Lets get back to Mikes Announcement - W9 Policy Update.
I would like to hear other members thoughts about waiting until you have a larger amount like $500 or even $400 before you ask for a fund transfer and at that time file a W-9, also Mike pointed out that the first fund transfer you wouldn't need to file a W-9 but what if the first fund transfer was for over $600 wouldn't that create a problem?
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/new-features/announcement-w9-policy-update
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M$3 Answers
1. If your first transfer is over $600 you will be required to submit a W9 before we process it.
2. We considered allowing the W-9 to be filled out at the point of breaking $600, but it's a bit of an accounting/processing headache and we want to know who we are sending money to for fraud reasons.
Essentially we're letting folks do the first one without knowing, but after that we need to know.
Also, I'm working on members being able to trade in Mahalo Dollars for gift cards or make donations to things like Kiva.
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M$This is an IRS requirement. Black-and-white. It has nothing to do with Mahalo.
You can contact them here:
http://www.irs.gov/contact/index.html
Specifically, your local IRS office will be able to tell you exactly why they require W-9 information:
http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/index.html
I think that Mahalo is making a bit of a mistake opening up interpretation on this. It is a requirement that the IRS be able to track both individual income and payments made by (even internet based) businesses.
While there is certainly a $600 requirement, the capability to make $600 a year is there and easily attainable. This would be a better discussion with a lawyer or accountant... but personally, I say call the IRS and talk to them about this.... it's completely their rule.
Otherwise, if you don't want to give Mahalo your information... maybe donate the M$ back to @jasoncalacanis in a private question so that he can distribute funds into the community to help it grow.
Just some thoughts about this... I'm not a lawyer, accountant, IRS or Mahalo employee.
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M$
Instead of opting out I'd rather see folks who don't want the Mahalo Dollars ask really fun and interesting questions with HUGE tips. :-)
Just had an idea... I wonder if some people would like to opt-out of receiving M$?
Maybe if people opt-out, money earned could go into a monthly (or quarterly) pot and a question could be posed to the community asking where the funds should go. People may respond back into the community, to a specific charity, to help a cause the community cares about, etc.
I think for some of us that don't spend a huge amount of time on this site.
It could take several years to reach those higher $$ levels and its easy to loose interest if the goals are out of reach.
I like the idea of being able to trade in Mahalo Dollars for gift cards or donations.
Just my 2 1/2 cents
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M$
I understand that Jason Calcanis has thought a lot about the W9 form and I dont think there is anything suspicious about signing a W9 form. But the only thing is that members are not comfortable to fill the form at such an early stage. It would have better if Jason Calcanis would reconsider the timing of W9. Members won't have any problem if they are asked to fill the form when their payment exceeds $600. It may be a little difficult to accounts department of Mahalo. But it will be overall beneficial for Mahalo. I would like to hear from Jason on this.
@xds and @kevinbernard31 Thanks for the honest feedback. Most sites that do payouts require this paperwork to be filled out in advance. There is no privacy issue with sending information to Mahalo. We have a LOT of sensitive personal information that we have to collect and we are very experienced at keeping it safe and secure. Mahalo's accounting and administrative staff are very diligent about such issues, and at my last company Weblogs, Inc we had 500+ contributors information, bank accounts for wire transfers, social security numbers, etc. and we never had an issue.
That being said, if you must be anonymous then the donation and gift card solution we are working on will probably work best.
If we could get gift cards without W-9 forms, that would be okay with me.
@kevinbernard31
I completely agree, when i first started using mahalo i did in good confidence that my personal information was going to be held sacred and private.
I'm not comfortable with filling out a w8 or w9 FTM, if mahalo requires me to do so at any point, i would simply stop using the service.
I also believe it is unlawful to ask someone to fill out a w9 or in my case a w8 if they have not gone over 600$ for a yearly term.
Not only a waste of resources., If it's that big of a headache for your accounting department to make some book modifications at the beginning of one year or end of another, they shouldn't be working there.
As for the giftcard situation, thats all well and good however with the economy the way that it is most people are going to want the cash.
What you guys are saying is kind of also a cop-out, you are trying to prevent AGAINST fraud by asking people to start sending their personal information threw online channels ?
Sorry jason, I just think this is awfly foolish to ask of your users/followers.
Not only a big waste of resources, also a big waste of peoples time.
I like the idea of exchanging M$ for x rather than cash outs. Perhaps M$ could retain its full value if used towards gifts or charity, with emphasis on "charity." Or, for the point-hogs, here's an idea -
Sell virtual medals or trophies (think the Warcraft model) at full M$ value, and allow a tiny bit of space for these interesting objects (silly things, like Ninja Star, Golden Yo-Yos, keep Mahalo upbeat)around the border of avatars (with blown up versions in the profile view). This will make attaining belt status just the beginning, and keep the cash in Mahalo. You could even allow people to create these... virtual accessories... and sell them, much like Second Life.