posted on September 1, 2001 12:01:19 AM
I doubt so, there are users from all over the world (like me, we pay taxes in our countries) and also , what about deadbeat bidders - how IRS can find out was transaction was succesful or not?
posted on September 1, 2001 05:45:24 AM
With any luck, the IRS will do something about all the "under-the-table" Sellers.
After all, all they need to is to ask, or at the most supoena the list of vendors from Ebay. It IS a toon of $$ that they are missing out on and I cannot think of a more time efficient and cost effective way of them assuring compliance. All the records are there.
Another benefit is that it would get rid of a lot of Sellers that do not think that they need to own up to their on-line earnings and leave more room for those that do what they are supposed to do when conducting business.
If it comnes to pass then there will likely be better prices for those who are on the up & up.
posted on September 1, 2001 06:34:06 AM
DR. Tooth
seems to me the only thing you are concerned with is COMPETITION and rubbing that said competition out, not tax compliance. if you were truly concerned with the IRS "getting their due" there are larger offenders than ebayers. Hey maybe you could make real progress by starting an effort to tax your local drug dealers, the money there is 1000 times the money online!
posted on September 1, 2001 06:49:27 AM
ebay does comply with IRS in rendering sales records of its ebay seller,it has done so to an antique dealer,this guy has a shop and also sell on ebay,not a big amount on ebay ,but overrall he is under reporting his sales,so he has been fined.
like all irs audits,the agent usually have guidelines as to how much business you claim you do,how your expenses measure up etc to gauge what uncle sam 's share of the pie is.
example-most business expenses fall in line with sales/revenue,if your shipping cost is 8-12 % of sales and you said it is 500 per month,so what is your monthly,yearly sales??
i would think the next big bomb to drop in cyberspace is really not irs but state sales tax.
may be ebay will be wired to automatically collect state sales tax when a bidder uses BUY IT NOW with billpoint or paypal.
the cost of doing business is rising,what ever fundamentals which apply to land retail is showing up in cyberland-
first location-you want to sell more,well pick a nice location and pay for it-ebay,amzn,yahoo.
time consuming squabbles between seller and buyer-carriers are rasing fee,packing company charges more for packing supplies,wholesalers demand bigger order and sometimes licensed retailers with minimum order per year,proof of existing business such as dba,sales certificate,photo of store front etc.
dabblers or weekend warriors are hurting many traditional retailers and when they go under,they are hurting the wholesalers as well.
commercial checking account,credit card processing etc will all add to the cost of doing business.
of course if you think you are the next sam walton or neiman marcus,you have nothing to fear.
posted on September 1, 2001 08:58:28 AM
"ebay does comply with IRS in rendering sales records of its ebay seller,it has done so to an antique dealer,this guy has a shop and also sell on ebay,not a big amount on ebay ,but overrall he is under reporting his sales,so he has been fined."
How do you know that the IRS didn't go after him only because of what he reported due to his B&M store? How do you know the IRS had any idea he sold on ebay? How do you know ebay gave his sales totals to the IRS?
posted on September 1, 2001 09:13:20 AM
Sellers who honestly report their income have nothing to worry about. Would you prefer that, or a flat Internet sales tax?
posted on September 1, 2001 09:26:31 AM
the only records ebay will turn over, at this point, are the ones the IRS specificly requests. in the case indicated in this thread the IRS requested the specific users info..........
posted on September 1, 2001 09:26:44 AM
i heard it from his accountant who is also a seller on ebay/
i dont know how irs knows he sells on ebay(he does not sell as much on ebay as in his b&m store) but they asked for his sales records on ebay and it took ebay 4months to turn them over.
fine plus tax due come to over 100,000 so he must be a big antqiue dealer,so it could be they have been watching him.
these days everyone knows ebay so i wont be surprised if irs agent asked an antique dealer do you sell on ebay?
posted on September 1, 2001 09:31:25 AM
i dont believe they are going after him because he sells on ebay,it must be his regular business they were looking into and ebay sales is a small part.
posted on September 1, 2001 09:31:47 AM
i dont believe they are going after him because he sells on ebay,it must be his regular business they were looking into and ebay sales is a small part.
posted on September 1, 2001 09:35:52 AM
internet sales tax is a state affair,irs is federal tax,two separate issues here.
i think internet sales tax is coming,may be with ebay BIN ,ebay would be asked to remit sales tax to states,we wont see that money.
or if we collect them,ebay has record of what we collect.
butthen ebay has to match buyer and seller states.
just more work for us sellers
posted on September 1, 2001 06:28:45 PM
It is entirely possible that the IRS could find people who are evading taxes by getting access to ebay's database. In this era of computerization it wouldn't be difficult for the IRS to match up names, addresses, and credit card numbers with social security numbers and fraudulent tax returns. If anyone hasn't kept records, and the IRS has reason to do an audit, they will likely declare ALL of your sales as taxible income. There are other areas that the IRS is even more likely to discover that you're running a business without paying taxes. For example, if you're making deposits to a bank account that are far in excess of what you're declaring as income.
But, don't worry much, the IRS will likely only be interested in people that are making in the tens of thousands of dollars range. Less than that and it's not worth it to investigate. More than that and they figure that you'll hire a lawyer that will win you the case anyway. As always with American society, it's the middle class that gets screwed. (only deservedly so in this case, file your taxes honestly)
posted on September 1, 2001 08:17:44 PM
I think there are a lot of casual sellers out there who are just occasionally auctioning off their own stuff at a loss, not buying to re-sell. (At least I hope that's the case, judging from some of the items/ending prices I've observed lately.) In that case I don't even think they would owe taxes would they? Like yard-sale income- hardly taxable.
Powersellers, and people who purposely buy to re-sell, that's another matter.
posted on September 1, 2001 08:34:46 PM
If you're not running a business, and you sell something 'like at a yardsale' for less than you originally paid for it, there is no taxible event. Nothing to worry about there. If you buy an item for resale, and you're not registered as a business, the IRS will expect you to pay a capital gains tax on the profit.
posted on September 1, 2001 08:45:15 PM
accessing ebay database and looking for any one who could be a bonanza for IRS is like looking for needle in haystack.
irs could read the data base screening out the power sellers and see if they are reporting their sales and gains,but this type of behavior is rather predatory.
it would be like sending agent to flea market and swapmeat and watching buy and sells of certain successful dealers and move in with handcuffs.
i think they will audit established dealers and if they dont pass the mustard then ask for all records including ebay activities.
how many ebay sellers are really selling that much??
i know there are some who sell a million,i think they are usually connected to a retail electronic shop.??
posted on September 1, 2001 09:17:38 PM
i just did a search on ebay for ROLEX and see some expensive rolex watches for sale.
since not everyone can just order some rolex watches for resale,an established rolex dealer will be under reporting sales and income if he does not report his ebay sales to uncle sam.
if he ever get audited by irs and irs finds out he is selling in ebay,they will discover a good chunk of his unreported sales
(only deservedly so in this case, file your taxes honestly)