SSN required, does that mean I need to pay taxes?

When I join affiliate networks, I see SSN required on lots of them, and even Adsense has them.


Ive made maybe over 40k in total revenue this year, so I better pay taxes on that right since they will be reporting that as well...

But how will they know how much of that is profit for me though?

Obviously I ran PPC campaigns, bought websites, PPV, domains, hosting, etc etc...

Do i need proof of all that? How should I go about this!!?? Which company should I use to do internet marketing taxes lol???

Any help? Thanks!

They need your Soc Sec # if you are based in the US. Any earnings you make with them will be recorded on a w2 statement and sent to you by the affiliate program at the end of each year. At that point it is in your hands to pay the taxes (or not). You should always pay your taxes though if you dont want to get into trouble

Good luck

Affiliate Mgr Dave said:

They need your Soc Sec # if you are based in the US. Any earnings you make with them will be recorded on a w2 statement and sent to you by the affiliate program at the end of each year. At that point it is in your hands to pay the taxes (or not). You should always pay your taxes though if you dont want to get into trouble

Good luck

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They send it to me? I thought they also report it to the IRS as well, meaning I would have to pay the taxes at the end of the year... Hell if they just sent it to me, the gov. isnt getting any money from me!! lol

And yes, i am in USA..

yes, they send a copy to you and the IRS.
They don't care about what you profited, you have to find all your deductions and expenses and fill em in on your taxes.
I would contact some local tax professionals and find one that has experience with internet marketing.

I see... thanks for the responses.

Also, not to be playing the devils advocate, but how can the IRS see everything that are my expenses/costs?

Lets say I buy websites on Flippa, and sell them after the tax year, meaning I would have lots of expenses right from the websites as obviously you need websites to make money in this industry , so i just take that off my profits and barely have to pay taxes per year?? And just rinse and repeat?

Thanks for the info!!!

i have being wondering on this as well. i havens reported any tax on the money i earned from IM so far. all cpa networks got my ssn as well.
would like to hear more bhatters talking abt this.

If you provide your SNN, pay your taxes. If not, maybe you signed up as from another country to avoid this, you probably will get away with it, not really recommended. There are a lot of networks not based in the US that dont require SSN btw.

you should report all your earnings to the IRS.

especially those that got your SS#, because they will send you W-9, misc income at the earn end usually before Jan 31.

The company sent you the money will also send a copy to the IRS, and they will know.

If it mis-matched, they will audit you (red flag)

You should always keep track of your expenses in case they audit you. Show your expenses, then you are fine.

For companies that never send you W-9 misc, you will also need to report the earnings, if you don't, you are okay as long as they don't audit you, if they do, you will be in deep trouble.

IRS law is any individual earns more than $600 per year, the money senter needs to send a W9-misc, but if yours is a company, it's not required.

TheInternetHustler said:

If you provide your SNN, pay your taxes. If not, maybe you signed up as from another country to avoid this, you probably will get away with it, not really recommended. There are a lot of networks not based in the US that dont require SSN btw.

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can you tell me some trusted Incentive based ones as im 14 and I don't want to pay taxes or give my ssn out (dad won't allow it), any help will be appreciated

Shadexpwn said:

can you tell me some trusted Incentive based ones as im 14 and I don't want to pay taxes or give my ssn out (dad won't allow it), any help will be appreciated

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I'll send you a PM

I would think that they send a 1099 as your an independent contractor. At least that's my experience. Either way the IRS gets a copy as well.

Suck it up and just pay your taxes and it's all good.

My 2 cents worth. You currently have a minor problem and it appears that you don't have a clue as to how to handle it. You are operating a business and need to conduct yourself in as business. This situation could turn into a really big problem if not corrected and you continue operating as you currently are doing.

You don't want to mess with the government because they have almost unlimited resources and can do almost anything and to top it off, you are usually guilty until proven innocent.

Go find a good accountant to help you dig yourself out of this hole and straighten out your business.

Dan Free said:

My 2 cents worth. You currently have a minor problem and it appears that you don't have a clue as to how to handle it. You are operating a business and need to conduct yourself in as business. This situation could turn into a really big problem if not corrected and you continue operating as you currently are doing.

You don't want to mess with the government because they have almost unlimited resources and can do almost anything and to top it off, you are usually guilty until proven innocent.

Go find a good accountant to help you dig yourself out of this hole and straighten out your business.

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What did i do wrong? I will pay my taxes at the end of the year, but I heard I might've had to pay it quarterly.

My father is a truck driver, hes self employed but only pays at the end of the year why do i have to pay quarterly?

You should pay quarterly, but a lot of people don't. I just send in a check randomly when I feel like it. You have to pay some minor penalties. Not a big deal.

