OT: IRS Paypal Tax Situation

[Eric72]

I sold less than 20 items and gross revenue was less than $2,000. So, I obviously don't do this for a living. Would it be reasonable to compute taxes owed through the calculations below?

Total sales, minus eBay fees, minus PayPal fees, minus postage, multiplied by 28%

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by Eric72

I sold less than 20 items and gross revenue was less than $2,000. So, I obviously don't do this for a living. Would it be reasonable to compute taxes owed through the calculations below?

Total sales, minus eBay fees, minus PayPal fees, minus postage, multiplied by 28%

Sort of. You forgot to subtract how much you originally paid for the cards. Plus it's only 28% if you are In the 28% tax bracket.

[mechanicalman]

Does anyone know if auction houses report your "income" if you consign some cards and subsequently receive a large check?

[blackandgold]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Does anyone know if auction houses report your "income" if you consign some cards and subsequently receive a large check?

This thread certainly got my attention. Sort of tying into the question above, back in the 80's and early 90's, I was big into collecting vinyl albums. Now, as I get older, I decided to part with them, as I'm trying to decrease my collections. If I understand the info posted here so far, if I sell them through an auction house, I will owe taxes on the winnings? And since it was so long ago, I have NO IDEA what I paid for them. Ugh.

[dougscats]

Scott,

Sorry to hear all this.
It so complicates/makes more costly the hobby of card-collecting.

As I may someday be in the same position, this thread is very informative and interesting to me. I realize now that I'm going to have to go about my record-keeping/accounting more professionally.

Fortunately, I have a hard-copy of almost all my ebay purchases over the years. I did also have a File for my Net54 transactions; unfortunately, I mistakenly deleted it a couple of years ago, and all those transactions are in cyber-space somewhere.

However, it occurs to me that I probably still do have records of many Net54 transactions in my Sent Mail file, so that might be a resource for you, too, if you're missing records.

And let me point out one bright side to your predicament:
You've been looking for a new project.
Now you've got one.

Hopefully, after deducting your COGS, you won't get killed.

Best.

Doug

[ruth-gehrig]

All of his has further appreciated my late father's love of doing shows in person with cash to cash transactions.

[ruth-gehrig]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Does anyone know if auction houses report your "income" if you consign some cards and subsequently receive a large check?

Within the past 2 weeks REA, Goldin and SCP have all told me they DO NOT report sales to the IRS

[BeanTown]

Didn't EBay win a large law suit to not turn over sales to the IRS. They just report their profits from facilitating the sale between the buyer and seller. I think AHs are in the same boat.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

Sort of. You forgot to subtract how much you originally paid for the cards. Plus it's only 28% if you are In the 28% tax bracket.

Unfortunately, they were purchased over 15 years ago. I don't have any receipts and cannot remember what I paid for them.

As to the 28%, I thought the sales of collectibles were reported separately and taxes on those sales were capped. Long story short - I was under the impression this was not treated as ordinary income. Again, I don't do this for a living and certainly don't operate a business. So, no Schedule C.

Is the 28% cap correct, or am I missing something?