Tax Time to Report Finds as Income

Joe hunter

Bronze Member
Mar 2, 2013
2,159
1,896
Up state NY
Detector(s) used
Xp Deus ,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Excellent!

Ya know, I pay my 5 yr old a quarter for every book he reads. He's not home schooled, but I'm wanting a home school deduction! If not I'm going to have to renegotiate his terms before I go broke. :laughing9:[/QUOTE
We home school but in NY you can't claim it its bs considering how much it cost,not to mention the ridiculous amount the say it cost to have a child in public school.
 

clv

Hero Member
Dec 23, 2012
714
1,101
santee, ca
Detector(s) used
Current Detectors; Minelab Safari, Equinox 600
TRX Pin Pointer, Fisher 1235x
Have owned; Minelab Eureka gold,
Tesoro Compadre, White's MX5, GMT, MXT Pro,
fisher cz7a pro, go fine 20, Garret Ma
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Don't forget the states sales tax that you owe, you know for all that used stuff you bought on craigslist etc. You will need to send the cash to your state along with sales tax on any mail order or internet items you bought this year and the tax was not collect by the seller at the time of the sale.
Every government agency wants their cut.
 

ivan salis

Gold Member
Feb 5, 2007
16,794
3,809
callahan,fl
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
hobby loss vs gain .. only if your hobby makes more than it cost is it thought of as "gain" ..,.so once you factor in the cost of machine , batteries and gas / mileage on the car , ect -- the vast bulk of detectorist are safely "in the hole" --thus --0-- to report

now say you find a 1916 d merc -- until you sell it --its dime 10 cents in value -- but upon selling it you now have 1000 bucks taxable as "income / gain"
 

Last edited:

ivan salis

Gold Member
Feb 5, 2007
16,794
3,809
callahan,fl
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
remember --you are often your own worse enemy ---the govt tax folks and folks that wish you ill -- only often know what you say , you don't tell them they don't know... let them do their own research --never admit to nothing ...a closed mouth avoids lots of trouble
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2

clv

Hero Member
Dec 23, 2012
714
1,101
santee, ca
Detector(s) used
Current Detectors; Minelab Safari, Equinox 600
TRX Pin Pointer, Fisher 1235x
Have owned; Minelab Eureka gold,
Tesoro Compadre, White's MX5, GMT, MXT Pro,
fisher cz7a pro, go fine 20, Garret Ma
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
When the tax man or tax person if you prefer ask a question answer with a yes or no, DO NOT ELABORATE ON ANYTHING!:thumbsup:
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
hobby loss vs gain .. only if your hobby makes more than it cost is it thought of as "gain" ..,.so once you factor in the cost of machine , batteries and gas / mileage on the car , ect -- the vast bulk of detectorist are safely "in the hole" --thus --0-- to report....

It is my understanding that your income still has to be reported . WHETHER OR NOT you choose to file various expenses as tax write-offs. Otherwise, heck, I could elect to simply stop filing taxes for my company. And if ever questioned in the future, simply tell the IRS "nah.... my expenses exceeded my incomes, so I figured I wouldn't bother". It doesn't work like that. I'm still required to file our company (and my personal) taxes. Whether or not I felt I was in the profitable side of the margin or not.

Yes it's true that probably not much of us are coming out ahead, after we factor all our gas, equipment, batteries, etc.... But that's up to the md'r to show, if he intends to wriggle out of the tax obligation. He's welcome to list it all out, and enter it on his taxes. But he still has the obligation to report all income.
 

hvacker

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2012
2,357
1,904
New Mexico USA
Detector(s) used
My Head
Primary Interest:
Other
Ahhh, but we have your T' net "today's finds" show & tell posts as the "papertrail". Plus I have video of you in the park digging those clad quarters and dimes. Tsk tsk.



Ok, if you never cash in that clad, and never sell your key date stuff on ebay (we're watching your ebay account), then you're fine. Yes, not till sold or used ("realized") does it qualify as income I think .


My wife is a tax accountant and she says it's income when you found it, no selling involved.
Like any income the IRS doesn't care what you do with your income. Spend it, save it, throw it away, doesn't matter.
Very much like gambling. You owe it when you win it.
Income is "realized" when you control it.

As far as a paper trail concerning something like gold, it's there. Dealing with any legitimate business they in all likelihood will follow the rules. It would be an expense on their Schedule C. All those expenses are backed up on paper in case the IRS calls.
All these problems on how to get around the money issues is why money laundering was created. Most laundering involves a net loss.

Small amounts of money or anything worth money aren't usually a problem but put your mind on how to deal with large amounts and it can be a real heads scratchier. Rule #1, never use a legitimate institution like a bank account.
Don't use cash for transactions as it raises flags these days of plastic (Few expect to get paid in cash anymore.) Cash is often viewed as suspicious.

