Tax question ...please help!!?

Question

My husband did a side job for a person , mulching their home property......he received a ck for $200 less what the bill was for because the homeowner said he made an adjustment because he thought my husband was too high......the ck was made out to my husband with a note in the memo stating: full payment------ the homeowner sent a w9 to us as well- Do we have to fill this out?? Is it worth getting a atty?? WE are in NYS...thanks

3 days ago - 19 hours left to answer.

Additional Details

2 days ago

Please note that this is a an attys house he did work for not an office..my husband just did this as a side job -the attys wife told my husband to come & do what he had to do....so there was no verbal amount given.... the atty sent the ck less $200 and requested the w9 be sent back........we will not get into legal trouble if we do not send back w9?? the ck is just made out to my husbands name.....if i depost the ck , what does writing "all rights reserved"do , as one member advised?

Answer 1

The attorney is a sleaze and has cheated your husband out of $200 unless he has a signed contract showing the correct amount, in which case he could take him to small claims court for the rest.  For $200 you can't really afford to hire an attorney, and the jerk knows that.

Your husband still needs to pay tax on the amount he DID get, whether he gets a 1099 or not.  I'm guessing the attorney is planning to illegally claim a deduction for the work claiming it was a business expense, but that doesn't change what your husband owes.

Answer 2

He still must report this as income next year whether you send the W9 back or not.

"all rights reserved" means you reserve the right to try and collect more if that was the agreement.  Unfortunately, without anything in writing previously, that will be tough.

As you are dealing with an attorney.....send the W9 back.

Answer 3

sounds like your husband wasn't an employee, he was a contractor (self-employed).

The guy could send a 1099 at the end of the year but he doesn't have to if  the gross payments for the year were under $600

bottomline, he needed to have that kind of paperwork filled out before the job was started, not after the fact.