You should get two people to help you with all this. The first is a bookkeeper. You just give them the info on all your revs and expenses and they record it. Then get a CPA to give you some strategies to minimize your tax. They are worth their weight in gold and you can write off their fees. Even better, it lets you concentrate on making money instead of dealing with tax crap.

If you are doing business here, your social security number is going to be reported to the IRS. It doesn't matter what your dad has to say. The problem might be that he is claiming you as a dependent, but you will show revs. I don't know the answer, which is why you need to speak to an accountant. I can refer you to one in So Cal. PM me if you are in this area.

dvno879 said:

When I join affiliate networks, I see SSN required on lots of them, and even Adsense has them.


Ive made maybe over 40k in total revenue this year, so I better pay taxes on that right since they will be reporting that as well...

But how will they know how much of that is profit for me though?

Obviously I ran PPC campaigns, bought websites, PPV, domains, hosting, etc etc...

Do i need proof of all that? How should I go about this!!?? Which company should I use to do internet marketing taxes lol???

Any help? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Let me take a shot in the dark and say that you're pretty young and never did your taxes. All I can say is that Uncle Sam does not forget and will want your hard earned money 100% of the time.

You must pay SE tax and file Schedule SE (Form 1040) If your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income ) were $400 or more.

You must file if you are: SINGLE - GROSS income is over (GROSS=Before taxes and expenditures)
Single under 65 - $9,350
65 or older - 10,750


If you are married, then its different.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf

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dvno879 said:

I see... thanks for the responses.

Also, not to be playing the devils advocate, but how can the IRS see everything that are my expenses/costs?

Lets say I buy websites on Flippa, and sell them after the tax year, meaning I would have lots of expenses right from the websites as obviously you need websites to make money in this industry , so i just take that off my profits and barely have to pay taxes per year?? And just rinse and repeat?

Thanks for the info!!!

Click to expand...

No, it doesnt work that way. Uncle Sam wants you to document everything, every little money made, money spent, and what not. I do not condone cheating on taxes but if Big bro doesnt know, he wont. As long as you do not give out your SSN / TaxID TIN, most companies will not report.

Uncle Sam knows your profits and spendings by looking at other companies that turn that information in about you. For instance. Paypal. You give PP your SSN, they report to the IRS about how much money goes in and out. You sign up for a CPA account at 123CPA. You give them a SSN or TAXID to get paid. 123CPA in turns sends your info the IRS when they do their taxes.
Same with Adsense, etc...

Just know that everytime you give your TAXID/SSN to a company for them to pay you, you are being reported. If enough money is missing and Uncle Sam gets a blip on his radar, EXPECT to see the IRS man wanting his cut. The other stuff like selling your bike at the yard sale and getting cash... well Uncle Sam probably doesnt know about that.


If also looks to me that you are making alittle cash enough for yourself to file taxes. You should protect yourself and your investments and hire a CPA (accountant) and open a business (LLC or Corporation) and do your IM business from there. You will save alot of headaches in the end, if the IRS does decide to audit you.

Depending on the state you're in you will have to pay quarterly/yearly, but you can fill out a form to pay only at the end of the year.

Outside of this the IRS will look at gross revenue - cost = net revenue, with the net revenue being taxed. As an example, if you made $10,000 from your sites, but it cost you $8,000 to run them you would only pay taxes on the remainder, that is, the $2,000 in net profits.

You're also liable for social security and self employment taxes, which are roughly 15% of what you make.

The problem you're in is that at the end of the year Big G and affiliate companies document that same. They show the IRS that they generated a certain amount in profits, but can write off what they had to pay you for commissions as a business expense. At that point the IRS knows that *you* were paid and will keep tabs.

Outside of all of this you really should look at either reading up on taxes so you can handle online tax apps like Turbo Tax or H&R Block, or pay for an accountant/book keeper to help you.

TL;DR: Pay your taxes, you can file yearly if you want, you just have to fill out a form. Taxed income is on net profit, which is gross profit - business costs.

uh. This is gonna suck for me, I guess. Sold probably over 15k on egay this year, (netted probably around 12k of that)...and have been buying and spending goods and overstocked on inventory now so I only have like 3k in cash and the remainder in physical assets. FML. Thing is...over half of the items and net profits I got on ebay were from items I sold on behalf of my father. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

According to the paypal homepage, it states (in a big banner that reads 'IRS LAWS MAY APPLY TO YOUR ACCOUNT) that ONLY starting january of 2011, they will be reporting earnings from people using paypal who gross 20k or above for the year of 2011 Either I'm reading it wrong or paypal has not reported earning to the irs in the past.