For the Casual Seller on eBay: Do you report your income?

[cbcbcb]

I occassionally will flip a card or piece of memorabilia, probably no more than 10 times a year. In addition, sometimes I sell pieces of my collection I have had for years, or I sell something completely unrelated, for example, textbooks that I am done with. I feel I should report my "flips," so my question is, how many of you casual sellers report income from flipping?

[Potomac Yank]

Do you really expect flippers or sellers to tell the world of IRS ... that they don't?

[Jantz]

There are ways that you can write it off, such as it being a hobby of yours

Jantz

[tbob]

Absolutely. The IRS issued a statement about 4-5 years ago that they were cracking down on sales by individuals on auction sites like eBay. You'd have to be crazy not to report the sales. It sucks but what can you do? Don't forget to deduct the ebay, paypal, postage, etc. fees plus deducting your acquisition cost or at least refer to a reference guide for the card's value.

[Brian Van Horn]

I have always reported the income I made from sales regardless of whether or not it included eBay.

[FUBAR]

I plead the 5th!

I only sell in Vegas, so what happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!

[FUBAR]

on the flip side, if we lose money, do you think they would give us a tax break?? i think not!!

[steve B]

I do a bunch of stuff besides cards, the last few years mostly collectible racing bikes and parts. I treat it as a hobby business, since I usually buy far more than I sell I don't have any reportable profits. I also don't make any attempt to write off the "losses" either. But if they demand an accounting I will.

Steve

[CardTarget]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

on the flip side, if we lose money, do you think they would give us a tax break?? i think not!!

Uh, yea... of course they will. All they care about is the total money you MADE from the activity as a whole. If you lost money on one sale and made money on another sale and they cancel out then you won't owe anymore.