A new regulation from the IRS is set to go into effect onJanuary 1, 2013. The new regulation will affect attorneys that accept debit andcredit cards for payment from clients. Under Section 6050W, credit cardcompanies must verify and match an attorney’s federal tax ID number and legalname on the attorney’s merchant account to the attorney’s information on his orher IRS record. Under the regulation, “an EXACT match is required.” This couldbecome a problem if an attorney chooses to abbreviate his name on his merchantaccount. If this is the case, an attorney might want to consider contacting his credit card processor to change the name on his account to the legalname that appears on his tax return.
See Mark Mathewson, Accept Credit Card Payments? Beware ThisNew IRS Reg, Illinois L@wyer Now, Dec. 11, 2012.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
