dvdjunkie32

According to this article, starting next year, your online sales on sites like Ebay will be reported to the IRS, and you will be required to report this as income on your taxes.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/...03/abu0258/s03


I knew this was coming eventually, but it's still horsecrap for people who sell unwanted used media online at a loss rather than profit. The IRS will see the gross income as profit. The seller must keep track of every receipt if you want to prove what you paid for it.

The good news is the reporting appears to only start after you sell over 20K.

The Monkees

What the fuck!???!? That's retarded! Selling DVDs to pawn shops or used DVD stores is still okay? That's just stupid!

Groucho

Luckily, my online sales are nowhere close to 20k, so I guess I'm okay.

ernestrp

Well, the 20K figure is probably just for the start, then it will be 10K, 5K, 1K until it is anything sold. Also, kind of gives a green light for states to do what they want for internet tax revenue.

nodeerforamonth

Obama's going to take ALL your money... this is just the start!

Gizmo

Pass

mike07

You are supposed to report any income you receive now. It doesn't matter if it's online, a garage sale, or selling something to a pawn shop. I have to admit it is pretty stupid though, why should you have to pay taxes on something you bought originally and sold in a private sale? You more than likely paid taxes once (when you bought it), so why more tax?

Possibly to pay to get out of the multi-trillion dollar debt this country is in right now? Or maybe it's paying for the politicians to ride around in limos and million dollar jets.

mickey65

I second that...

Cocacoladude78

Yet another reason to stop collecting...

This and the inevitable upcoming DVD crash. '83 had the video game crash (which Atari's ET played a part in). '89 had the massive horror genre crash.

And I expect a DVD crash within the next couple years. These things will be selling for $1 at the local flea market soon. I, honestly, wouldn't be surprised if Blu-ray crashed right along with it.

And I agree. We already paid taxes on these items to begin with. And when selling them again, 9 times out of 10 you lose money.

Collecting is becoming a bigger waste of time and money by the day...

JasonX

Any income tax is calculated on the difference between the sales price and the purchase price. For personal property, if it is a loss, you can't deduct it on your taxes. As 99% of DVDs are going to go down in value this isn't a serious tax issue. This is mostly to stop serious internet sellers who just don't report their income, not people who sell unwanted stuff on ebay (at a loss most likely) to get a few bucks.

TheDuke

Shut up.

Mordred

I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm.

Chicken Warrior

If DVD 'crashes' and every disc is $1 then a) it'll take 20,000 discs to run into tax problems on ebay (anyone's collection that big yet?) and b) they'll inevitably raise in price again (ie old 2600 carts and horror merchandise). I for one will keep collecting - and selling - and the IRS isn't about to play a factor in that.

Perkinsun Dzees

Neither of those compare to the devastating sports card and comic book crashes of the early 90s that wiped out millions of collectors fortunes. Those two crashes make the stockmarket crash of 1929 look like child's play.

outlander78

Assuming you are selling at a loss (as I imagine the vast majority of used DVDs are), then you should not have to pay tax. If you do profit, you should only pay tax on the profit. However, who has the bills to prove profit or loss for every DVD they ever bought?

stingermck

What about personal transactions through paypal, like a friend or family member who owes you money, and pays you that way. Will that count towards the total?

Drake

On Paypal you can use the Gift option.

Snowmaker

I wish I could sell anywhere near $20k worth of stuff in 1 year.

dvdjunkie32

From what I understand, this new law was snuck in by Bush under a housing bill. Gotta love how our government sneaks this stuff on us and we have zero say in the matter.

Technically, in a perfect world, you would report all income, but who the fuck has proofs of purchase on some old junk that you bought 20 years ago in a garage sale?


20K may sound like a lot, but you would be surprised how fast sales can add up to that amount.

mickey65

I second that!

If all this happens, I bet there will be a lot more big-time sellers having garage sales and/or doing the flea market circuit to skip out on the IRS deal. And with eBay, you can no longer accept personal checks and/or money orders - all payments are electronic now - PayPal, credit cards, etc.

Once in a while I have a customer without a PayPal account who asks if they can mail me a money order and I let them - as long as it's one from the Post Office, since it's free to cash them there!

SethDLH

The government takes enough of my money as it is. Let them audit me.

I don't come close to $20,000 anyways.

SethDLH

DVD crash? Video game crash? Horror crash? What in the blue hell are you talking about?

edit- and collecting is becoming a bigger waste of time and money unless, you know, keep the movies and enjoy them.

nemein

Looking at collecting DVDs as an investment is a mistake. They should be thought of as entertainment only.

Sean O'Hara

Perspective, people. The $20,000 minimum is clearly aimed at people who are running actual businesses on eBay. If you're doing that, just shut up and pay your taxes.

sandman007

It's a good thing I only buy...