Wife and I rode over to buy a mattress. We had our leathers on of course and when she laid out $1300 in cash the manager got all frustrated like what to do if he had to make change.The store had next to nothing as far as cash went.
I can imagine his stories about these two bikers came in and laid out all this cash etc. Like where did it come from etc.
Just saying cash was expected once but now it draws attention easy. Especially if a person or class of people are a bit outside the norm.
So the manager asks "So, are you a biker?" I says" No, I'm a motor cycle enthusiast". He got a weird expression and let it go.
 

clv

Hero Member
Dec 23, 2012
714
1,101
santee, ca
Detector(s) used
Current Detectors; Minelab Safari, Equinox 600
TRX Pin Pointer, Fisher 1235x
Have owned; Minelab Eureka gold,
Tesoro Compadre, White's MX5, GMT, MXT Pro,
fisher cz7a pro, go fine 20, Garret Ma
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My wife is a tax accountant and she says it's income when you found it, no selling involved.
Like any income the IRS doesn't care what you do with your income. Spend it, save it, throw it away, doesn't matter.
Very much like gambling. You owe it when you win it.
Income is "realized" when you control it.

As far as a paper trail concerning something like gold, it's there. Dealing with any legitimate business they in all likelihood will follow the rules. It would be an expense on their Schedule C. All those expenses are backed up on paper in case the IRS calls.
All these problems on how to get around the money issues is why money laundering was created. Most laundering involves a net loss.

Small amounts of money or anything worth money aren't usually a problem but put your mind on how to deal with large amounts and it can be a real heads scratchier. Rule #1, never use a legitimate institution like a bank account.
Don't use cash for transactions as it raises flags these days of plastic (Few expect to get paid in cash anymore.) Cash is often viewed as suspicious.

Wife and I rode over to buy a mattress. We had our leathers on of course and when she laid out $1300 in cash the manager got all frustrated like what to do if he had to make change.The store had next to nothing as far as cash went.
I can imagine his stories about these two bikers came in and laid out all this cash etc. Like where did it come from etc.
Just saying cash was expected once but now it draws attention easy. Especially if a person or class of people are a bit outside the norm.
So the manager asks "So, are you a biker?" I says" No, I'm a motor cycle enthusiast". He got a weird expression and let it go.

I got petty much the same treatment last weekend when the wife and went out and bought some furniture. She wanted a sofa and wanted a laz-boy. She like my so much I ended up with 2 of them pulse the sofa.
The bill was $1990 and change. I pulled out 2k in $20's and I thought they were going to have a hart attack. "We don't take cash do you have a credit card"? (they took the cash, because I told them that I was sure the store down the street would like my business).
 

OP
OP
Deft Tones

Deft Tones

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2016
1,547
2,352
Hawkeye State - Area 515
Detector(s) used
Whites V3i, XP Deus, Minelab Sovereign GT, Garrett AT Pro, Whites TRX (2), Predator Raven, Predator Raptor, Lesche Sampson
Primary Interest:
Other
Cash is suspicious...sheesh, what a sad world.
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
My wife is a tax accountant and she says it's income when you found it, no selling involved.
.....


Thanx for your wife's input on this topic then. Can you ask her about valuable coins ? Eg.: a 1916 D merc, or a rare CC $10 gold, etc... Although they might be sold for $1,000 or $10,000, that value-to-report as income, is only declared AFTER they are sold. Not before . Right ? In the meantime, if someone wished to report the income, it's only .10c and $10.00 respectively (the face value) right ?
 

kcm

Gold Member
Feb 29, 2016
5,790
7,085
NW Minnesota
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
Other
I got petty much the same treatment last weekend when the wife and went out and bought some furniture. She wanted a sofa and wanted a laz-boy. She like my so much I ended up with 2 of them pulse the sofa.
The bill was $1990 and change. I pulled out 2k in $20's and I thought they were going to have a hart attack. "We don't take cash do you have a credit card"? (they took the cash, because I told them that I was sure the store down the street would like my business).
I ran across the same thing once. Can't remember where, but some time in the last couple of years. Needless to say they lost business.
 

FreeBirdTim

Silver Member
Sep 24, 2013
3,791
6,781
Scituate, RI
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Cash is king in my book. I pay cash for everything. I also prefer getting paid in cash. Nice and neat and no paper trail...
 

Honest Samuel

Banned
Sep 23, 2015
8,814
4,969
Connecticut
Detector(s) used
Minelab
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
# 50. I disagree with you. If you find coins worth more then face value, you do not know how much they are worth until you sell them. The same thing for jewel, you do not know the value until you sell them. As far as cash, I do not have much of it. Mostly food stamps and credit cards.
 

Peyton Manning

Gold Member
Dec 19, 2012
14,540
18,696
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MXT-PRO
Sandshark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I always admit to everything the gov shows me doing on a spy satelite cam
 

kcm

Gold Member
Feb 29, 2016
5,790
7,085
NW Minnesota
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
Other
# 50. I disagree with you. If you find coins worth more then face value, you do not know how much they are worth until you sell them. The same thing for jewel, you do not know the value until you sell them. As far as cash, I do not have much of it. Mostly food stamps and credit cards.

...I don't think they said different. He said that when you find money, it's worth something right then. Yes - face value. Doesn't matter if the coin is rare or is silver, it's only worth face value. It doesn't become worth MORE than face value unless you sale it or somehow make a profit on it. ...That's how I understood it, anyway.
 

SeabeeRon

Bronze Member
Aug 5, 2007
2,076
2,052
Santa Cruz, CA.
Detector(s) used
ML Sov GT; Whites MXT & Surf PI Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Attachments

  • tinfoil_hat.jpg
    tinfoil_hat.jpg
    66.5 KB · Views: 36

Peyton Manning

Gold Member
Dec 19, 2012
14,540
18,696
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
MXT-PRO
Sandshark
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
oh my! you are supposed to have a point on top to fend off the microwaves
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top