@judgie0723 wrote:
My partner and I have recently started an onlyfans page. In order to add a bank account they needed both of us to provide a copy of our ID's even though the page is mainly focused around her. They say because I am part of the content they needed my info too. Once we got approved they gave us a w9 to fill out and I am curious about line 3. Do she put Individual or Partnership, and do I also need to fill out a w9?
When you are in business together with another person, you have a partnership. Unless there are only two partners who are spouses, the partnership has to file a separate form 1065 partnership tax return that lists all the income and expenses of the partnership. The 1065 includes a K-1 statement that lists each partner's share of the income and expenses to enter on each partner's personal tax return. The partnership does not have to be 50/50, the income and expenses can be split any way you prefer, but you may want to have at least a simple agreement in writing that explains each partner's responsibility (duties) in the partnership and how you will divide the ownership of the partnership and its income.
(The word "partner" here refers to a business partner, not a romantic partner, although sometimes they are both.)
The partnership return form 1065 requires a program called Turbotax Business, which is different from Home & Business, and is only available as a download or CD to install on a PC, there is no online or Mac version. You will still need some version of regular turbotax to prepare your personal tax returns. The form 1065 deadline is March 15, not April 15, and the late filing penalty is $195 per month per partner.
If you will be filing as a partnership, the partnership needs a single tax ID number called an EIN. It will be linked to one of you as the "responsible person" (the person who applied for the EIN) but the EIN applies to the partnership and should be used for all partnership-related income. You can get one online for free here.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/do-you-need-an-ein
You should not be reporting two independent self-employed businesses schedule C.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/partnerships
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-541
However, if the business will only have 1 decision-maker and 1 person who is ultimately in control, that can be a sole proprietorship that is reported on schedule C. That person would report all the income and expenses. The owner could pay the other person some of the income as a subcontractor, for services performed. In that case the owner would list the subcontractor payment as one of their expenses, and the subcontractor would report the income as their own independent business. We ignore the fact that the subcontractor may be in a romantic relationship with the business owner.
In other words, we can think of person 1 being the business owner and content provider, and they hire person #2 as a videographer and technical support person. In that case, person 1 is the sole owner of the onlyfans business, and person 2 is their subcontractor (not employee--that would create a huge hassle), and they have separate businesses. However, if it is a true partnership, where responsibility and decision making is shared, then it must file a partnership tax return.
This also has implications for if the personal relationship ends. If the business partners are also personally involved and they break up, the partnership is dissolved. If person 1 goes on to create content with someone else, they form a new business partnership. If person 1 is solely in control and is a sole proprietor, then person 1 just fires their subcontractor and hires a new one.
