I just received a 1099-Misc in the mail from Fotolia for a minuscule amount, which I earned, but have yet to receive. Can they do that? Hold your monies hostage, collect interest, claim its yours to Uncle Sam, but yet - "you" (me) can't touch it? 

I had this argument with Chad directly.  The bottom line is, they just don't care and they're going to do what they want.

I even provided them with INSTRUCTIONS to the form that states they should not be reporting this unless the money is actually PAID to the contributor as the 1099 is a CASH BASIS document (not accrual basis).

One of the reasons I am no longer a contributor to Fotolia....and don't wish to be...and don't encourage people to contribute to them.

Not the end of the world.  You add it in the same area of the tax software as your W2's... why the huge annoyance? Does your accountant charge you more or something?

Quote from: wordplanet on February 03, 2014, 18:54

The first year I was on Fotolia I think I earned $16 and called their accounting department to find out why they sent me a 1099 for money I might never see. They said they did this because you can always convert the amount you've earned to credits and to their way of thinking, this meant the funds were available. I didn't like the answer, because I don't buy stock photos, but it wasn't worth stressing over, so I've paid taxes for two years on money I finally received this year, when I finally made payout (I had a tiny tiny poorly performing port there).

The problem with this is that if you accept payment via Paypal, and you have enough money or transfers from Paypal to warrant their issuance of a 1099-k that won't reconcile to the income you are reporting as being taxable.

It's really an issue that they did it wrong, and I didn't mean to ignore that in my earlier answer. I know it should be on a cash and not an accrual basis - but the amount of tax owed was so small that I just paid it - though it is certainly wrong to be placed in a position where you're paying tax on money you didn't receive. My time was better spent doing other things than making endless efforts to get them to correct it. I quit Fotolia after I finally made a payout but then accrued more "earnings" that I'll never see. Not a company I want to deal with anymore either.