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W-9


JesseB

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I have already received a W-9 to fill out from one of my top survey sites. I cashed out at the end of December and got it in January which I'm guessing put that towards my 2021 earnings. 

My question is: should I just put a pause on this site for the year or keep earning? What would you do? Not looking forward to having to pay taxes on it!

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You said you received a W-9 form in January. Am I correct? I might be wrong about this but I think you are supposed to report your earnings for any survey site where you earn at least 600.00 in a given year. Did you earn at least 600.00 from this panel in 2020? If you did  I think you need to report it as income when you file your 2020 taxes. When you cashed out at the end of December if they paid you on or before 12/31 it would count as 2020 income. If they paid you after 12/31 then I think it would go toward 2021. I believe that is how it works.    

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I think you should put a pause on the panel.  I have lousy demographics, and so I never earn anywhere near $600 in one year..  I think they submit the info to the IRS too.

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1 hour ago, NFriday said:

I think you should put a pause on the panel.  I have lousy demographics, and so I never earn anywhere near $600 in one year..  I think they submit the info to the IRS too.

I don't think I ever came close to earning 600.00 in a year with any one panel. But yes he needs to figure out if his cash out was for 2020 or 2021. I think it is the date he got paid and not the date he requested the payout. But if he earned at least 600.00 in  a year with this panel it needs to be reported on either the 2020 or 2021 tax return depending on when he got paid. And you are right I believe that this info is sent to the IRS. I also think I read a few years ago that some panels pause your account when you hit the 600.00 until you complete the W-9 form. If you are earning a lot of money with any one panel it is best to keep track of how much you earned in a given year  so you don't hit 600.00. I think it is OK to earn it because it isn't income until you cash out  but not 100% sure. I think it is like any other job. It counts as income when they pay you not when you earn it. If you earned money the last week of December in 2020 it will count as 2021 income if you got paid in January 2021.  

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11 hours ago, mikedorb said:

You said you received a W-9 form in January. Am I correct? I might be wrong about this but I think you are supposed to report your earnings for any survey site where you earn at least 600.00 in a given year. Did you earn at least 600.00 from this panel in 2020? If you did  I think you need to report it as income when you file your 2020 taxes. When you cashed out at the end of December if they paid you on or before 12/31 it would count as 2020 income. If they paid you after 12/31 then I think it would go toward 2021. I believe that is how it works.    

They sent me an email yesterday saying I reached $600 for this year already. I did not reach $600 in 2020, but since they paid me in January for my 2020 earnings in January it is going towards 2021. Lesson learned on that part!

11 hours ago, NFriday said:

I think you should put a pause on the panel.  I have lousy demographics, and so I never earn anywhere near $600 in one year..  I think they submit the info to the IRS too.

Thanks for your input! I qualified for a few high dollar interviews/focus group type things with them which boosted my earnings quite a bit.

9 hours ago, mikedorb said:

I don't think I ever came close to earning 600.00 in a year with any one panel. But yes he needs to figure out if his cash out was for 2020 or 2021. I think it is the date he got paid and not the date he requested the payout. But if he earned at least 600.00 in  a year with this panel it needs to be reported on either the 2020 or 2021 tax return depending on when he got paid. And you are right I believe that this info is sent to the IRS. I also think I read a few years ago that some panels pause your account when you hit the 600.00 until you complete the W-9 form. If you are earning a lot of money with any one panel it is best to keep track of how much you earned in a given year  so you don't hit 600.00. I think it is OK to earn it because it isn't income until you cash out  but not 100% sure. I think it is like any other job. It counts as income when they pay you not when you earn it. If you earned money the last week of December in 2020 it will count as 2021 income if you got paid in January 2021.  

You are right, they did pause my account from cashing out until I returned and filled out the form which I did yesterday. I will definitely be paying closer attention and not cashing out at the end of December again. I might see if I can cash out a partial amount to keep cash outs below $600 for the year and leave the rest for next year. Of course, I would have to reduce my participation for the rest of the year so I don't start out next year in the same boat.

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I got close to $600 with Swagbucks last year, but I bought a lot of points.  I went to cashout for $25 in November and I got a notice that if I did I would have to fill out tax paperwork.  So I just cancelled that request and waited until after January 1, 2021. 

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5 hours ago, rosiesmom said:

I got close to $600 with Swagbucks last year, but I bought a lot of points.  I went to cashout for $25 in November and I got a notice that if I did I would have to fill out tax paperwork.  So I just cancelled that request and waited until after January 1, 2021. 

That is good that Swagbucks let you know you were going to hit 600.00. Don't know if other panels do the same because I don't think I ever came close to 600.00 in a year with any one panel. But it is very important to stay on top of these things. 

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7 hours ago, JesseB said:

They sent me an email yesterday saying I reached $600 for this year already. I did not reach $600 in 2020, but since they paid me in January for my 2020 earnings in January it is going towards 2021. Lesson learned on that part!

