how many are worried?

[forgottenape]

with the new reporting threshold i wondered how the irs was going to keep up but with the new bill there are going to be 85000 new agents. problem solved. welcome to the real world part timers hope you have receipts going back for awhile. and start looking for a good cpa  😃

[rugerskick]

I am picturing the worst case scenario.

I am picturing a much larger government bureacracy that isn't prone to admitting mistakes.

An agency that can seize assets and accounts.

An agency that when you are accused of something you are assumed guilty until you can prove innocence.  To their satisfaction.

This is the same agency that offers tax advice to people on the phone, but says if you follow their advice and its wrong, you're screwed.  By them.  The people who gave you the incorrect advice to avoid problems.  Its like tallking to ebay on the phone for problems but they have a lot more power to screw up your life.

[inhawaii]

I am not worried.

I report my income.

I pay my taxes.

I don't worry about an audit, something I have no control over.

[gurlcat]

But WHY are you picturing this "worst case scenario"?  
What makes you think it is any more likely to happen than it ever was?

[wrong66]

I've yet to see a post where the IRS has burned somebody for not claiming eBay sales for prior years, after filing for the first time this year because they received a 1099. Would have happened by now, I would think and we certainly would have heard about it.

[varebelrose]

"This is largely why they are looking at transactions over $600 coming in and out of your bank accounts."

The new reporting threshold is for $600 *cumulatively* in a year, not just $600+ transactions. Just a simple $50 a month will trigger the 1099.

[varebelrose]

"IMO, It would be a really poor ROTI to go after folks making $40k a year"

Low wage earners are up to 5x more likely to be audited than the wealthy.
Don't take my word for it, look it up yourself, starting here:
IRS Audits Poorest Families at Five Times the Rate for Everyone Else (syr.edu)

[thebricktank]

Just keep a valid ledger of all transactions and make sure you include costs of shipping, packaging, fees, etc. against profit column.

[stephenmorgan]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

They mentioned something like 200,000+ making over a million dollars last year and only 7 got audited.

I wouldn't worry too much.

---

I guess that would all depend on how you look at it.

IRS has well established procedures to catch errors on million dollar returns and have created laws and agreements with other countries to locate hidden income.  Only needing to do 7 audits out of 200,000+ million dollar returns speaks highly of the IRS.  I would suspect they have very good compliance with the 200,000+ returns.

Only needing to do 7 audits will give them more time to concentrate on the previous non requirement of money processors to report under $20,000. 

Other way to raise more taxes is the new $11.7 billion tax on crude oil and petroleum products.  Anyone who uses these products will be paying this new tax, no matter your income or losses.

[dbfolks166mt]

"IMO, It would be a really poor ROTI to go after folks making $40k a year"

Low wage earners are up to 5x more likely to be audited than the wealthy.
Don't take my word for it, look it up yourself, starting here:
IRS Audits Poorest Families at Five Times the Rate for Everyone Else (syr.edu)

     I hHave to agree on the poor ROI but our government was never designed to be efficient and the intelligence level in certain areas these days is questionable. The tax bracket for those earning $40K or less in 2021 was 12%. At the most a filer making under $40K a year would be $4,800. Only the IRS would expend several thousand dollars in resources to conduct an audit of lower income filers to possibly recover $100 from a tax payer during an audit. 

[laststopgeneralstore]

Worried? Never been worried about paying taxes. In fact my goal is to pay more taxes every single year because that means my business is doing good and I'm making more and more money. Just because their is going to be all of these new agents(over the next decade mind you) doesn't mean that they are being hired hyper specifically to go specifically against people that resell pre-owned goods lol. Wayyyyy to many people are worrying about this instead of doing a pivot and putting together a plan to combat it. Source better items, sell more, make more money & pay for dang taxes or just stop reselling and do in person-cash in hand. Not that hard. Their are many other things to worry about than paying your taxes at the end of the year or the IRS hiring a plethora of new agents over the course of the next 10 years. Stop worrying. Start doing. Good luck.

[varebelrose]

---

Only the IRS would expend several thousand dollars in resources to conduct an audit of lower income filers to possibly recover $100 from a tax payer during an audit. 

---

Several thousand? I doubt that... one auditor for a day or two at most. The thing is, the individual making $50 k is not going to fight anything, they will roll right over when the IRS says you owe us that $100. Whereas the millionaire is much more likely to fight it and have attorneys/CPAs.

The low hanging fruit always gets eaten first.

[dbfolks166mt]

Several thousand? I doubt that... one auditor for a day or two at most. The thing is, the individual making $50 k is not going to fight anything, they will roll right over when the IRS says you owe us that $100. Whereas the millionaire is much more likely to fight it and have attorneys/CPAs.

The low hanging fruit always gets eaten first.

    Probably a good estimate on the LOE for an auditor.  There is no real good way to tell what the average audit really costs but in 2022, before the most recent IRA was passed, the IRS had a $12.6 billion dollar  budget and a total of 78,661 employees not counting contractors. Only a small percentage of those are auditors. 

    Agree with the assessment that the lower income audits will probably result in the offender simply paying the $100 or so while the millionaire or corporation will fight longer and harder and consume a LOT more IRS resources in conducting the audit.