Ebay and Taxes..anyone know?

[ThreeMusketeers]

Hi everyone! We have started selling more and more on ebay. Just wondering how much you can sell w/out claiming it on taxes..or if you need to claim all sales anyway..how do you you go about doing this?

Thanks.

 

[DMRick]

Legally, you need to claim all sales as income..and if you are a business, you would fill out a schedule C and deduct your expenses. Practically? Most people do not claim items they sell from their closets. eBay makes no secret of the fact that they will give any info to the IRS/government they request.

 

[DiscussDisney]

If your ebay selling is becoming more of a "business" rather than a "hobby", you will need to report the income as the above poster mentioned. Like many ebayers, I started as a hobby selling things from my home. Then, before I knew it, I was addicted and started selling anything I could get my hands on There are many books out there that discuss ebay & tax reporting so you might want to check one out. Happy Ebaying!

 

[NotTooGoofy]

I've always wondered what is the difference between selling items on eBay vs. selling items at a garage sale. I've never heard a tax rule that you had to claim garage sale income on your taxes unless your selling something that has appreciated vs. depreciated (like 99% of most items). I assume one would have keep track of the original purchase price of an item being sold, which would be cumbersome.

On the other end, if you buy something on the internet typically you should have paid a sales tax. On the Ohio income tax form, they ask for the amount of your purchases on the internet that did not collect sales tax and then you calculate the appropriate sales tax and add it to the tax due (or subtract it from your refund). Again, I've never seen sales tax collected at a garage sale.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I've always wondered what is the difference between selling items on eBay vs. selling items at a garage sale. .

This was discussed on the budget forms---and technically would be considered on the same scale.

There's a lady in my neighborhood who hosts garage sales all of the time. There is no way that stuff is all hers that she's just trying to get rid of. I think it is a hobby of hers and a way to make a little bit of extra money. That is no different than e-bay.

In Florida--we only pay sales tax on internet items if those items can be sold in a store in our state. But if there is no store front, our state doesn't collect sales tax--and we don't necessarily have to pay sales tax for the other state where the item originated.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

Thanks everyone. I picked up eBay for idots today! lol Hopefully that will help. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[pandora174]

Corect me if I am wrong but I once read an article about E-Bay and taxes & as long as your selling the item for less than you originally purchased it you don't have to pay taxes on it. Just like a garage sale. So far I'm just selling stuff that my son outgrew or electronics from my DH when he wants to upgrade to the newer (always more expensive model) & I always sell at a fraction of the cost of what they cost a few years ago. Now if you have one of those E-Bay stores I believe that changes the scenario. But the article I think it was on CNN online a few months ago made the same comparison as a garage sale that technically Uncle Sam doesn't bother you as long as your not making a profit because the item cost so much more when new. Hope I got that right.

 

[CajunDixie]

Corect me if I am wrong but I once read an article about E-Bay and taxes & as long as your selling the item for less than you originally purchased it you don't have to pay taxes on it.

Part of the problem with this is proving how much you orginally paid for the items. For example if I bought a jacket in the summer of 2004 and decided to sell it today I highly doubt I'd still have the reciept. OR if I bought one of the boys some clothes at a garage sale then later resold the items because maybe they didn't fit I wouldnt have a receipt showing what I paid originally. Then there are the gifts you receive for Bdays and holidays that you may end up selling but you have no reciept because they were bought by someone else.
If you're a super organized person you may be able to prove all original prices, I just know I am not that organized.