need help in how to fill out schedule C

[grouch_douglas]

First off I never had an official ebay store but selling on ebay has been my primary income since 2017. I made the lowest amount of sales I ever did last year coming in around $3k gross sales.

The reason I have to fill out a schedule c as I'm told is because I applied and was approved for PUA last year so just in case they ask for my tax info for last year.

However I have no idea what to do I got some way in and I'm doing something wrong as my return had gone down nearly $800 after entering my gross sales amount. Since I sell mostly clothes/shoes and physical media I chose "Other" when it told me what type of self employment work I do since the actual retail option specified store and again I do not officialy have an ebay store. Isn't it a 15.3% take out of gross or net sales? any and all help please

[destinysdarlings2013]

You probably should consult a tax professional but It is much easier to use Form 8949.  The profit or loss from Form 8949 goes onto Schedule D.  

On Form 8949 you put:

Miscellaneous Items sold on eBay.

For dates acquired and sold put:  Various

Then there are columns for the cost of the items sold and the amount received for them.

Much easier to combine everything into just 1 entry.  

The major headache with Schedule C is that it is designed for active ongoing businesses and you'll need the following info:

- value of your inventory (at your cost) on 1/1/20

-  $ amount of inventory purchases during the year

-  value of your inventory (at your cost) on 12/31/2020

[gracieallen01]

Possibly one of the best things you can do is just bite the bullet and get professional help, at least once, to set up what you need to do and know for the way you do your selling and accounting. 

Then, keep your tax records for 5-7 years.  Not so much for an audit, but for YOU.  So that you have the reference to look back on to see how you did it and what information you used the 'last time'.  It is easier to just check the 'changes' in the tax laws than trying to find all the answers again every year.   It may also help to keep records of expenses, whether you deduct them or not, so you can check back if needed.

Foremost, though, is to get the professional help the first time to get it set straight for the ongoing process.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@grouch_douglas wrote:

First off I never had an official ebay store

That has no effect either way on your tax status. When you sell here, you're a business, store subscription or not.

but selling on ebay has been my primary income since 2017.

You've been selling here since 2017 as your primary income, and this is the first year you're filing a Schedule C? How did you report your income before that?

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[m60driver]

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@destinysdarlings2013 wrote:

You probably should consult a tax professional but It is much easier to use Form 8949.  The profit or loss from Form 8949 goes onto Schedule D.  

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From what I have been able to glean, and I am no CPA or tax guru, next year we will all, well at lest most of us, will be issued a 1099K which will require filing a Schedule C.  Is it possible for smaller sellers to just transfer this to a 8949 and just list net profits as some sort of miscellaneous income?  Having run a business for decades I know full well what type of record keeping is required and frankly my net profits on Ebay simply do not justify the time to keep such records and thus I am anticipating ending sales at the end of this year.  The irony is that if I were forced to file a Schedule C I would trump my taxes, take every deduction imaginable, and end up paying very little, if anything at all, to the Treasury.

[grouch_douglas]

So about the inventory thing because I have items up and all throughout last year that were bought a year or two beforehand from 2020 do I need the absolute exact value of inventory? I never kept track but I know what I paid most off the top of my head in my inventory except for whatever I paid for shipping charges and sale tax.

I am trying to figure out if shcedule d will work.

[releasethekraken_1]

How did you report your income in 2017, 2018, and 2019?

[chapeau-noir]

Picking people's brains on a chatboard is not a good way to go about this.  Either get a tax manual or go to a tax professional - this does not have to be an expensive CPA - you want someone who is trained in tax law - a specialist bookkeeper for instance.  They will be able to provide you with all of the legal deductions and frequently will give you many times over their fees in tax savings.