Action Required: Please update your tax information

Are they sending out mass emails or is this a coincidence?

[The Contractor]

So I wake up to a email sent last night from Google stating that my TIN and the taxpayer name do not coincide/match. It also states that in 14 days if the information is not corrected they will hold backup withholding.

Not only did I get one, but I received two of these emails although I only have one AdSense account.

I also received an email from a friend of mine that also received two last night.

My information has not changed except my address, and I changed that in Google back when we moved. My friend states nothing has changed and he received this email.

How many people received this email that nothing has changed in their information reported to Google? Is it just a coincidence that I know someone that also received two?

Is this a scare tactic by Google or what? I have no idea why they would send this email and especially the way that it is worded...not very good on their part in my opinion.

[fearlessrick]

Just when I thought this issue couldn't possibly get any worse, I get an email from AdSense saying I should change my payee name because I have a period after my middle initial.

This has been this way since 2004. I have received payments by EFT every month without fail since I started.

I am going to do exactly what I said I would do in the first place: Nothing.

If I don't get paid, or Google decides to do backup withholding, then I'm done with them. I haven't had any such requests from any other service. Just the Geniuses at Google.

Has everybody lost their minds?

[abkaiser]

>Also, please forward to me the IRS rules which allow this
>kind of nonsense, i.e., backup withholding.

Good point. I'd like to see that too, particularly since no one else does it. I wonder if this hassle is indeed optional for Google, or if they are following the rules when everyone else isn't.

[abkaiser]

>Also, please forward to me the IRS rules which allow this
>kind of nonsense, i.e., backup withholding.

Good point. I'd like to see that too, particularly since no one else does it. I wonder if this hassle is indeed optional for Google, or if they are following the rules when everyone else isn't.

[RonS]

It doesn't "allow them" to do it, the law REQUIRES them to do it.

Here's some info on it...
[irs.gov...]

Google around the irs.gov site for "backup withholding" for more info.

[fearlessrick]

I don't think it matters anymore, for me, at least.

I checked my PR on my site (used to be 5, but was 4 for about the last year) and every page has a rank of ZERO.

Seems Google didn't like the fact that I ran adverts that were not AdSense and didn't use the nofollow tag. I also did some paid blogging. No coincidence. A lot of paid bloggers had their PRs slashed to ZERO the past few weeks.

I think this IRS BS is just another way for Google to do some weeding, and is just part of an overall campaign. I'll save them the trouble. The AdSense ads begin to come off my site tomorrow. I am through dealing with these jackasses.

They've proven to be almost entirely driven by greed. There's no doubt in my mind that they are evil and currently are a detriment to the organic growth of the internet. Google squashes enterprise, demeans creativity and punishes honest work. Death to them.