In a sign that the Internal Revenue Service could be cracking down on gig workers, the agency has received authorization from a federal court to gather information from JustAnswer LLC about any U.S. taxpayers who received compensation through the platform.
California federal District Court Judge Dolly Gee approved the agency’s request for what is known as a John Doe summons, which seeks information about a group of individuals whom the the government hasn’t already identified by name or other means. The summons seeks information about people who received $5,000 or more for answering questions on the JustAnswer platform in any one year from 2017 through 2020.
“The gig economy has grown in recent years and with it, the concern for tax compliance issues has increased,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert said in a Department of Justice press release. “This John Doe summons demonstrates that working with the IRS we will use all the tools available to us to ensure that no matter how U.S. taxpayers earn income, they are properly reporting it and paying their taxes. Those who choose to be on the forefront of the gig economy must be aware of, and abide by, all their tax obligations.”
JustAnswer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Precise data about gig workers is hard to come by given the decentralized and varied nature of the work. But surveys of workers have shown that many participants in the gig economy earn less than minimum wage in the state where they work.
While the DOJ and IRS did not indicate that they were seeking John Doe summonses for other platforms, the press release did name-check several other gig-working platforms, including Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Etsy.
In November, the IRS issued new guidance to gig work platforms instructing them to report information to the agency about taxpayers who earned more than $5,000 in 2024, more than $2,500 in 2025, and more than $600 in 2026 and beyond.
Previously, gig platforms only had to report information to the IRS for workers who earned more than $20,000 and completed at least 200 transactions. The new thresholds are designed to make it harder for gig workers to avoid paying taxes on their income.
“Like their fellow Americans who earn income through traditional means, U.S. taxpayers who earn income from digital and other platforms that comprise the gig economy need to pay their fair share of taxes,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “The world is getting smaller for tax cheats, and we will work collaboratively with our partners to vigorously enforce the nation’s tax laws.”