Taxes Attorneys

Tax attorneys can tell you that all too many otherwise honest tax payers underreport income as they are simply not sure what may or may not qualify as “income”.  If you profit from selling on Ebay, or other sites such as Etsy, you do indeed need to report that income to the IRS.  Ask a tax attorney for more information, and eliminate the risk of a costly IRS tax audit.

Income Tax On Ebay Profits

Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn’t make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I’ve always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their ‘little side business’ but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly refer to it as ‘my little hobby.’

All arguments aside, the conclusion that I came to after reading each of the emails was always the same: while you may think selling on eBay is just a fun pastime and the money you’re making is not reportable as income, depending on the circumstances, the IRS would probably disagree with you.

 It seems that everyone likes making money, but hates carving off a piece for good old Uncle Sam. Welcome to free enterprise, folks. If you’re going to come to the dance you have to pay the fiddler.

The IRS rules are clear: you must pay taxes on all personal and business income and that includes money you make selling on Ebay.

In its most basic sense, the IRS rules can be interpreted to mean that if you buy an old vase at a garage sale for $10 and sell it on eBay (or elsewhere) for $20 you made a $10 profit and therefore must report it as income and pay Uncle Sam his fair share.

In reality, if you are a casual seller who only sells a few items on eBay every now and then it’s doubtful the IRS is going to let loose an army of agents to collect taxes on the few bucks you make. However, if you consistently sell on eBay the IRS may deem your activities to be business oriented and you will be required to file a Schedule C and claim the income.

The IRS uses a number of factors to determine if an eBay hobby that generates sales revenue is actually a business. These factors include:

Do you carry on the hobby in a business-like manner?

Do you spend considerable time working on the hobby?

Do you depend on income from your hobby for your livelihood?

If the answer to any or all of these question is yes, you’re running a business, not carrying on a hobby, and you are responsible for paying taxes on your income.

What’s eBay’s take on all this? Naturally eBay is vehemently opposed to anything that might rock the eBay boat. eBay does not issue 1099 tax forms to sellers, nor does it report seller’s sales figures to the IRS.

Ebay considers itself merely to be a facilitator, meaning that they provide a marketplace in which buyers and sellers come together to do business.

Furthermore, under its current system it would be impossible for eBay to issue accurate 1099s to sellers. eBay does not track if a seller actually gets paid by the buyer, so eBay has no idea how much money - if any - actually changes hands at the end of each transaction.

On the bright side, if you do sell on eBay as a business you can deduct a number of business expenses, including the cost of inventory, listing fees, shipping, envelopes, packing materials, etc.

You might also be able to deduct things like the purchase of a computer for business use, office space (even if it’s a home office), office supplies, and more.

Talk to your accountant if there’s any doubt as to whether you should or should not be paying taxes on your eBay earnings.

By: mannchauhan

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

If you have overlooked any of these sources of taxable income, you may want to consult with a tax attorney to resolve your tax situation.  In overlooking these sources, and not reporting them,or underreporting them, you do run the risk of a costly IRS tax audit.  Work with a tax attorney to understand your income, ALL sources, to make sure that you are not underreporting and risking longterm issues with the IRS.

7 Most Commonly Overlooked Sources Of Taxable Income

1. Social Security Income

Social Security benefits may be non-taxable, or partially taxable. It depends on your total income from other sources. If your sole source of income during the tax year was Social Security, your benefits are probably not taxable. But, if you have other forms of income, including tax-exempt income, it could make your Social Security benefits taxable. If you add half the amount of your Social Security Benefits to all other forms of income, and the total exceeds a ‘base’ amount, then a portion of your benefits will be taxable. In 2008, the base amount is $25,000 if single, married filing single, or head of household, and $32,000 if married filing jointly.

2. Unemployment Compensation

People are always surprised that unemployment compensation is taxable income. This includes any amounts you received under federal or state unemployment compensation laws, state unemployment insurance paid by a state (or District of Columbia) from the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund. If you received unemployment compensation during the year, you should receive IRS Form 1099-G, showing the amount you were paid, and if any taxes were already withheld. If your unemployment benefit payments were made from a private, non-union fund to which you voluntarily contribute are only taxable if you received more money than you put into the fund.

 Please note that as a result of passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), starting in 2009, the first $2,400 earned in unemployment compensation is excludable as taxable income.

3. Gambling Winnings

Gambling winnings are fully taxable and must be reported on your tax return. Gambling winnings include any winnings from lotteries, raffles, horse races, or casinos. Both cash winnings and the fair market value of prizes such as cars and trips are counted as taxable income. If you win a prize in a lucky number drawing, television or radio quiz program, beauty contest, or other event, you must also include it in your income. A payer (such as the casino or track, etc.) is required to issue you an IRS Form W-2G if you receive certain gambling winnings or if your gambling winnings are subject to Federal income tax withholding. All gambling winnings must be reported no matter if any portion is subject to withholding or not.

