If I wanted to cash out from Mahalo but I live in Puerto Rico (US territory) and don't file federal taxes, do I still need the W-9?

Yes. According to Mahalo's Greenhouse Guidebook, "Whether or not you intend or need to declare your Greenhouse income on your tax return, you must complete and submit the necessary tax form to Mahalo. " My guess is they are using the same guidelines for Mahalo Answers (although they haven't put in on this website yet).

Therefore, it doesn't matter if you intend to report the taxes, Mahalo is going to report it to the IRS (to cover their own behinds). greenhouse.mahalo.com/Freelance_Payment_....

Mahalo says US citizens use the W-9 and foreign citizens who do not pay US taxes fill out another form. But in Puerto Rico the folks are US citizens who do not pay Federal Income tax. They do not fall clearly in either of the Mahalo guidlines categories.

The IRS probably has some provision for keeping an eye on them, but maybe not. Either way it would take some tax knowledge, in particular about Puerto Rico, to answer this question properly. If the IRS doesn't track Puerto Rican incomes they wouldn't need the forms.It might be somewhere on the IRS site but that's a big site.

My reading of the W-9 instructions is that they do apply; but, my reading isn't worth much when it comes to tax forms.

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