Adsense tax issue. Help Please

If I put my borther's bank account to adsense payment option. Do I have to

[skystrom]

If I put my borther's bank account to adsense payment option. Do I have to pay tax for adsense earning or does he?

say I put my brother's bank account to payment option and he get the payments from my adsense.but my SS and details in my adsense account. so whom should fill out the tax report. I mean should my brother pay the tax as his bank account get the payments or do I have have to because the adsense accoutn belong to me and my details are there?

*Oh forgot to mention. living in US. and this is adsense linked to youtube. earning from youtube channel. made the adsene this year and.

total of 1600$ has been issued to his bank account.and im going to deactivate the adsense.no more payment/earning will happen. So does he still have to report that 1600USD (Jan-July Total) in the tax report?

[edited by: skystrom at 6:59 pm (utc) on Jul 21, 2014]

[piatkow]

This is an international forum and you don't tell us what country you are in.

You would be best advised to consult a tax specialist in your own jurisdiction.

[Chrispcritters]

Assuming you are in the US.

You'll want to consult with a licenses tax preparer to be sure. Google will be reporting the income with respect to the tax ID number you've provided Google in the account.

There are other possible additional legal issues:
1) If you are not listed on the bank account the money may not technically be yours.
2) Depending on the amount of money deposited into your brother's account he may be subject to tax liabilities.
3) Someone may be able to sue your brother, since he is a financial beneficiary of your website, for what you say on your website.

[edited by: Chrispcritters at 7:04 pm (utc) on Jul 21, 2014]

[skystrom]

Oh forgot to mention. living in US. and this is adsense linked to youtube. earning from youtube channel

[LifeinAsia]

but my SS and details in my adsense account.

Most likely, Google will be reporting earnings on your SS, since that's the information they have.

Think of it this way- Google is paying YOU the money (based on your SS). Your brother's bank account is just the delivery mechanism. It doesn't matter whether the delivery mechanism is your bank account, your brother's back account, a Western Union account, a paper check, or a suitcase of cash- that's after the financial transaction between Google and you has already occurred.

[skystrom]

@LifeinAsia So I would have to report that 1600USD earned with adsense to IRS right?

[frankleeceo]

Didn't you have to file a tax form while making account for adsense? Whoever's SSN is listed for adsense is on the hook for the tax. They really don't care which bank account the money ends up in.

I think Google reports to IRS after a certain threshold, and I am sorta sure that $1600 is above that. You will receive a tax form from Google around tax season for whowever is on the account.

In your case, adsense has your info, so you are liable. Adsnse will report that you are the receiver of the adsense money.

In terms of your brother's account, he may get in trouble too if he gets audited and IRS questions how did the money appear in his account. Then he may need to provide proof that you claimed the tax and he relayed the money to you, you may have to provide bank deposits, details on the transactions, etc on both end, in other words, a whole can of worms, messy worms. You will need to consult tax specialist if that scenario ever happens.

Bottom line, best to use your own bank account that match with adsense information to avoid any complications (and why shouldn't you?).

If you really need to pay your brother for money for whatever reason related to income, have adsense money go into your own bank account. Then write checks to your brother. Your accounting will be way better this way.

[frankleeceo]

ps. If this is your first year doing this and receiving money for your own business. You probably do not need to report or file estimated tax until tax season rolls around next year.

Consult tax preparer or read up on estimated tax yourself to see if you are on the hook.

Google will send you a IRS form detailing how much money has been paid around February or march. You will have to use that number for tax purposes.

This means you actually do not report earning, adsense does it for you, and your job is to make sure that the two numbers match when filing your taxes. And by "reporting" it again, you verify the numbers are correct and you did receive the amount as stated by Google.