what exactly is a W-9 tax form? How is it different from the regular W-2 and W-4 forms?

Question

Does this mean I pay my taxes at the end of the year instead of through out the year via tax deductions from my pay check?

Answer 1

All the info so far is correct. You will receive a 1099. It means you are considered contract labor. You will file a form C like you are a business. You can deduct expenses and mileage and you will be liable for paying your own social security, medicare and income tax at year end. When you are an employee you pay social security at .062 and medicare at .0145. Your employer matches it and pays it in as employer taxes. You will be paying both amounts but you will pay it on your net wages (gross wages-expenses) plus income tax. You can deduct 1/2 of your SS & Med on the front of the 1040 so you don't pay income tax on that amount. You will do well to look into paying estimated taxes quarterly so that you don't get caught at year end without the ability to pay. Go to www.irs.gov and start reading about form C. You can save yourself quite a bit of money by documenting your expenses and saving your receipts. Start writing down your mileage to and from work everyday until you figure out what you are doing. Any expenses that relates to work, save the receipt and write on it what its for and keep them neatly someplace so that you can find them at year end. It sounds like a lot but there are definite advantages to working as contract labor. You just need to learn how to set yourself up and keep good books.

Answer 2

A W-9 is the form requesting your social security number or tax ID number if you are an independent contractor - you'll get a 1099-MISC at the end of the year, no taxes will be deducted and you'll be responsible for paying them to the IRS yourself, probably quarterly.

If you are an employee, you'll fill out a W-4 form giving your information, and will get a W-2 at the end of the year. Taxes will be deducted from each paycheck.

Answer 3

A W-9 is a request for your Taxpayer Identification Number. Anyone who needs to know your TIN will send you a Form W-9. You apply your TIN and return it to them.

A W-4 is the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate where you tell your employer how much tax to withhold from your pay.

A W-2 is a Wage and Tax Statement that lists your wages and withholdings for the year.

Each one of them serves a specific purpose.