Please note that you may deduct gambling losses only if you itemize deductions. You may claim your gambling losses as a miscellaneous deduction, however, the amount of losses you deduct may not be more than the amount of gambling income you have reported on your return.

4. Bonuses

Bonuses or awards from your employer based on work performance are included as taxable income. Money, gift cards, property, or prizes such as a vacation trip all count as ‘bonuses’. If the award you receive is a good or service, then you need to include the fair market value in your income. Even holiday bonuses count if your employer gives you cash, a gift certificate, or a similar item that you easily can exchange for cash.

Please note that if you receive personal property (e.g. something other than cash, gift card, or its equivalent) as an award for length of service exceeding five years, the fair market value of the award is less than $1,600, and the award is presented as part of a meaningful presentation, it can generally be excluded as income.

5. Punitive Damages

If you were awarded damages for actual monetary losses (due to property damage or medical care for injuries) the funds are generally not taxable. However, if any damages were awarded beyond compensating you for monetary losses, like punitive damages, (usually to punish or make an example of a defendant based on outrageous conduct), interest, emotional distress, injury to reputation etc these are all taxable income.

6. Reimbursed Business Expenses

Reimbursed business expenses may be considered taxable income, depending upon whether your employer meets the requirements for an Accountable Plan. To be considered an Accountable Plan, your employer’s reimbursement or allowance arrangement must meet all of the following rules:

Employee paid or incurred expenses that are deductible while performing services as an employee.

Employee adequately accounts for these expenses to employer within a reasonable time period.

Employee returns any excess reimbursement or allowance within a reasonable time period.

If your employer’s reimbursement arrangement does not meet all three requirements, the reimbursements you receive for business expenses should be shown on your W-2, and the payments should be reported as income. You can get this income back by itemizing your deductions and completing IRS Form 2106 with your return.

7. Severance Pay

Any type of severance pay or payment on the cancellation of your employment contract is taxable income. This includes a lump-sum payment for accrued vacation or leave time, or back pay awards as the result of a judgment or settlement. If you choose a reduced severance payment in exchanged for your former employer paying for an outplacement service or employment agency, you must include the unreduced severance pay as income.

By: roni deutch

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A tax attorney can help explain to you the new tax laws for 2009, as well as the myriad of other tax laws that may apply to your particular situation when dealing with income, property or other taxes. 

New Tax Laws For 2009

Even though they are being levied by all forms of government since many centuries, taxes have hardly been popular. The very idea of taking a portion of something you legitimately earn or own may make you rebellious. However, all of us know that we have to pay taxes in order to have the infrastructures built, which are so necessary for our livelihood. Also, governments need money for a lot of other investments into areas such as scientific researches, defense, old age pension and care for the poor and disabled.

However, while everybody ought to pay their taxes, it is foolish not to explore legitimate ways to save taxes, which the government itself offers to the all citizens. There are a number of ways you can save your taxes. The most important thing is to have a thorough knowledge of the tax laws of your country. Tax planning, tax filing, bookkeeping, auditing, payroll management are some aspects of tax preparation which you can do yourself of can get the service of a reliable and certified public accountant agency.

 US tax laws can be quite complicated for under these laws, you may have to make payments to all four levels of the US government such as the local, regional, state and federal level. The federal tax system is widely criticized for being extremely complex and completely outdated. In order to file federal tax for an individual, a person has to submit a Form 1040 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States.

There is one major change to the tax laws that has been introduced in the year 2008, which will benefit the tax-payers in 2009 also. In 2008 a new tax law called the Economic Stimulus Act (ESA) has been introduced, which will give the qualified individuals who have completed tax filing for the year 2007, tax rebates in advance via rebate checks. The qualifying income is at least $3,000 for the year 2007. Other than this, it has provisions that will encourage businesses to invest into new machineries.

The tax changes that were announced for the year 2009 are going to benefit a large number of tax-payers, especially those within higher income brackets. From 1st January 2009 onwards, the basic amount of exemption on federal estate tax increased to $3.5 million. It is going to result in huge tax saving for large real estate owners. Another changes is the increase in the maximum amount, which a tax-saver can contribute to a 401(k) plan. Many tax-payers and non-residential US citizens now will be able to save more of their payments thanks to this change.

The gift-tax exclusion in 2009 has been increased to $13,000 per year. Therefore, you can donate up to $13,000 in a year without paying taxes for it and in the process, reduce your taxable income size to some extent. The maximum amount of earnings that is subjected to Social Security taxes rose to $106,800. Still, a lot of employees will have to pay more Social Security taxes because of the raises in their salaries.

By: Elle Wood

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