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Is a Rebate Payment 1099 Reportable?

Question

Our Transportation department gives certain customers a 5% discount up front on their bill, and then later (twice per year) will issue them a check for another 5% rebate if they are still an active customer and continue to use our hauling services.

Would the 5% rebate payment be 1099 reportable?  I'm not sure if this should be considered a refund, which wouldn't be reportable, or if it should be considered income since they have to meet certain criteria in order to get it (i.e. be an active customer). 

If it is reportable, would it go in box 3 (Other) since it's not really compensation for any services performed?

Answer

A key point to begin:

In general product customer rebates are not taxable income.

But this is a unique situation.

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Holding a Promotion Where Award Scholarship Money to Students: How Does the Reporting Work?

Question

We would like to hold a promotion where we award money to students to be used as a scholarship at a university/college.  We would actually pay the university the money and they would give the student the scholarship.  Who's liable for giving out the tax forms to the student?

Answer

This goes to the heart of the issues surrounding the identification of who is the "beneficial owner" of the income.

Is it the student?

Or the University?

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Does a page from IRS Link & Learn courseware constitute valid documentation on how to report taxable income

Question

Does a page from the IRS Courseware: Link & Learn constitute valid documentation on how to report taxable income on Form 1099-MISC? 

Specifics: I have talked to numerous IRS agents, and questioned here as well, on how to report for a program called Cash for Keys on the form 1099MISC.  In all cases I was told that Box 7 was the best fit.  I have been questioned numerous times by tax accountants over this matter, but none have ever provided any form of documentation.  Every time I've been questioned in the past, I google "IRS cash for keys" and got nothing.  But today, I found a link to a page from the IRS Link & Learn program that specifically states that this taxable income should be reported in Box 3.  Is this a valid source?

If this is considered a valid source, what action is required for previously misfiled reporting?  Should I correct previous filings?  How many years back should I go?

Answer

Remember that you (as the wihholding agent) make the determination as to whether income is subject to wihholding.

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If I have a vendor that is an LLC but either S-Corp or C-Corp, do you need to send them a 1099?

Question

If I have a vendor that is an LLC but either S-Corp or C-Corp, do you need to send them a 1099?

Answer

Making payments to LLC's is always tricky. In large part this is because such organizations can take any number of forms (for tax purposes).

As such, let's get to your question and provide the answer you need.

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When Can We Discontinue Backup Withholding?

Question

When completing a W-9 form, the instructions state that a payee "must cross out item 2 above if you have been notified by the IRS that you are currently subject to backup withholding because you have failed to report all interest and dividends on your tax return...".  As the payor, I assume this means that if item 2 is crossed out, we should backup withhold on the dividends on that account.  If this is true, what would allow us to discontinue the backup withholding?  When the notice to withhold is received from the IRS, we require notice from the IRS to discontinue it.  When the notice is received from the payee, I am unclear as to how exactly that should be handled.

Answer

You must be careful when it comes to stopping backup withholding. Particularly in situations like these.

Here is what you should do.

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We will be attending a student expo in China next month. At the expo we plan on giving away cash prizes. Is it still okay to just collect the W8ben assuming they are all Chinese nationals and no other documentation is needed?

Question

We will be attending a student expo in China next month.  At the expo we plan on giving away cash prizes to 9 winners.  The cash prize would be wired from our US bank account to their personal accounts in China.  The winners will be chosen from students who sign up on our US website.

While they are not in the US, they prizes will be given from our US accounts.  Is it still okay to just collect the W8ben assuming they are all Chinese nationals and no other documentation is needed?  Is it legal for a US company to hold a sweepstakes like this in China or is there an obligation for our company to report that to the Chinese goverment?  Thanks for all your help, it is very much appreciated!

Answer

Obviously this is a complicated issue. Nevertheless there are some steps you can take to cut through those problems and that revolve around answering a series of questions. From there, let's get to answering your questions...

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We're doing a promotion at a local university and we're giving away $100 travel vouchers. We're assuming the winners will all be foreign exchange students. Its a small amount and not reportable but we still need to collect the proper documents, right?

Question

My question is regarding giveaways to international students.  We're doing a promotion at a local university and we're giving away $100 travel vouchers.  We're assuming the winners will all be foreign exchange students.  Its a small amount and not reportable but we still need to collect the proper documents, right?

Would a W8ben be sufficient and if they don't have a SSN, do we have to withhold?

Answer

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed here. So let's walk you through them and make sure that you are doing what is needed to collect and validate the appropriate documentation that can lead to the subsequent withholding and reporting...

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Is it okay to hire international students for a day at promotional events we do if they do no have Social Security Numbers?

Question

Is it okay to hire international students for a day at promotional events we do if they do no have Social Security Numbers?

Answer

There are a number of different ways possible reporting could go. As such we will cover several sets of circumstances and then go from there. Let's start with some assumptions about the locatin of the work and the nature of the payee...

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Are golf tournament plaques a 1099 reportable prize?

Question

One of our subsidiairies has hosted a golf tournament in which certain individuals were awarded plaques based on their performance in the tournament.  The plaques cost around $80 each and clearly exceed the de minimus value. We have requested that our subsidiary collect W9 information from the winners of the plaques, but they are hesitant to do so.  Can you please confirm that the plaques would represent a reportable prize?  Also, does it matter that they are claiming that the registration fee for the tournament covered the cost of the plaques?  I don't think this would matter since the awards were based on performance (not everyone who participated got one).  They are also requesting IRS code section numbers that detail this reporting requirement?  Can you assist in pointing me to the correct code sections?  Thanks for your help with this!

Answer

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