eBay reports your sales to the I.R.S.

[Sapper740]

As posted earlier I'm divesting myself of decades of collecting militaria and recently started listing items for sale on eBay. My sales blew past $600 rather quickly and I received a message from eBay that they needed either my SS number or my ITIN number since the IRS made it mandatory for them to report any sales exceeding that amount so they can issue a 1099 K. The 1099 K will be considered self employed business income and you are expected to pay tax on any items sold at a profit. The problem is, if you didn't get or keep a receipt from something you picked up at a garage sale for instance, how do you prove which percentage of your gross sales is profit? Further, some items will be sold at a loss like the used Okinawa boots that I just sold. If I had known this I would have looked elsewhere to sell my collection.

[CINDERS]

Greedy Bay and Govt thieves at it again against the common working person!

[browningautorifle]

We now have to pay goods and service tax on our Ebay purchases when they come through the border. Now there's always an extra charge when you buy something...

[42rocker]

Some might say that you might want to keep track of your sales totals and have several different evilbay accounts?? Others might say that you should sell on forums like this one.
Paper trail anyone??

Later 42rocker

[browningautorifle]

Paper trail anyone??

Thank you, no...

[Striker62]

The time to leave Fleabay is last month. Get out while you can and before you invite more taxes.

[Aragorn243]

You're selling everything at a loss. I used to keep records and still do for some of my things like auctions and guns which have gone through FFL purchases but I'm in the same boat with yard sale stuff.

[MAC702]

Remember that item I sold you a long time ago? You finally sold it? I forgot the amount. If you remind me, I can find my old copy of our receipt and I'll send it to you to prove you sold it at a loss.

I quit eBay a couple years ago. I was one of their oldest accounts. It has changed many times over the years, always for the worse, and it finally went too far. I'd rather die with crap than sell anything through them now.

[Surpmil]

Not only that, but they collect "taxes" on behalf of whatever levels of government, which of course they pay to the appropriate governments you can be sure.

And as for the interest they collect on those funds while waiting to pay whichever levels of government - who knows?!

[Flying10uk]

As posted earlier I'm divesting myself of decades of collecting militaria and recently started listing items for sale on eBay. My sales blew past $600 rather quickly and I received a message from eBay that they needed either my SS number or my ITIN number since the IRS made it mandatory for them to report any sales exceeding that amount so they can issue a 1099 K. The 1099 K will be considered self employed business income and you are expected to pay tax on any items sold at a profit. The problem is, if you didn't get or keep a receipt from something you picked up at a garage sale for instance, how do you prove which percentage of your gross sales is profit? Further, some items will be sold at a loss like the used Okinawa boots that I just sold. If I had known this I would have looked elsewhere to sell my collection.

Does the US tax system not recognise the difference between an individual selling off "surplus items" that they may have owned for some time to someone "purchasing items with the sole intention of reselling at a profit"? Clearly there is a difference between the two scenarios and it may be reasonable to assume that the latter may attract tax after perhaps a threshold of profit had been passed.