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IRS May Ask eBay To Snitch On Sellers
Makarand writes "The IRS thinks that many sellers on online auction sites are unaware of their obligation to declare their profits and pay their taxes to the IRS. Tax experts are now asking the IRS to require online auction sites like eBay, Yahoo, and Ubid to report the gross sales numbers for their sellers. Such a requirement will surely send a shock wave across the online trading world because it could drastically reduce the profits a seller would make on these sites. The IRS thinks it can collect an extra $2 billion in taxes from this requirement that auctioneers report sellers who complete 100 or transactions a year worth at least $5,000."
I believe they're after income tax - the amount of tax would be decided by the existing income tax code. It is likely that most eligible eBayers would be considered operating their own business (self-employment) and would need to report their income (and expenses) on a 1040SE.
:)
Reporting of this income might also lead to sales tax as well, but that is collected by the state, not the IRS. In addition, this is the responsible of the buyer to pay, not the seller, unless the buyer and seller are in the same state.
Dislaimer: I'm not a tax expert, but I play one when I talk to my friends into letting me do their taxes.
The space unintentionally left unblank.
Sellers already have to charge sales tax in some circumstances but for small non-corporate sellers compliance is nil. This is an income tax issue, though, not a consumption tax issue. For example, if I make say $50,000 a year and am hypothetically paying a marginal 30% on additional income, if my bosses give me a $5,000 raise I lose the first $1,600 or so to taxes. However, if my eBay business profits $5,000 and I don't declare it I get that $5,000 taxfree. (If I do declare it I actually end up paying MORE than $1,600 due to self-employment tax but thats another matter altogether.) I suppose you COULD raise prices to compensate for this but you can't call it a sales tax surcharge and, indeed, with the amount you'd have to raise prices people would likely go spare if you tried.
Signed,
Guy who actually did pay taxes on his web-based small business this year
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Dislaimer: I'm not a tax expert, but I play one when I talk to my friends into letting me do their taxes.
;-)
Need any new friends?
Yep. 26 USC 61 defines what is taxable income, and uses the phrase "from whatever source derived". 26 USC 1 imposes the tax itself on individuals, estates and trusts. 26 USC 11 does the same for corporations.
It may not be just, but it is fair, and that is more important.
Yeah, I'm a little unclear on what happens if you don't have those receipts. Sorry, Uncle Sam, I don't have the receipt for the DVD player I bought back in 2001 for $599 and just sold for $100. If you insist on assuming that my basis in the DVD player was $0 and tax me on the whole $100, you can bet I will find a way to make up for it elsewhere.
Bring it on.
Such a requirement will surely send a shock wave across the online trading world because it could drastically reduce the profits a seller would make on these sites.
I hate the tax man as much as anybody, and my profits are already reduced by him.
So where did the submitter get the idea that eBay sellers are supposed to get a free pass?
If you already pay your taxes as the law requires of all of us, then your "profits" will not change. And if you don't... well, then you should go to jail like that guy from Survivor.
No, in the case of your employer it's still snitching: the business relationship is between you and company for which you work. The IRS inserted themselves into that relationship in order to extract their pound of flesh before the worker receives it. That doesn't make such "reporting" intrinsically right, in anything but a legal sense.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
I've sold a lot of things on eBay, but never for more than those things cost me. For instance, I use a laptop for a year or two, then sell it on eBay for less than it cost me.
If forced to account for the "income", can't I also offset it by the "expense"?
-- Mark Lyon http://www.marklyon.org
The so-called "Fair Tax" idea is pushed by the rich, as it is of great benefit to them.
Under the "Fair Tax", the rich keep amassing wealth, but will pay absolutely nothing on what they gain but do not spend. Now, with this very large amount of the nation's income sitting around being completely untaxed, all that's left to tax is what is actually spent each year: The very rich, while spending more than the average person, spends a much, much smaller percentage of their income each year. Let's think this through: You are only taxed on what you spend, minus the "poverty level rebate" - the poor pay nothing, so only the middle class and rich really pay taxes. Let's say the average rich person spends 20% of their income each year, and the average middle-class home spends 90% (this is not unrealistic when you consider just how much basic living expenses and a few basic luxuries cost).
This means that the rich are paying 80% less taxes on their income than currently, while the middle class only gets a 10% break. Where exactly do you think that loss of taxes will be made up? Well, there's apparently only one place they're allowed to - the "Fair Tax". If this tax rate then doubles to make up for the short fall, the rich are paying 40% of their previous tax rate, while the middle class is paying 180% of their previous tax rate!
When you consider how much time and money the rich spend abroad, you can see that their share of taxes falls even lower, since they will pay no taxes whatsoever to the IRS when they spend it overseas.
Simply put, "Fair Tax" is a bullshit name for this concept; it's the same old "rich get richer, screw the middle class" idea that drives most unfair tax law changes.
You want fair, easy, and simple? Have the IRS tax be "X% of income over $Y minimum", with deductions only for those truly altruistic reasons, such as recognized non-profit charities.
I like taxes. Not everything has to be taxed but I am happy to pay some. I like working with computers in a university job and having a bit of time to myself. I'm really happy not to have to be a part time police officer, fireman, social worker, sewage worker, nurse, builder of roads, and all those other jobs that I really appreciate getting done around me and make my life better as a result. I pick the voluntary work I want to do (community gardening). Happy to pay a percentage of my income so those other jobs get done.
As another poster noted, it all comes down to political theory and your preference for how society is set up. My preference is public servants carrying out the shared societal tasks, well paid enough that they don't have to take bribes to feed their families. I'm happy to financially contribute to that system.