That article doesn't address the scenario that's of concern here, which is that you're conducting what amounts to a yard sale - i.e., it's not part of an ongoing business - but you do make a profit.Originally Posted by BrianShaw
That article doesn't address the scenario that's of concern here, which is that you're conducting what amounts to a yard sale - i.e., it's not part of an ongoing business - but you do make a profit.
Oh really?
How much stuff are you selling? Would tour sales volume push you into either the “hobby” or “business “ categories?
Not many things. But over $600 each for several non photography items where eBay is where I would typically sell them. If I was selling photo gear I would use the forum most likely. I can’t sell on eBay now because I won’t give them my SSN.
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Here's the sum total of what the article says on that:
Not every eBay sale is subject to income tax, but most are. If you use the site to get rid of household articles you've used in the past, you may qualify for "occasional garage or yard sale" treatment. According to the IRS, if your online auction sales are the Internet equivalent of an occasional garage or yard sale, you generally do not have to report income from those sales.
Assuming that you originally bought the used items for more money than you are selling them for, you don't have to report the income received from the eBay sale. For example, if you sell a bicycle that you paid $500 for two years ago for $350 on eBay, you usually don't have to notify the IRS—but you can't claim a loss on it.
Here's what the IRS says on p. 35 of the 2020 edition of IRS publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income:
Sale of personal items. If you sold an item you owned for personal use, such as a car, refrigerator, furniture, stereo, jewelry, or silverware, your gain is taxable as a capital gain. Report it as explained in the Instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040). You can't deduct a loss.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf
In other words, "garage sale or yard sale" is a euphemism for "sold at a loss". If you actually made a profit, you're obliged to report it. However, using Schedule D and Form 8949, you can subtract the original cost basis so that you're taxed only on the profit, not on the full price at which you sell.
Ok… you appear to be much more of a tax expert than am I. Where is it written that yard sale must be a loss? If the selling is at a level that is not at reportable, it’s simply not reportable.
I'm not an expert - I could be mistaken. But I need to see some evidence, not just someone's seat of the pants feeling about what they would like to be true. The statement in Publication 525 seems crystal clear to me. But if you can find an IRS document, or a written statement by a qualified tax lawyer that references some formal guidance or precedent, that states explicitly that there is a threshold below which profits on the sale of personal items are not reportable, I'm happy to look at it.
Sorry Bub… not interested in who can google the most stuff on topics we are not expert. Recall how we got started: you posted about sched D; I posted a related summary from TurboTax; you said that was wrong and you were more right. Bye.
OK, bye!
Any kind of defacto banking agency which holds your money, even temporarily, require SS and other validation information. The problem is, the more places that have it, the more the statistically odds that someone will get hacked and potentially lose your personal info to a nefarious entity. All that stolen information gets auctioned off for cheap. Just how many stolen identities do you want? - easy. I've known even police detectives in charge of that kind of investigation getting their own identities ripped off, and spending six months of hell getting it back. But being a "non-violent crime" carrying slap-on-the-wrist penalties, and often performed by actors in off-limits countries, there's not much in place to discourage it.
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