[Foundation-l] [ANNOUNCEMENT] Greenspan illustration project

Sat Nov 3 13:06:22 UTC 2007

On 03/11/2007, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
> On 11/2/07, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> > When you employ or hire someone, there are often taxes to be paid by
> > both parties. If those parties are in different countries, the taxes
> > can get a little confusing. They certainly need to be considered. (I
> > expect they have been, and the people involved know what they're
> > doing, I just think it odd not to mention it anywhere, so thought I'd
> > double check.)
> >
> It sounds like you'd be the best one to ask this.  If these payments
> wind up being less than $600 for the year, what is the requirement?  I
> assume you wouldn't have to actually file a 1099, but do you still
> have to collect the information?  What would you have to do, if
> anything, to stop people from running up multiple payments of less
> than $600 using multiple names or whatever?  Is it enough to just get
> people's names, or do you have to ask SSNs?
>
> I probably should know this, but I have to admit I don't, and my quick
> reading of IRC 3406 leaves me unsure.

I have no idea. I'm British and know very little about the details of
US tax law. I was just talking in general terms.

I don't think there should be any great issue with paying US residents
- yes, there may be forms to fill in, but it's all standard stuff and
the WMF will have people that know this kind of stuff. It's non-US
residents that could cause problems with having to worry about the
rules of different jurisdictions. I honestly don't know how it works.
It may well be that it's just the person getting paid that has to
worry about it (they will almost certainly have to do something), and
the WMF just has to hand over the money, but it could easily be much
more complicated. I have no idea, but someone who does know will need
to be consulted before this goes ahead (of course, they may well have
been already).