Thanks for your input! I qualified for a few high dollar interviews/focus group type things with them which boosted my earnings quite a bit.

You are right, they did pause my account from cashing out until I returned and filled out the form which I did yesterday. I will definitely be paying closer attention and not cashing out at the end of December again. I might see if I can cash out a partial amount to keep cash outs below $600 for the year and leave the rest for next year. Of course, I would have to reduce my participation for the rest of the year so I don't start out next year in the same boat.

From what you are telling me is you already reached your 600.00 limit for 2021 because that is when they paid you. Am I correct? Now you pretty much have to lay low with this panel for the rest of the year because any additional money you earn you will have to pay taxes on. It looks as though you learned your lesson and will be more careful in the future as to when you cash out and for how much.

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13 hours ago, mikedorb said:

From what you are telling me is you already reached your 600.00 limit for 2021 because that is when they paid you. Am I correct? Now you pretty much have to lay low with this panel for the rest of the year because any additional money you earn you will have to pay taxes on. It looks as though you learned your lesson and will be more careful in the future as to when you cash out and for how much.

Yes, that is correct. And I have definitely learned my lesson!!

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7 hours ago, nj07208 said:

I came close several years with Opinion Outpost (when they were good obviously) but I would always pause cash outs if they would take me over $600. 

I love it when you said when they were good when referring to Opinion Outpost. I completely understand where you are coming from because a few years ago they froze my account. No way to prove it but I think it might have had something to do with earning too much money within a short period of time. I used to have pretty good luck with them as far as completing surveys but I think that might have worked against me as it might have raised a red flag that I was cheating even though I wasn't. But I don't think I ever got close to earning 600.00 in a year with them. If my memory serves me correctly I recall them stating that once you hit the 600.00 they will freeze your account until you complete the W-9 form. I don't know if that is the case with other panels because I don't think I was ever close to being in that situation. 

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Jesse, my advice is NOT to fill out that W-9 you were sent. I would not trust these survey companies with my SS#. HELL NO!! I would just lie low with them this year. I do not think they can report your earnings to the IRS without having your SS#. Even if they do, you would receive an official W4 or 1099 from them at the end of the year. 

The one bad thing that can happen from this is that the survey site decides to drop you. 

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3 hours ago, Njsurveyman said:

Jesse, my advice is NOT to fill out that W-9 you were sent. I would not trust these survey companies with my SS#. HELL NO!! I would just lie low with them this year. I do not think they can report your earnings to the IRS without having your SS#. Even if they do, you would receive an official W4 or 1099 from them at the end of the year. 

The one bad thing that can happen from this is that the survey site decides to drop you. 

I'm with you. Giving your social security number to a survey company is not a good idea .Nothing good can come out of that. Only bad things could happen. And I think you are right that you can't report earnings to the IRS without a social security number because that is how they identify you.  People just have to keep track of their earnings and make sure they keep their cash outs under 600.00 for a survey panel in a given year so they won't put themselves in that position. But I do remember reading that a panel which I think was Opinion Outpost posting on their website a few years ago that once you hit 600.00 they will freeze your account until you return the completed W-9. Not sure if that is the case with all panels. Opinion Outpost froze my account a few years ago for reasons I don't understand so I don't have a very high opinion of them so I can't assume all panels handle the W-9 forms the way Opinion Outpost does. So if a survey panel drops you for not completing the form I would say let it be. The risks are much higher than any potential rewards. I don't know which panel Jesse got the W-9 from but a lot of these panels I wouldn't trust at all.    

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Just wanted to add I had a similar situation with Neilson several years back when they paid me to carry a little meter around with me to record any media I listen to. At the end of the year, I made over $600 with them. They requested that I give them my SS#  on a W9 form. I refused to fill it out. However, they still sent me a 1099 that was furnished to the IRS also with my name and address, and SS Number was blank. Therrfore, to play it safe, I still reported it on my taxes to the IRS, but never gave Nielson my SS#. If they send anything to the IRS, they will also send that info to you. No need to fill out a W9

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2 hours ago, Njsurveyman said:

Just wanted to add I had a similar situation with Neilson several years back when they paid me to carry a little meter around with me to record any media I listen to. At the end of the year, I made over $600 with them. They requested that I give them my SS#  on a W9 form. I refused to fill it out. However, they still sent me a 1099 that was furnished to the IRS also with my name and address, and SS Number was blank. Therrfore, to play it safe, I still reported it on my taxes to the IRS, but never gave Nielson my SS#. If they send anything to the IRS, they will also send that info to you. No need to fill out a W9

Very good info to know in case I ever get into that situation which I don't think will happen but in case it does. I guess the lesson learned is don't ever fill out a W-9 because a survey site doesn't need to know your social security number.. Just wait until you receive a 1099.

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