Looking through the FIRST Robotics Registration for 2006, I see that all US teams need to fill out W-9 forms and send them into FIRST. From what I can tell, this is for all teams and not just teams who are receiving grants.
Here is the page on FIRST’s site. Follow that link for more information. Teams - now is the time to do this, not later. We just started our process and our school will go through the hoops to get this form filled out.
We have not done this in any previous year. I wanted to start this thread to make this less of a suprise for all US teams.
Every US based team must submit a W-9 to FIRST Finance prior to receiving the Kit of Parts. Please go to the link provided (W-9)](http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf) - print out the W-9 and have it filled out by the organization that you have chosen to accept any possible funds. Please make sure that the W-9 is signed by an official of the organization and dated. You will also need to make sure that you include your Team # with the W-9.
I read this as a thing only for teams that are recieving money from a company who is first giving it to FIRST, and then FIRST to the teams. Such as NASA does with their grants, or GM and the other large companies that sponsor a number of teams. It is my understanding that a large chunk of money goes to FIRST, and then gets distributed to the teams. This is from the 2006 FIRST Grant Info Document http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2006/FIRST_Grants_to_Teams_2006.pdf :
(Sorry about the formatting, CD doesn’t like copying from PDFs into posts.)
According to FIRST, the majority of schools have filled these W-9 forms out in the past. The difference this year is that FIRST wants them filled out before they are needed. This is to ensure that the teams are able to get any grant awarded funding when it is awarded instead of weeks or months later and it is an IRS requirement. A W-9 needs to be submitted annually, even if a team has previously submitted a W-9 to FIRST.
The proper person to fill the W-9 out is a representative of the organization that FIRST would write a check to for any pass through funds. If the team wants the funds to go to the school, a representative of the school needs to fill out the form, sign it and make sure that the Federal Tax ID # is accurate. This could be a principal, Asst. Principal, Superintendent. If they want the funds to go to the District then the District fills it out and a representative of the District would sign it.
It is the teams responsibility to designate an entity that will work with them to receive any pass through funds and to obtain a Federal Tax ID# and FIRST cannot send any funds to a team if they have not received an accurate W-9.
Hope this helps a little…
This is definitely for ALL United States-based teams. Even if you are not getting a grant, this is still a must, according to the pre-registration process info on TIMS.
Here is their brief direction from the TIMS site:
“U.S. teams must submit W-9 form in order to receive Kit of Parts.”
Most school districts have this form completed and ready to fax. Check with your school principal. Simply fax the form to FIRST so they can keep it on file.
Can anyone explain exactly why FIRST is requiring this this year? I understand for grants, but there is absolutely no way our team will get or need a grant… so why do I have to disclose this type of info? Why exactly would FIRST need our TaxID info, if they never have before?
Im not really trying to argue that they dont need it, I am just trying to understand why they do need it… (Im sure there is a legimate reason, but I just dont know it myself).
There are some teams not affiliated with a school or non-profit organization . We have a team in our area that is a community team open to students from several schools. It is much more difficult for these teams to receive grants and gifts. I guess the IRS might be afraid that someone might make a buck illegally. I was told the W-9 forms will be kept on file at FIRST and not the IRS.
I’m on the side of “Why does FIRST need this from our team?”, however, I also don’t want to be the team at the kickoff that finds out I can’t receive my kit because FIRST never received my W-9. Thus, I filled it out and faxed it in as soon as I read that “Every US based team must submit a W-9”.
'Jumped through that hoop!
I’m going to go out on a limb here and think that I understand why we have to make this submission. I know that last year we just had everyone we talked to send their money directly to FIRST and by the end of the season, there was a little bit too much money turned into FIRST and they had to send some of it back to us. At that point they needed a W-9 from us so that they could send the money, I suppose to prove that the money was being sent to another non profit so there would be no tax issues. Once again, this is just me pretending to know what’s going on but that would be my best guess.
The W-9 form is available from your finance department at your school system or you may download the form from several sources - FIRST has provided the form and a link, go to the message they sent your team leader several months ago.
This form is required this year. It is not hard to do and team leaders have been aware of the requirement from the start of registration.
As FIRST grows so will the requirements and rules put on them by the government.
Don’t panic! The first step is to make sure your team leader remembers to do this small requirement.
The second step is to enjoy the robotics competition.
Not sure what you mean, but it would sound as if FIRST has made it relatively clear that a W-9 form must be sent in to receive a KOP. ( US teams only it would appear. ) Beth’s reason for the documents sounds pretty valid, a lot of money is channeled through FIRST each year so I’d imagine they are watched pretty closely. These forms help them keep everything straight. Making everyone do this just covers all their bases now and makes for less confusion later.
Thank you for bringing this back up, I had intended to do it, but forgot in the hustle of getting everything else ready… I sent it to our school today to have it done.
My guess is that there are going to be A LOT of sad teams at kickoff without their KOP, though, if they didnt read the fine print.
