Selling stuff online? Here comes the IRS.

[Source]

Are you paying taxes on your sales?

 

[RogueWriter]

As long as the Government is spending more than it is taking in, it will have to look under every rock for spare change. I wonder if, in this case, it won't cost them more than they gain. After all, the additional costs of reporting and tracking, plus the government's internal expenses in regards to handling the additional data is going to be considerable.

The thing is, I think the government could come up with a ton more income than this solution if they simply concentrated a bit more on big business practices.

 

[brizzad]

I recently had to sell a site that made $250 in its first 2 weeks of operating so that I could pay a whopping 15+% "self employment" taxes on my earned income from the internet last year

 

[accent]

..... The thing is, I think the government could come up with a ton more income than this solution if they simply concentrated a bit more on big business practices.

Not much chance of that when campaign contributions mostly come from big business. The money needed to run for office is simply obscene - and both parties are up to their eyeballs in it. A wonder that anything positive ever happens in Washington. And yet there are some sincere people there. Clearly not enough of them.

 

[fonzie_007]

Yes, I am paying my taxes.

 

[groundctrl]

i'm getting to a point now where i'm a bit worried about paying them. frankly, it's been a couple of years since i have, and i really need to get off my ass about it. anyone ever been audited?

 

[rocknrollo]

To quote Janes Addiction....


"A Gang and the Government are no Different"

 

[Seabass]

i'm getting to a point now where i'm a bit worried about paying them. frankly, it's been a couple of years since i have, and i really need to get off my ass about it. anyone ever been audited?

groundctrl, what is your full name and address? I am an IRS agent and get your case straightened out. We are moving forward with collecting taxes on Internet income. We have found many folks are not paying taxes on earned Net income. I can arrange for an IRS agent to come to your residence to audit your files in the next week. That is, if you are in the United States. Let me know ASAP to avoid more penalties.

Just kidding - yea, man, you gotta' pay them taxes. It's the only way to sleep well at night. That monster will just keep getting bigger in your head and your subconscious will end up making you depressed without you even knowing it.

I think the IRS does not even know what a domainer is or how to categorize them. But, if they take a peek at your finances for some reason you'll be busted for not reporting.

Paying late - that's OK, but owed amount has interest accumulating.

Not filing - not OK, but you'll live, and there will be penalties and your owed amount has interest accumulating.

Filing and not reporting all of it - that's FRAUD. Definitely don't do number three! You can go to jail for this one.

Remember - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DEBTORS PRISON. But, commit FRAUD and you can go to prison.

It's better to owe and be free!

 

[Nattydomain]

To quote Janes Addiction....


"A Gang and the Government are no Different"

Could not had said it better myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gorillaz]

I agree, the government will never stop looking for ways to collect every cent from ever person. However the fact of the internet is most dont make enough to really matter. And if they do they will probably be paying taxes on it anyhow. So in the long run the IRS Might get back what they spend in time and money trying to find these people. Honestly they would be better off shaking down Piazza guys, Waiters, Illegal Citizens, and workers payed by cash in my opinon...But you know will anything ever make sense - And I like rocknrollos Comment!! Well put

 

[RogueWriter]

I agree, the government will never stop looking for ways to collect every cent from ever person. However the fact of the internet is most dont make enough to really matter. And if they do they will probably be paying taxes on it anyhow. So in the long run the IRS Might get back what they spend in time and money trying to find these people. Honestly they would be better off shaking down Piazza guys, Waiters, Illegal Citizens, and workers payed by cash in my opinon...But you know will anything ever make sense - And I like rocknrollos Comment!! Well put

There are what, maybe 10 million illegal aliens working in the USA...........

Another reason to push for a use tax to replace income tax, IMO....

 

[harkster]

I recently had to sell a site that made $250 in its first 2 weeks of operating so that I could pay a whopping 15+% "self employment" taxes on my earned income from the internet last year

Just one of the many reasons to check www.fairtax.org and throw your support behind them!

 

[RegFee]

I recently had to sell a site that made $250 in its first 2 weeks of operating so that I could pay a whopping 15+% "self employment" taxes on my earned income from the internet last year

Just one of the many reasons to check www.fairtax.org and throw your support behind them!

Very interesting site. I can't believe I've never heard of it before!

 

[TestCase]

There are what, maybe 10 million illegal aliens working in the USA...........

Another reason to push for a use tax to replace income tax, IMO....

Haha... I'm going to guess I've probably had several thousand of these fine folks work me over the years. Most (99.9%) were hard workers, showed up for work on time and ready to go and "paid their taxes" (i.e. it came out of the paycheck that they received every week), just under someone else's social security number.

 

[Domainate.com]

Are you paying taxes on your sales?

Yup. Every last one. Cost me over $3,000 at tax time this year, but at least it's allowing me to get a home loan because I can add that domain income to what I make. Those of you who are not reporting sales are playing with fire. My father once stood against the IRS and paying taxes, and watched his business and home get taken by the government. There's no doubt they're pretty much a huge bully, and it's sad and pathetic sometimes to see what our tax dollars go to, but unfortunately that's part of living in this country.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Are you paying taxes on your sales?

Yes I do.

Do you really expect anyone who's not to publicly post that they're not? If anyone does, they are living dangerously.

If you want a heads up on what an IRS auditor might ask, here's their auditors guide to online business with the questions they are instructed to ask:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=141491,00.html

Hint: They know about paypal and will most likely ask to check your history.

a quote from the article:

It is important for the examiner to review the taxpayer’s web-pages for E-payment sources such as PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, then tie those sources to the Books and Records and then on to the Tax Return. This is an important audit technique for online retail. Look for those items of income that should be there but are missing. Evidence of an unreported online business can also be found by tracing credit card payments or following up on invoices providers.

Any business that operates a website will receive advertising income for banner ads and pop-up ads that appear on their website. Additionally, each time a site visitor clicks onto the ad, another fee is paid to the site owner. Be sure to ask how this income is accounted for. Many times there is a counter on the site that indicates the number of visitors to the site that would give the examiner an idea of the amount of traffic the web site receives. If the examiner can determine the “click-through” rate charged, a good estimate of this income can be made. (Often this rate is between 5 and 10 cents per click.)

 

[VirtualT]

thats assuming that you run a "business"

 

[AdoptableDomains]

thats assuming that you run a "business"

It doesn't have to be an official "business" to owe taxes. If you make a profit (income less expenses) from any activity whether hobby or gambling it's normally taxable in the U.S. If you keep (legitimate) expenses at or greater than revenues, you shouldn't owe any taxes.

 

[VirtualT]

so do you pay tax when you sell your car, or pawn some stuff. I don't.
In my country we are allowed to buy and sell personal assets without paying tax within reason.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

so do you pay tax when you sell your car, or pawn some stuff. I don't.
In my country we are allowed to buy and sell personal assets without paying tax within reason.

No, but you generally don't sell those things for more than you paid for them. If you sell domains for less than you paid you don't have to pay taxes either.