Posts by Samuel Morgan7

Dennis Cooper3 said:I was just browsing through the IRS website, and it turns out you can actually revoke a digital certificate if someone is no longer affiliated with a business entity.
That being said, you should definitely give them a call. It might even be worth having a quick chat with your former employer. They could potentially be facing some legal liabilities themselves, and honestly, the easiest fix would be for them to simply de-register you from that certificate, transfer the access to someone else, or just issue a brand new one.

At the end of the day, there is no reason to expect the IRS to monitor everyone's employment status. It really falls on us to stay vigilant about what we sign and exactly who we are granting our authorization to.😬

Obviously, I'm working on getting it revoked. You really have to read everything you sign—I learned that the hard way.

I'm just not sure if the issue is that it’s been under my name for the last three years. I need to figure out how to tell the government it wasn't actually in my possession (even though I am the owner). There has to be a way to report it as stolen or something.

Anyway, thanks to you and everyone else for the help. 👍
If anyone has more useful info, let me know...

Even though they totally burned me,
I wouldn't want to cause any trouble for my company or my accountant either (since they're clearly caught up in some kind of violation too).

So I'm not sure if taking this straight to FIFA and the IRS is the right move.

Dennis Cooper3 said:Your best bet would be to give the IRS or perhaps your local bank a call to see how you can get your name removed from that specific certificate. They don't have any way of knowing whether you're still employed there or not.

When these digital credentials are issued, they aren't just tied to the corporation, but also to the specific individual who will be using them. This means that when the paperwork is filed, the company name must be listed alongside their official seal, and the authorized user must also provide their own signature.
A real headache can arise if you ever shared your password with anyone else for the sake of convenience, because someone with those credentials could theoretically go online and renew or extend the certificate without you even knowing.

That’s exactly what happened. I gave my accountant the USB and the password, and they just kept renewing the certificate behind my back since they didn't need my permission.

The fact that FIFA can't see this is total nonsense...
Does it even make sense to notify FIFA and the IRS that I haven't used it in three years? (Even though it's ridiculous, since I'm basically committing an offense just because I didn't know better).

ruggedmaker2 said:Look, what you’re asking isn't really an accounting question—it's a legal one.
Nobody can tell you what kind of fallout we're talking about if we don't know the actual stakes. Are we talking about messed up financial statements, some shady business dealings... what? What exactly happened that makes you think you might be on the hook?

Seriously though, when you were walking out the door at your old job, why didn't you make sure this whole certification mess was sorted then?
We're looking at a three-year gap here.
Did you guys just fail to reach an agreement? Did you not care at the time? Or did it just slip your mind?
And another thing—why is the certificate sitting in your name instead of the CEO's or some other executive who actually holds the responsibility?

But hey, look, I get it. There are probably details you don't want to spill on a public forum because they're weighing on you. My best advice? Go find a lawyer and lay out all the facts. Trying to guess your way through this online is just a shot in the dark; nobody's going to give you a straight answer without the full story.

Any of that... I'm hoping everything was handled properly, but I honestly don't know if things were done by the book (I just know a ton of stuff went through that certification), and I want peace of mind (why should I face any repercussions).
That's my whole point: is the director responsible for the certificate, or is it the person whose name is on it when it shouldn't be?

I have no idea why it's in my name; I assumed it was under the company.
Just like I thought the certificate had expired ages ago... I had other things going on and wasn't thinking about it.
I only recently realized it was still active and that I'm the signatory, which caught me totally off guard.

Arthur Lopez3 said:Why don't you just head back to whoever issued the certificate—your bank or maybe a place like Chase—and tell them to cancel it? Let the company handle requesting a new one themselves.
A certificate is essentially your ID or a debit card. You shouldn't be handing those out to anyone else.

I can't cancel it myself. Only the CEO of the company can do that... hopefully my constant badgering will get it sorted this week.

My main concern is that this certificate has been used under my name for three years now. Am I liable for anything? I have no idea how it was used or if everything was done by the book.

I set up the certificate and immediately passed it off to the firm's accountant so they could start doing business... I had no clue it was tied directly to my identity. If I knew it was like handing over a driver's license or a debit card, I never would have done it—I would've insisted on a power of attorney instead.
The company kept using and renewing a certificate registered in my name... How is it even possible that a major bank or the IRS allowed this? And is a private individual who isn't even an owner or employee really held responsible for a corporate certificate?😵

Hey,
I need someone to clear some things up for me.

So, I haven't worked for this company in three years. But during that entire stretch, there was a digital signature/certificate issued in my name... I never even used it (the company accountant was using it instead,
which is sketchy since they don't have power of attorney, so on paper, it looks like I'm the one using it). I didn't even bother renewing it, and I just found out the person actually using it can just renew it online without my signature or even knowing about it.

Now I'm wondering: since I'm just a private citizen who isn't employed there and doesn't use this certificate—which is clearly their main tool for handling taxes, payroll, and transfers—do I carry any legal liability?
As a "third party" who has zero connection to the firm anymore, am I on the hook? I have no clue if the person handling it is actually doing things by the book.
Also, how is it even possible that nobody canceled that certificate the moment I was offboarded from the company?