Microsoft is taxing my tablet. Literally!

[SteveRiley]

At the //build conference, when we got in line to receive the tablets, each person received an IRS W-9 form. As you might imagine, that created a small ruckus; we were repeatedly assured that Microsoft would be paying the taxes.

Reason: Microsoft got in trouble after the PDC 2009 tablet handout -- the IRS viewed the Acer tablets as gifts and no tax money changed hands. So the process at //build was to collect each person's tax ID number, and then Microsoft would report the value of each person's gift and also pay the tax on it. I considered using a completely made up SSN (one with a zero-zero in the middle position, for instance) but I didn't.

Well, yesterday's snail mail included a nice little "gift": a 1099 form claiming that I had earned $1250 from Microsoft in 2011! They reported the value of that Samsung tablet from //build to the IRS. Remember, they promised they wouldn't do this. Someone fubar-ed the paperwork on this one. My wife thinks it's intentional! Supposedly they're going to "fix it," I can't wait to see how.

The tablet itself is really just ho-hum. Even it idle, its fan screams like a jet engine and the exhaust port blasts 60 deg-C air. I can think of better ways to get sweaty palms than holding a tablet PC

[GreyGeek]

Running a turbine like that the battery shouldn't last too long.

BTW, which model?

[ardvark71]

At the //build conference, when we got in line to receive the tablets, each person received an IRS W-9 form. As you might imagine, that created a small ruckus; we were repeatedly assured that Microsoft would be paying the taxes.

Reason: Microsoft got in trouble after the PDC 2009 tablet handout -- the IRS viewed the Acer tablets as gifts and no tax money changed hands. So the process at //build was to collect each person's tax ID number, and then Microsoft would report the value of each person's gift and also pay the tax on it. I considered using a completely made up SSN (one with a zero-zero in the middle position, for instance) but I didn't.

Well, yesterday's snail mail included a nice little "gift": a 1099 form claiming that I had earned $1250 from Microsoft in 2011! They reported the value of that Samsung tablet from //build to the IRS. Remember, they promised they wouldn't do this. Someone fubar-ed the paperwork on this one. My wife thinks it's intentional! Supposedly they're going to "fix it," I can't wait to see how.

Hi Steve...

Wowsers, I'm sorry this happened. While I'm not sure if reporting this to the conference organizers will do any good, at least next time you can refuse whatever they offer that comes with an W-9 form.

Regards...

[SteveRiley]

BTW, which model?

Samsung Series 7 Slate -- the one I tried to get Ubuntu on a while back but couldn't. My son has been playing around with it for a while. Eventually I'll try again to bend that sucker to my will. I would dearly love to get Plasma Active running. It's a nice kit, came with the optional dock and wireless keyboard.

[SteveRiley]

While I'm not sure if reporting this to the conference organizers will do any good.

Microsoft promises a fix, so I'm not too worried...yet. They'll probably send out revised 1099s showing $0 value.

If Microsoft doesn't fix the problem, the IRS will be looking for me to report the $1250 on the existing 1099. I chatted with an accountant friend; she said I can report the $1250 as "other income" and then add a second entry of -$1250 as an offset to net zero.

[wizard10000]

OT, but I used to be a Microsoft MVP and they used to host a big shindig in Redmond every year for us. They housed and fed us and all we had to do was get there

Anyway, I got a standing ovation from a group of 600 MVPs for skewering the head of the WPA team before the Windows XP launch. He was talking product activation and I raised my hand and asked that since the price of piracy was already built into Windows would MS be reducing prices on Windows XP. I mentioned that all the previously pirated copies of Windows would now be paid for and from where I sat that was pure profit for MS and it seemed like WPA significantly improved MS' bottom line.

I got a standing ovation from the MVPs and a "We haven't set the price of XP yet" from the WPA department head