I am selling only my own personal items without any reciepts why the 1099? So unfair

[quick894321]

I am selling only my own personal items from up to 50 years ago without any old receipts why did i get a 1099?  This is so unfair..My wife of 40 years passed away and i have been selling her old jewelry and my collectibles from decades ago. How am I supposed to have receipts for for all the items or even know whether i am making a profit or loss. I do not have an Ebay store or any type of business with my selling...What to do?

[lonebuck-books]

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@rainbowchaserecords wrote:

LOL! You only had to report if you earned $20,000 or more in 2023.

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You are sadly very mistaken.  Talk to any accountant or tax preparer and they will explain it to you.  The only one that didn't have to report it if you were under $20K in sales was eBay.  You still have to report it.

[lonebuck-books]

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@rainbowchaserecords wrote:

Yes, I understand that, but you pay taxes on a gain, not a loss. Not every sale is a gain and the lower threshold corralled all sales on that 1099-k and made it more complicated, which is what I'm trying to point out.

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This is why bookkeeping is so important.  You have to keep records of your purchases/expenses so you can properly report your income (profits).  eBay dosn't know your expenses and the IRS knows that.  That is why they are required to report the total sales amount and you are then responsible for reporting the expense offsets.

[lonebuck-books]

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@fr.lot2012 wrote:

many are saying go to a tax pro, imagine a seller (like many in the nation) who never filed and now meeting the soon to be 600 threshold--that means they made way less than 600 profit, an accountant will charge  more than the profit made on the stuff

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Well, one can emigrate to a country like North Korea, where people don't have such problems.  

Nor do they have accountants in North Korea.

A win-win. 

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.... or food... or water.... or freedom... etc.  

[redlinear]

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@quick894321 wrote:

I am selling only my own personal items from up to 50 years ago without any old receipts why did i get a 1099?  This is so unfair..My wife of 40 years passed away and i have been selling her old jewelry and my collectibles from decades ago. How am I supposed to have receipts for for all the items or even know whether i am making a profit or loss. I do not have an Ebay store or any type of business with my selling...What to do?

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Could be wrong, but even if you had a receipt from Back Then, I don't think you could use it.
Well, I couldn't.
In super simplistic form: 
If I bought 5 tires in 2023 for $10 each.  And only sold one tire in 2023 for $20.
I would show a $30 loss for 2023
If I bought nothing in 2024, but sold the remaining 4 tires for $80.
I would show an $80 profit for 2024 (and pay taxes on the $80)
     What I CANNOT do:
If I bought 5 tires in 2023 for $10 each.  And only sold one tire in 2023 for $20.
I cannot claim ONLY two tires as an expense in 2023, and use the other 3 tires as an expense in 2024.

[jerseyboymusic]

Here we are at message 65 and the OP never posted again.

So, there are no "hobbyist sellers on here". Ebay has no idea if the items we list are personal collection items, or stuff picked up at an estate sale for resale. That's what your tax return is for. All Ebay does by law is report your gross income.

NOTHING has changed, anyway, just the reporting threshold the US Government has set.

If the threshold was $20,000 and I sold $5,000 on Ebay, I would still report that $5,000.

[mam98031]

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@deltilogical wrote:

You are being robbed!  You must obey or be subject to horrible acts of violence.    All taxation is theft, unless you gave it up by choice.  

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Why is that?

Are you one of the few that use NOTHING that our taxes pay for? 

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@rainbowchaserecords wrote:

And what I'm saying is the IRS lowered the threshold for reporting for 2024 from $20,000. I understand you must report your income if you don't get a Form 1099-K.  What I'm also saying is, we are not all retail power-sellers and all transactions that are on that 1099 are not all gains.

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@rainbowchaserecords  

and what I'm saying is- I NEVER said they were gains. Ebay never said it was gains. The IRS never said it was gains (unless you don't bother writing off any of it, then they will tax 100% of that 1099 amount). 

[jerzee908]

The 1099 you get from ebay is going to be your gross sales.

While you can't deduct what you spent on these items because you don't have receipts or they were bought many years ago, there are things you can deduct.  You can deduct the cost of shipping labels, you can keep the receipts for buying shipping supplies and deduct that, you can deduct the fees ebay takes from each sale and so on.

[chariot_badges]

Throw that 1099 in the garbage.

You're an OG like me.

They don't chase us anymore.

You're not worth enough to hunt. 

[mam98031]

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@jerzee908 wrote:

The 1099 you get from ebay is going to be your gross sales.

While you can't deduct what you spent on these items because you don't have receipts or they were bought many years ago, there are things you can deduct.  You can deduct the cost of shipping labels, you can keep the receipts for buying shipping supplies and deduct that, you can deduct the fees ebay takes from each sale and so on.

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Please don't make this more confusing that it needs to me.  The Form 1099K NEVER reports "gross sales".  The form is NOT designed to do that.  It reports Gross Receipts, which is NOT the same thing.  Gross receipts is the amount of money that came INTO your account BEFORE any deductions for refunds, fees or any shipping purchased through Ebay.

There are lots of things you can deduct.  Shipping supplies can be a big one.  Take a look at schedule C for ideas.

[jerzee908]

Oh please, I gave the correct information.  I've been selling on here just as long as you and have been reporting everything just as long as you.  Sorry for my confusing word and spare me the "lessons".

[sodelight]

You don't need an official ebay store to be considered a business. When you decided to sell in an online Marketplace and accept credit cards, you became a business in the eyes of the IRS. The business is that you are now  self employed as an online seller, which the IRS has a code for. Your selling items that you or family owned for a profit is no different than if you sold them in person to someone else and that individual then resold them online for a profit. You still resold them. You get to deduct all related costs.

BTW, you also have to pay Social Security taxes on your tidy profit.  Ppl often forget this. That's all calculated on Schedule C.  The 2024 threshold was $5000, the 2025 is $2500, thereafter it's $600 unless a miracle happens and congress changes it.

[lux.ra_14]

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@chariot_badges wrote:

Throw that 1099 in the garbage.

You're an OG like me.

They don't chase us anymore.

You're not worth enough to hunt. 

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If this isn't sarcasm, it's about the worst advice ever on this forum. Mess with the taxman, and you will regret it.

[jonathanbrightlight]

Even the Joker doesn't mess with the IRS!

[chapeau-noir]

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@lonebuck-books wrote:

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@fr.lot2012 wrote:

many are saying go to a tax pro, imagine a seller (like many in the nation) who never filed and now meeting the soon to be 600 threshold--that means they made way less than 600 profit, an accountant will charge  more than the profit made on the stuff

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Well, one can emigrate to a country like North Korea, where people don't have such problems.  

Nor do they have accountants in North Korea.

A win-win. 

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.... or food... or water.... or freedom... etc.  

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But no lawyers, either, so theres that.