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  • W-9 required for reimbursement awarded by small court

    From Leonard S.@21:1/5 to All on Sat May 28 10:03:09 2022
    Being not informed about a class action case, I filed a case in a small court. The amount is what I paid for the defective product, plus court costs. Most of the judgement was paid by the class action awards administrator, and no tax form was requested.
    The balance is not contested by the defendant but they insist on me filing W-9 "because it's always done this way". IRS's instruction says W-9 should be filed where earnings, not reimbursements are involved.

    What is the best way to resolve this? The payer is one of the top companies by capitalization, and they have only a general e-mail address for small court cases where a low-level employee is instructed not to deviate from the rule.

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  • From Barry Gold@21:1/5 to Leonard S. on Sat May 28 21:54:49 2022
    On 5/28/2022 10:03 AM, Leonard S. wrote:
    Being not informed about a class action case, I filed a case in a small court. The amount is what I paid for the defective product, plus court costs. Most of the judgement was paid by the class action awards administrator, and no tax form was requested.
    The balance is not contested by the defendant but they insist on me filing W-9 "because it's always done this way". IRS's instruction says W-9 should be filed where earnings, not reimbursements are involved.

    What is the best way to resolve this? The payer is one of the top companies by capitalization, and they have only a general e-mail address for small court cases where a low-level employee is instructed not to deviate from the rule.

    IANAL, but I would treat it the same way you would any other case where
    the defendant doesn't pay:
    There's a procedure where you ask for a list of assets that might be
    used to pay the judgment. Ask the clerk how to file for that.

    When you get the list of assets, request a lien on one of them. Or you
    could skip the first step and ask the court to put a lien on their
    corporate headquarters or any other piece of property that they own.
    (Maybe the CEO's desk?)

    When the notice of lien arrives, one of two things will happen:

    1. They arrange to pay you in return for a release of the lien (this has
    to happen in person so that neither party can renege)

    2. They contest it in court. Then you get to ask them -- under oath --
    why they haven't paid.

    It seems like a lot of work for a (presumably) small amount of money,
    but think of the entertainment value!!

    And I bet they'll fix that employee's instructions!!



    --
    I do so have a memory. It's backed up on DVD... somewhere...

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  • From Stuart O. Bronstein@21:1/5 to Leonard S. on Sat May 28 21:54:09 2022
    "Leonard S." <leonard.skemp@gmail.com> wrote:

    Being not informed about a class action case, I filed a case in a
    small court. The amount is what I paid for the defective product,
    plus court costs. Most of the judgement was paid by the class
    action awards administrator, and no tax form was requested. The
    balance is not contested by the defendant but they insist on me
    filing W-9 "because it's always done this way". IRS's instruction
    says W-9 should be filed where earnings, not reimbursements are
    involved.

    What is the best way to resolve this? The payer is one of the top
    companies by capitalization, and they have only a general e-mail
    address for small court cases where a low-level employee is
    instructed not to deviate from the rule.

    There are actually new regulations requiring some payors to send a
    Form 1099-K even in situations where the money they pay will not be
    taxable.

    If you don't want to have to sue them again, send them the W-9. If
    they send you a 1099-K, you can ignore it. If they send a 1099-Misc
    (which they shouldn't), then send a note to the IRS with your return
    saying why you didn't include that money on your return.

    --
    Stu
    http://DownToEarthLawyer.com

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