IRS Hunting People Who Sell Anything on EBay

[NJcigarman]

Soooo ... my question is ...

How do you prove to the IRS what you paid for something at a yard sale? At a rummage sale? There's no receipt!

I use the Outright Application available on eBay. It keeps track of expenses, shipping, fees etc. It gives you a lot of info on sales, profit etc. I use a Paypal debit card to make 75% of my purchases. It will fill the info right in for you. Then when I use cash I have to enter that manually. So you can list all expenses, mileage, office supplies, etc. Then at the end of the year it will do schedule C for you and I give that to my accountant. Keep in mind I do this because I know I will receive a 1099 from PayPal showing my ending number say $20,000. hope this helps because the first year I got a 1099 I kept very poor records. My accountant wanted to kill me trying to sort the mess out. Here are a few entries right from my Outright


Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 39K91487B0986410Y PayPal Fees $1.05
Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 0FT27662PM944960H PayPal Fees $1.52
Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 91605695N1182305E PayPal Fees $0.88
Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 5HC19965K5717233B PayPal Fees $0.79
Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 0MR26059HX8092134 PayPal Fees $2.94
Dec 6 PayPal PayPal Fee: 4MA941296K273060D PayPal Fees $1.66
Dec 5 PayPal PayPal Fee: 4DY63781M7649423W PayPal Fees $1.02
Dec 5 PayPal PayPal Fee: 0DF589908A4587830 PayPal Fees $1.28
Dec 5 PayPal PayPal Fee: 8DE8412494814082S PayPal Fees $0.82
Dec 5 eBay Final Value Fee (2 bags goldenberg original dark chocolate peanut chews candy 6 lb gluten free) eBay Fees $1.91
Dec 5 eBay Inc Shipping ShipSvc:USPS First Class Package, Trk#:9400109699939458950223, Postage:$2.59, Ins:$0.00 Shipping Costs $2.59
Dec 5 PayPal PayPal Fee: 5GE38501DG760912U PayPal Fees $0.92
Dec 5 eBay Inc Shipping ShipSvc:USPS Priority Mail, Trk#:9405509699939460478824, Postage:$26.11, Ins:$0.00 Shipping Costs $26.11
Dec 5 eBay Inc Shipping ShipSvc:USPS Priority Mail, Trk#:9405509699939460511620, Postage:$5.44, Ins:$0.00 Shipping Costs $5.44
Dec 5 eBay Inc Shipping ShipSvc:USPS Priority Mail, Trk#:9405509699937116543322, Postage:$5.56, Ins:$0.00 Shipping Costs $5.56
Dec 5 eBay Inc Shipping ShipSvc:USPS Priority Mail, Trk#:9405509699938984645064, Postage:$15.52, Ins:$0.00 Shipping Costs $15.52

 

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[NJcigarman]

Just because you bought something at a yard sale shouldn't be a problem. Make your own receipts write date location and description and your cost. Take it a step further if you sell it on eBay list the eBay fee, PayPal, fee and shipping on the same slip. Keep everything neat and in order and you should have no problem.

 

[dieselram94]

This is my biggest hold up with doing more on eBay. As of right now I'm NOT a business...I would like to do much more than sell off my personal stuff as I have done a descent amount of this year.

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[dieselram94]

And that 20K threshold is total payments paypal, which includes shipping!

This has been eating at me for a while. Same as eBay charging fees on shipping...

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[Nitric]

This is my biggest hold up with doing more on eBay. As of right now I'm NOT a business...I would like to do much more than sell off my personal stuff as I have done a descent amount of this year.

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

Yep, Craigslist will be next! Heck, some states, you can't scrap out the metal in your yard. if you go over a certain amount without a tax paper!

 

[dieselram94]

Yep, Craigslist will be next! Heck, some states, you can't scrap out the metal in your yard. if you go over a certain amount without a tax paper!

Yeah it's over the top ridiculous. The IRS should use their resources to go after the welfare cheats rather than productive members of our society...

sent from a potato with gravy!!...

 

[deserdog]

Lots of things to deduct if the irs comes snooping. How about the $.56 per mile for business? That would add up quick! I would be self employed, right? How about the deduction for health insurance? "If you have self-employment income, then you can take a deduction for health insurance expenses incurred for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents." $439.00 a month adds up quick! Not to mention the Ebay fees and Paypal fees!