Ahem.

[rolanni]

Dear Barnes and Noble:

I am yesterday in receipt of your threatening letter, sent to an address on which the forwarding order has long expired, commanding me to file a W9 before January 22 or face fines and reprisals from the IRS.

No, I am not faxing my social security number to a machine that, for all I know and suspect, dials into the mail room at B&N corporate.

You acquired Fictionwise in March 2009, and could have contacted me any time during the intervening nine months in order to acquire an updated W9; you had a working email address; a telephone number; and a PayPal account direction.

This "emergency" is not of my making; it is of yours, and I will be pleased to explain that to the IRS.

Sincerely,

Sharon Lee

Comments

[lagilman]

the form actually allows THEM to pay US. Which we will later have to pay taxes on.

It is, from what I've been able to learn, a sizable lack-of-information-transference between B&N and Fictionwise that makes me wonder about the bookkeeping, not to mention due diligence, done in that acquisition...

[caoilfhionn.livejournal.com]

There was a time when I ran a small book distribution business that sold to B&N both direct and through wholesalers. My impression is that B&N figures it is so big and so important to bookselling that, if they flail enough and play dumb, the little people will do the paperwork for them. The burden of bookkeeping is never on them.