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Rebecca G., Colorado

The only reason I can think of that they’d need it is if they wanted to send you a 1099 in order to claim the money they spent on lessons as a business expense, but that doesn’t make sense for a child’s lessons. You can’t write off piano lessons as an educational expense, so that doesn’t work.

Mark M. New York

If they drop the kids off and the kids are 13 or under, it can be deducted as a child care expense, and the provider’s tax ID is required for that. If it’s not drop-off, they can’t get away with that. It also has to be drop-off specifically so that they can get work done. Otherwise it doesn’t count. I’d say odds are low of child care being justifiable here.

To respond to your “I don’t think so?,” however, if you don’t have a business entity with its own separate tax ID, then your Social Security Number is your tax ID. All the more reason to be cautious about this, as you clearly are.

Sue L., California

I had a student who is a professional actress and singer, and her mom paid for lessons through a business account. She had me invoice her for lessons. She only took a few lessons, but this may have been a case where lessons were tax deductible. In any case, hopefully this is discussed up front.

Amy L., California

I had an older adult student (a psychiatrist) ask for my tax ID once a few years ago. I checked with my accountant and he said to go ahead and provide it, so I did (and yes, this meant I provided him with my SSN).