Tip Jar tax forms
In an effort to streamline the distribution of tax forms for the Tip Jar, we’re making some changes to the way information is collected and verified.
TL;DR US customers who have received 1099-K forms for their Tip Jar in the past may not receive them going forward if they have not received enough tips to warrant a tax form. US customers who process enough tips to cross the IRS reporting threshold will need to provide a full social security number in order to continue receiving Tip Jar payouts. Non-US customers are unaffected by this change.
Pinecast sends 1099-K tax forms for customers using the Tip Jar in the United States. In the past, we’ve sent these forms for anyone who has received any substantive amount of money through Pinecast. Going forward, we’ll only send 1099-K forms for customers for whom reporting is made mandatory by the IRS. Said another way, if you’ve received a 1099-K from us in the past, you may not receive a 1099-K again—even if you’ve received the same amount of tips.
While this reduces the burden of tax filing for many Pinecast customers, we will be instituting changes that will affect your Tip Jar payouts. Going forward, US customers using the Tip Jar will be required to update their Tip Jar account details to include a social security number. If a SSN is not provided by the time your Tip Jar has processed an amount equal to the IRS’s reporting threshold, your payouts will be paused until a SSN is provided. Keep in mind that this information is filed with the IRS, and providing accurate information is important.
US accounts that cross the IRS reporting threshold (or who have already crossed the threshold when we implement these changes) and who have not yet provided a full social security number will be sent an email with instructions for updating their Tip Jar account. Additionally, the Tip Jar tab on the main dashboard and the Tip Jar tab on individual podcast dashboards will show a banner noting that additional information is necessary in order to continue receiving payouts.
We expect the total number of accounts that are affected by this change to be small overall. The overwhelming majority of accounts that would otherwise be affected have already provided a full social security number. We think it’s important to communicate this change, though, since it does involve significant changes to your payouts and sensitive personal information.
If you’re located outside of the United States, you will not receive tax documents from Pinecast. That said, you may still be legally required to submit documentation for any donations that you’ve received. If you require information that is not available to you through our dashboards, please reach out so that we can better understand your needs.