We pay a U.S. freelancer in USDT. Do we still need a W-9 and backup withholding review?
Our foreign-owned LLC pays one U.S. contractor in USDT because they prefer it, and someone internally argued that because the payment is in digital assets we do not need the usual W-9 and backup withholding setup until the person converts it to dollars. That sounds too convenient to be true.
What I need is a direct answer about whether digital asset compensation is still treated like reportable payment in property. If the payer still has TIN-solicitation and backup withholding responsibilities, I want to stop the team from treating the token payment method as a compliance shortcut.
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