is a hedge to slow down or hold up the payment. Just a little push back to get you upset. If you don't send the W-9 they have all your SSAC information anyway and will just send you a 1099 Misc and report it to the IRS. Either way it will get reported so what's the difference. Medical settlements are non-taxable, so maybe you can call it an emotional stress settlement when you file your Itemized 1040 and/or if you have enough deductions probably won't be much taxes on 2000.00 anyway.

HP

[admin]

I think you are stuck with the W-9 as well.

But excellent work!

[1stStep]

Just go onlne and get an EIN...takes 5 minutes.

[legaleagle]

I think you'll have to conform. Playing around with the terms of the suit could be tax fraud. The judge will issue a decision awarding you let's say 1000 under the FDCPA. You can't claim that this is for anything else. You do NOT want to go there. Good news is you still have some JDB money to spend. Actual damages are not taxable. Anything statutory or punitive usually is, because it is found money.

[Huey Pilot]

We are all trying to straighten up our credit history and get a fresh start. What's the big deal with taxes. The more taxes you pay, usually the more money you are making. Just take your win and go. Chalk one up for the Pro Se good guys!

Why jump out of the frying pan after a win against the JDB just to jump into a pan of hot boiling oil with the IRS. It just isn't worth it. Paperwork and stress on a lawsuit is nothing compared with the amount you will have to endure with the Government. Worse yet - you can't sue them. Send the W-9 and get your check. File your taxes at the end of the year and get on with your life. We love your story! Don't let a bad conclusion ruin this great saga.

HP

[jackson212]

Ill ask this part again,. They have 20 days to issue me a check pursuant to the agreement. If I do not send the w-9 do they have a legal right to hold that settlement check? The second part is since the w-9 is not in the agreement do I have a legal right to have the court enforce the agreement?

Im not asking about whether to claim or not claim I just want to know whether they can legally hold up this settlement....do they have a legal stand

[1stStep]

It does not matter - current IRS regulations require them to obtain a tax ID number.

[BV80]

If no one knows the answer, I'd contact a tax attorney. If he's not sure, he could recommend the type of attorney who'd have that information.

[jackson212]

It does not matter - current IRS regulations require them to obtain a tax ID number.

Ok

If thats the case that kinda answers the question about the legality.

Thanks,

This is my last case, unless a jdb dares to contact me and violate the fdcpa.

[Huey Pilot]

Ill ask this part again,. They have 20 days to issue me a check pursuant to the agreement. If I do not send the w-9 do they have a legal right to hold that settlement check? The second part is since the w-9 is not in the agreement do I have a legal right to have the court enforce the agreement?

Im not asking about whether to claim or not claim I just want to know whether they can legally hold up this settlement....do they have a legal stand

The terms of the settlement agreement are enforceable. There is a post in the archives regarding a defendant whom had a settlement check coming and was being withheld. He filed a seizure order of some kind and the sheriff showed up at the attorneys office with intent of confiscating properties (Laser Printers, Servers, Computers) to be auctioned off to comply with the court order to play the defendant. The check was immediately paid on the spot precluding seizure and auction. I checked on the bond for that and it was about $600.00 in Oregon. That might be collectible also?????

On the hold up thing - same deal, if it's not in the terms Plaintiff has to comply with what is there. Personally I had a large check held up for 3 weeks by my own attorney for payment from an accident settlement. He claimed rules of his attorney trust fund required he had to be absolutely sure the check cleared before making any dispersion. Interest was higher then so I suspect he was trying to make a few interest points?

Attorneys???????

HP