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This conversation happened at work, but it’s not really work related. Other than, I guess my boss feels comfortable complaining at me about the IRS.
Branch Manager printed out an article to share with me warning readers that if they sell household goods online, and the gross amount of sales (in aggregate for the year, if I’m reading it correctly) is $600 or more, the online marketplace is required to report that to the IRS and send you tax form 1099-K. As the article points out, this is a way for the IRS to learn about people running small businesses but not reporting that income on their taxes.
BM, however, is complaining because he has a “hobby” (I would call it a side hustle, but not to his face) of buying used ATVs, snowmobiles, etc., fixing them up and reselling them. He sometimes sells them on sites like FB Marketplace, which is one of the sites the article lists as being required to report such sales. If I understand it, he should be reporting those sales as capital gains, and he should be taxed on that income. But so far, he’s gotten away with not reporting it. Granted, also, that the income from these sales is only a few hundred dollars each, and he does only a few a year. He described one sale several years ago that he made $600 on, so it sounds like that’s the biggest sale he’s had. I’m not sure why he’s so agitated by this news.
It was super awkward sitting across from him and trying to say “capital gains tax” and “I’m sure this is just another way for the IRS to try to prevent people from cheating on their taxes.” It might be a bit more work for some folks to show that they sold things at a loss, which was another argument BM was trying to make. But the ones they’re really looking for are people who are making a living from sales on Etsy and not reporting any of that income.
i ended up giving a bunch of non-committal answers and getting out of there as quickly as I could. It’s not really a conversation I want to have with my boss.
Branch Manager printed out an article to share with me warning readers that if they sell household goods online, and the gross amount of sales (in aggregate for the year, if I’m reading it correctly) is $600 or more, the online marketplace is required to report that to the IRS and send you tax form 1099-K. As the article points out, this is a way for the IRS to learn about people running small businesses but not reporting that income on their taxes.
BM, however, is complaining because he has a “hobby” (I would call it a side hustle, but not to his face) of buying used ATVs, snowmobiles, etc., fixing them up and reselling them. He sometimes sells them on sites like FB Marketplace, which is one of the sites the article lists as being required to report such sales. If I understand it, he should be reporting those sales as capital gains, and he should be taxed on that income. But so far, he’s gotten away with not reporting it. Granted, also, that the income from these sales is only a few hundred dollars each, and he does only a few a year. He described one sale several years ago that he made $600 on, so it sounds like that’s the biggest sale he’s had. I’m not sure why he’s so agitated by this news.
It was super awkward sitting across from him and trying to say “capital gains tax” and “I’m sure this is just another way for the IRS to try to prevent people from cheating on their taxes.” It might be a bit more work for some folks to show that they sold things at a loss, which was another argument BM was trying to make. But the ones they’re really looking for are people who are making a living from sales on Etsy and not reporting any of that income.
i ended up giving a bunch of non-committal answers and getting out of there as quickly as I could. It’s not really a conversation I want to have with my boss.
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