Tax question

[impactmac]

I understand that sales over $600.00 are now subject to income tax unless you are taking a loss. What if you are selling a collectible from years past and you don't know what you paid for it? Can we claim a loss if we think we are taking a loss?

[wooden_flower]

You need to establish a method for estimating your costs, and use it consistently for items where you can not document your acquisition cost. 

If you bought items on eBay that you are now selling, you can order a history of your purchases back to when you became an eBay member.  Get as much actual cost data as possible.  Go to account settings >> request your eBay data. 

You can also use the price of a new item, then back off x years of inflation.  You need to have a basis for your estimate - just saying you think you have a loss really isn't enough.

It is not the sales $ that are taxed - it is the net profit.   You will report your sales and your costs.  If you are not buying to resell, then you can probably use schedule 1 - record the sales as misc income call it sales of personal items online. Record your cost, up to the amount of your sales as a misc reduction also on schedule 1.

Be consistent - not just from item to item, but year to year.

I am not a tax preparer, this is not intended as tax advice.  Your best option is always to engage a tax professional.