Company Car, Finance needs a W-9

[Rerstad]

I am very fortunate in that I am getting my Model 3 as a company car. Problem is that the finance department needs a copy of Tesla's W-9 (basically proof of their taxpayer ID for IRS purposes) to set them up as a vendor and make the payment. I've tried talking to the local dealership and they just seemed confused. Said they would ask their manager to see about a copy. Any other suggestions on who to contact? I'll just keep calling the dealership for now. Not sure if there is anyone at corporate?

Thanks.

 

[thefortunes]

Your mistake is trying to call the dealership. Tesla does not have any dealerships. You must be talking to BMW or Mercedes.

 

[Ampster]

Are you leading it, financing it or buying it outright? That will determine who needs to provide the W-9. It may be a third party lender or lessor.
I Googled Tesla' Tax ID and this came up, EIN 91-2197729.

 

[ewoodrick]

While I started saying one thing, I think that I saw what they are asking for and erased it.
They think that you are buying from a dealership. And they are tending to verify that it is a valid vendor. Ask them how they handle other national vendors, Dell, HP, Verizon, and see what their process looks like.

 

[Rerstad]

Oops. I am new to the Tesla world. I paused when I initially typed "dealership", but then I wasn't sure what to call the local office....

Since finance is paying Tesla directly, the IRS requires that they get a completed Form W-9 for all payments over a certain threshold. Hopefully the local team will be able to track one down. Without it, I can't get them paid....

 

[HankLloydRight]

Ask them how they handle other national vendors, Dell, HP, Verizon, and see what their process looks like.

This is the answer.

Sorry, but your "finance" department doesn't understand how taxes work.
Generally, corporations do not need to supply a W-9 and do not need to be sent 1099s to report income received.

IRS Forms W-9 and 1099 | IRS Forms Instructions
1099-MISC Tax Basics

They do not need to request a W-9 in order to pay Tesla for a car (no matter how it's bought).

If your company was paying an LLC, contractor, or sole-proprietor more than $600, then they would need a W-9.

There are two ways in practice that accounting departments comply with these indicators so they are not required to obtain Form W-9. The first step is to look for Inc. or similar terminology on a company’s website, invoice, contract or other document. The second step is to go to the Secretary of State’s website, complete a business search for the company name and download the Certificate of Incorporation for companies that are a corporation. If you can determine that an entity is a corporation from one of these two indicators and has no reportable payments (for example, medical or attorney payments) you do not have to request Form W-9. Please note that foreign corporations are outside the scope of this discussion.

Most corporations don’t get 1099-MISCs
Another important point to note: there is no need to send 1099-MISCs to corporations. This includes S-Corporations and C-Corporations -- they also don’t receive 1099 1099-MISCs. 1099-MISCs should be sent to single-member limited liability company (or LLCs) or a one-person Ltd. But not an LLC that’s treated as an S-Corporation or C-Corporation. Here’s another way to remember:

• Sole proprietor = Do send 1099-MISC
• Unincorporated contractor or partnership/LLP = Do send 1099-MISC
• An LLC that elects treatment as an S-Corporation or C-Corporation = Do NOT send 1099-MISC

Alas, there are some exceptions to this rule. 1099-MISCs should be issued for:

• Attorney’s fees even if the lawyer is incorporated
• Gross proceeds paid to an attorney (such as for legal settlements)
• Payments to for-profit medical care providers

For full detail regarding the guidelines above, including a more exhaustive list of when to send a 1099-MISC, please refer to the IRS guidelines

 

[thefortunes]

This is the answer.

Sorry, but your "finance" department doesn't understand how taxes work.
Generally, corporations do not need to supply a W-9 and do not need to be sent 1099s to report income received.

IRS Forms W-9 and 1099 | IRS Forms Instructions
1099-MISC Tax Basics

They do not need to request a W-9 in order to pay Tesla for a car (no matter how it's bought).

If your company was paying an LLC, contractor, or sole-proprietor more than $600, then they would need a W-9.

While this is technically true, as the Director of Finance for a multi-national corporation I will note that most companies (ours included) typically have one process for setting up new vendors and that includes requesting a W-9 and banking info.

Easier to follow a standardized process than have a clerk decide if they need to get the W-9 or "go to a website, download a Cert of Incorporation, etc..."

 

[CrayZ1]

While this is technically true, as the Director of Finance for a multi-national corporation I will note that most companies (ours included) typically have one process for setting up new vendors and that includes requesting a W-9 and banking info.

Easier to follow a standardized process than have a clerk decide if they need to get the W-9 or "go to a website, download a Cert of Incorporation, etc..."

We are Class-C, and many of our customers W-9 us, ask for bank info, reference customers, set terms, ITAR/DDTC compliance, NDA, diversity compliance, conflict materials, etc, etc, ad nauseam. Some of the aerospace companies will have 10 or more docs to sign.

The polite thing to do is just comply. Say perhaps Tesla will not sign a DDTC compliance, Conflict Materials, or NDA, that would be a deal breaker for some companies due to government contracts.

 

[HankLloydRight]

While this is technically true, as the Director of Finance for a multi-national corporation I will note that most companies (ours included) typically have one process for setting up new vendors and that includes requesting a W-9 and banking info.

Easier to follow a standardized process than have a clerk decide if they need to get the W-9 or "go to a website, download a Cert of Incorporation, etc..."

That's fine, but it shouldn't be required in order to set up a corporate vendor. You can certainly ask for one, but if you can't get one, then there should be a simple and procedural override for corporations.

 

[mattack4000]

Many AP department are dumb, they just follow certain rules and stick to it. You don't understand how painful it is to fill out those stupid ARIBA forms

 

[Ampster]

I have been on both sides of transactions like that. My solution would be to print out the form, put in the correct EIN (from publicly available information) and sign the form. If the for. represented that the signer had to be an officer, I would attach a cover letter explaining that corporations are not required to file a W9 and let accounting staff deal with it. I would copy the CFO in that cover letter.

 

[stonehousegang]

This is the answer.

Sorry, but your "finance" department doesn't understand how taxes work.
Generally, corporations do not need to supply a W-9 and do not need to be sent 1099s to report income received.

IRS Forms W-9 and 1099 | IRS Forms Instructions
1099-MISC Tax Basics

They do not need to request a W-9 in order to pay Tesla for a car (no matter how it's bought).

If your company was paying an LLC, contractor, or sole-proprietor more than $600, then they would need a W-9.

As a business for Audit purposes they like us to prove that they are a corporation by giving the W-9 with Corp or filing as Corp/S-Corp with it signed and dated. We may understand we do not have to file a 1099 for them but still need the proof for due diligence.

 

[1244wfullerton]

I am very fortunate in that I am getting my Model 3 as a company car. Problem is that the finance department needs a copy of Tesla's W-9 (basically proof of their taxpayer ID for IRS purposes) to set them up as a vendor and make the payment. I've tried talking to the local dealership and they just seemed confused. Said they would ask their manager to see about a copy. Any other suggestions on who to contact? I'll just keep calling the dealership for now. Not sure if there is anyone at corporate?

Thanks.

Did you ever find a resolution to this? I'm going through the same corporate lease issue now..