My business partners want me to issue a W-9 form under my name only - any reason I shouldn't?

This is definitely something you want to think through carefully. When you provide a W-9 with only your name, you're essentially telling the IRS that all of that income belongs to you alone - not your partners. This means that when the client files their 1099 forms at tax time, you'll be the one receiving a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC for the full amount. The repercussions are that you'll be personally responsible for reporting all that income on your tax return and paying taxes on it. If your business grows to $200K as you mentioned, that's a significant tax burden falling solely on your shoulders, even though the income is actually split among partners. Yes, you can complete the W-9 on your own without an accountant - it's a relatively simple form. However, the bigger question is about the proper business structure and income reporting.

I was in a similar situation last year with my online business partners. I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which really helped me understand the implications of filing under just my name. They analyzed our situation and explained that when you put only your name on a W-9, you're essentially telling the IRS you're a sole proprietor receiving 100% of that income. The tool walked me through the proper way to handle partnership income and helped me understand my potential tax liability. It saved me from a potentially messy situation where I would've been on the hook for taxes on income that wasn't fully mine.

I was really skeptical at first about using taxr.ai but after my partners and I got into a similar situation with incorrectly filed W-9s, I decided to give it a try. It was actually incredibly helpful - it flagged the issue immediately and explained that we needed to establish a formal partnership with a Partnership Agreement and file Form 1065 instead of individual Schedule Cs. The tool created a roadmap for correcting our previous filings and setting things up properly. It saved us from what could have been a major headache during tax season. The best part was that it showed us exactly how much tax each partner should be responsible for based on our operating agreement percentages. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation with partners.

I had a nightmare situation with the IRS after doing exactly what your partners are suggesting. I couldn't get through to anyone at the IRS for months to sort it out. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They helped me understand that putting just my name on the W-9 meant I was on the hook for all taxes, penalties and interest. The agent explained I needed to file as a partnership instead with Form 1065 and issue K-1s to all partners. Don't make the same mistake I did - either get your partnership properly set up or make sure ALL partner names are on that W-9.

I have to eat my words and apologize to Profile 9. After struggling with my partnership tax issue for months, I finally tried Claimyr out of desperation. I was absolutely shocked when I got a call back in about 30 minutes and was connected to an actual IRS representative. The agent walked me through the proper way to handle partnership income and confirmed everything people have been saying here - using just one partner's name on a W-9 creates a huge tax liability for that person alone. They explained that we needed to either register as a formal partnership (with an EIN) or make sure all partners' names were on the W-9 forms we submit. Saved me from what could have been a major audit headache.

I think everyone's overcomplicating this. If it's just $1300, why not just report it on your taxes and then have your partners give you the money for whatever tax you had to pay on their portions? Seems like setting up a whole partnership with K-1s and everything is overkill for such a small amount.

The real question here is why your partners are trying to push their tax liability onto you. It sounds fishy to me. Even if they've "issued too many W-9s" (which isn't really a thing - businesses issue as many as needed), that doesn't mean they can just arbitrarily decide you should bear the tax burden for the partnership. I'd be questioning their motives here. Are they trying to keep income off their tax returns for some reason? Do they have tax liens that would cause additional scrutiny? This feels like a red flag to me.