Posted By:
AnthonyBill- it's my understanding (and I'm not a CPA, so will defer to Mr. Craik on this) that it is not required to issue 1099's to corporations, only individuals. As such Mastro, and probably others, would not be required to have any fees reported to the IRS.
I'll also agree with letting sleeping dogs lie, especially on a public message board. Photographers assistants were always considered independent contractors until some grad student wrote a paper about photographer- assistant relationships, and the NY EDD picked up on it. Within months both NY and CA were all over everyone to put them on payroll and pay back penalties. Just because it hasn't happened yet with auction houses doesn't mean it won't in the next 5 years- which means they'll get you for today if you think you're flying under the radar.