Legal Question in Tax Law in Rhode Island

Re: What am I responsible for?

It sounds like you are describing and worked for an unincorporated partnership (or at least a joint venture). If that is the case then the items of income and deduction would be calculated at the business level and any gain would flow through to your personal tax return (you probably should have been issued a K1). You would be required to report any items of gain in excess of your investment in the business (assuming that you had invested anything), any net gain would be either taxed as a dividend or as salary, and anything taxed as salary would be subject to payroll withholding requirements or self-employment taxes. On the other hand, you might have been an employee or an independent contractor. In that case you would still have to report the income that you received (but you wouldn't be entitled to the deductions) and you and/or your employer would be required to pay the withholding taxes.

Once you started out on your own then you would be required to recognize that income (less deductions) on your Schedule C and pay the appropriate payroll taxes on the income.

As far as the deduction for one of your clients, I can't think of any reason why the accountant would need your SSN. You should speak to your tax advisor as they should be able to answer these questions pretty easily. Hope that helps.

Disclaimer: nothing in this post is to be considered tax or legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. You must speak to your advisors as they can assess the law given your particular facts.