What should I do. a large company sent me a 1099-misc that says they have paid me large royalties?

It sounds like someone is using you to pad their tax deductions Uncle and lower their taxable income.

That would raise your gross income considerably.

You've gotta get to the bottom of this.

Don't ignore it..

A 1099-MISC is for reporting income. It doesn't have anything to do with interest payments. - if you received a 1099-MISC from your finance company, it would be an error. It is all $0, you don't need to get it fixed, because it's saying there is no income related to it. Since vehicle interest is not a tax deduction, there shoud be no 1099 given. - if you got one, call your finance company and ask what the 1099 is for. Add'l Info: So now that you have the paperwork from them, why don't you call them back and ask to go through the billing with them, so they can see where they are wrong, or you can understand why they are right.

If it makes you feel any better, you're not alone (seeing your post calmed me down slightly, as now I realize I'm not the only one). This has happened to me also. Today, I received a stack of 1099s from Amazon and her subsidiary companies, totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The recipient tax ID on all of them was 999-99-9999, which implies a computer error.

My wife and I used to run a small independent publisher, which we closed down in 2005, and I know for a fact that we haven't received any royalty payments from Amazon for books sold for over four years. I checked out the contact number on the 1099s, and it appears to be a genuine Amazon phone number, so I've left two urgent messages with them. I think their computer system has made a massive error, and if there are two of us who are having the same issue, there are probably many other people caught up in this as well.

If Amazon wants to issue me a check for $300K+, which is what they are saying I received, I'd be more than happy to pay the taxes on it.

I'm not a tax expert, but I suspect if you have never received the money that Amazon says you have, and if the Tax ID on the 1099s is not yours, then you have nothing to worry about. Still, I would strongly recommend harassing Amazon to correct the error.

BTW, you mentioned that one of the larger royalty 1099s included federal withholding of $34,000. So did mine. I would wager that we both received exactly the same set of 1099s; again implying either a convoluted fraud or, more likely, a massive computer error.

I had the same thing happen to me today. The hoax is that I received 15 1099-misc forms saying that I have been paid thousands of dollars. MOst of the letters came from Seattle WA and were some type of Amazon company.

Fraud or error because the SSN is 999-99-9999. I will ask my CPA tomorrow.

Have a great evening,

DM

I received these as well. As of Feb. 18, if you call the number on the 1099 you will get a recording saying that this was a computer error which has been corrected, the earnings on the forms are not being reported to the IRS, and corrected 1099s are being issued.

So ignore it, unless your real social security number is on the forms you received, in which case I would contact an attorney.

It's a scam of some kind or an incredible screw-up, I too received those letters today (17) with 1099s amounting to well over $300,000.00 – but I've never made a dime from Amazon. I design books but have never written one nor sold anything through Amazon. It seems we're not alone though, others have received the same letters, and curiously, it seems to center around CreateSpace (was BookSurge until Amazon bought them) and that's my only link to this thing that I can think of–I once considered using their services and filled out their online form, but never did anything with it.

I got the same 17 copies of 1099-MISC forms, also with my SS as 99-999-9999, and coming from a P.O. box in Seattle, claiming to be from various Amazon entities. I, too, have a book I wrote and published with BookSurge (now CreateSpace) and have collected very minimal amounts in royalties. I figured it was just a scam and, since my actual SS number isn't on the forms, I didn't think the IRS would get them.

If anybody speaks to their attorney, accountant, or Amazon itself about this, please post what they say. I also plan on contacting Amazon and, if I get a reply, I'll post it here, too.

By law aren't 1099's supposed to be postmarked no later than 1/31? Sounds like a scam to me. Either you weren't paid the royalties you were due, or someone is trying to work a complicated scam on you.

Wait. You write books?

Well, if the amounts of money make sense, you need to confront all parties involved and get your money.

If they are wrong, you need to consult with asll parties involved to send you the proper information, so your taxes aren't all screwey.

unc I would say it's a scam and 3/4, but more importantly I wanna read your books! give em up pal :)