New ebay payments require SS#?

Not for me, I'm OFF ebay!😢

Thanks to the OP for this post. I was not aware of this whole issue. Several other posts have excellent information and thanks to them as well.

As a former small business owner I can make a few points.

1. The issue is legitimate and it is not some sort of scam to get your SSN.
2. People who generate over $20,000 from eBay sales probably have a business. They may sell some or all of their stuff through eBay. Hopefully all of them file tax returns for their business. The 1099 will be one piece of paperwork in their tax return. It will need to match up with their other business records to protect them from getting into trouble if audited.
3. In any business you keep track of your cost of goods sold and deduct that from your gross revenue. They should know exactly what they paid for every item they sold on eBay.
4. If you are selling your own used gear, say several pieces that bring several thousand dollars each, you could trigger the 1099. You will need to know what you originally paid for the gear so you can show the IRS that you lost money on the transactions. There will be no income tax due because you didn't make any money. Now I can proudly say why I keep all of my receipts.
5. I can't speak for the IRS (but my wife used to work for them) - they have much bigger fish to fry than trying to tax a few dollars from audiophiles. I couldn't find where they have issued any rules about the new requirement but they will come. By the time you receive a 1099 from eBay and file your tax return there will be rules on how to handle it. The IRS is going to want to simplify this as much as possible.
6. Someone mentioned that eBay had asked for their banking password. Nobody needs your password to deposit money in your bank account or take money out of your account for direct monthly payments. DO NOT ever give your banking password to anybody for any reason. If someone actually asks for your password you are being scammed.
7. Regarding sales tax, if you live in a state that charges sales tax and you buy from eBay you are already paying it. That's one of the beauties of eBay - they take care of that automatically. It is transparent to the seller. If you don't like that then you should get politically involved and propose a different way to fund your state's government. Just because you buy something online doesn't give you the right to avoid sales tax.

As online sales take a bigger share of the retail market we will see our tax laws change to insure that these transactions are fully reported. Any honest business will already be reporting these sales in their tax return but I'm sure that there are thousands of small players who generate a significant income from eBay and don't report it.

It has probably been mentioned but you do not need to provide your banking password. It asks for it, as that is one way they can verify, but if you say no you simply enter in your bank acct # and routing info just like any other electronic payment. 

I'm not sure if it will now generate 1099s but as pretty much anything I sell on ebay is used and at a loss personally I do not care at all. 

@8th-note
Thanks for that helpful information.  One problem I see is that some people selling their used audio equipment may have owned the equipment for decades and have no idea where the original receipt is, nor may they remember exactly how much they paid for it.  They may even have paid cash for it, and no receipt was involved.  Some of this gear may be worth quite a bit of money, but why should they owe any income tax on it? 

Also, what about items that you inherited?  If you inherit an expensive piece of audio gear and have no use for it, why should you owe income tax on any sales proceeds from it?  And you would not have purchased it and received a receipt, either.

All online selling sites will be doing 1099s for yearly sales over $600...

• "It is not a sales tax issue but the linking (routing number & account number) of my Bank Account with my eBay account."

Okay, I just went onto my eBay account. They requested that I supply my bank account number and THE LAST FOUR DIGITS OF MY SS#.  This was so they could pay me for what I sell, and also charge me the eBay fees, if any. They already had my bank information through my PayPal account.

I'm not registered with eBay as a business, so there shouldn't be any 1099s. Unless tax laws have changed over time, there are no federal taxes due on hobby items bought and sold. 

Another thought ... On federal taxes; why isn't an allowance given for inflation? In other words, If I bought a MacIntosh amp in 1969 for  $300, and sold it today for $1000, I should be able to calculate the purchasing power of $1000 today vs the $300 in 1969 dollars and pay taxes on the difference, if indeed there is any true gain. 

All the more reason to abolish the 16th Amendment and go with a simple end-user federal sales tax. 

Frank

I suggest that the audiophile community ditch eBay and support the audio gear aftermarket selling/buying sites. eBay offers no protection. They say they do. From personal experience they don’t. They charge high fees and sales tax. It is not attractive at all. If I want to sell something and reach the audiophile community all you need is Agon and usaudiomart. If you want to, aufiophilestyle. This especially goes for expensive gear. 

If Paypal & the other services are doing it too, then everyone is screwed!
Great way to screw the little guy trying to make a buck.

Beat the irs communists at their own game. Keep your receipts to prove you sold the item at a loss. If you owned the item for more than one year use the loss to offset a cap gain from investments or ira distribution. Irs hates people with documented proof. They pray on the stupid. All socialist government money laundering starts with the irs feeding the system with our money! To the officer THANK YOU for your service. When you get the call to mr defunds residence make sure you do the speed limit getting there. You don't want to break the law!

@mtrot 

In the case where you don't have the receipt for a piece of gear you simply estimate it's original value. In 99.999% of the cases you lose money on the transaction.

This whole thing will only be an issue if you get audited. You will report no income from your audio sales on your 1040 and the only way the IRS would challenge that is if they audit you - and even then they wouldn't waste time worrying about a piece or two of stereo gear.

The only time a regular taxpayer who's not claiming bizarre deductions (under $200k income) gets an audit is if they win the IRS lottery and get a TCMP (Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program) audit that goes through your return line by line. Most people go through their lifetime without ever getting an IRS audit. That means that the IRS takes your word for it when you file a tax return. It really is the honor system. If you claim that you received no income from selling your stereo gear then that is what the government will base your taxes on. You do not have to supply supporting documentation with your tax return.

Also, most people don't realize that the IRS us understaffed and they don't have the time to worry about nickels and dimes from regular taxpayers. Their decisions, virtually all the time, are based on common sense. If you inherited a 1970's vintage Marantz 2325 receiver that you sold for $1500 and have no receipt the auditor isn't going to waste time trying to research what it originally cost. The other interesting thing about inheritance is that you don't pay taxes on what you inherit - so there's no issue with that anyway.

In other words, don't get wrapped around the axle worrying about the tax implications of being an audiophile.

@8th-note,Good to know.  I inherited from my father a near mint vintage Breitling watch a few years ago.  For some reason, he never wore it much.  I had no idea what it was worth; I put it on ebay and you can't believe how much some people will pay for those watches! 

Expecting something to stay on topic here is like waiting for Tinkerbell to sit on your shoulder and advise which stock to buy/sell....

I don't object (more or less) to the police.
I do question shooting someone in the back of the head when shooting a tire or two is less permanent....or distressing.

Paying taxes isn't my main issue with that, what gets done with it is.

I have no problem with those of a conservative bent.  It's those that think that 1/6 was a bunch of rowdy tourists IS.

I'm a business owner, so hold your gripes towards me and about how mistreated the billionaires get leaned on...finally.

'Trickle down' only works when you don't make it to the restroom.
Otherwise, it's BS.

The only time I cough up my SS#  is on med or that which I normally expect to have to.  Over the 'net for anything else, NO.

We only use the 'net for 'client contact'; beyond that, it's direct 'twixt them and us.  Beyond that, 50% down or no go.  You don't cough the balance?

I'll show up and remove 50%, usually how to enter whatever.
The threat to do so is enough.
Disappointing children is a big enough fear, parents?  Oh, boy... ;)

Well, according to this, the Dems are changing the reporting threshold to $10,000.  I wonder if that will mean online selling sites like eBay will not be sending you and the IRS a 1099 form for sales over $600?

I, from time to time, sell some item of audio gear for well more than $600, and I don't consider that to be income at all, since I not only paid taxes when I bought it and usually sell it for less than what I paid.
https://justthenews.com/nation/economy/democrats-pare-down-treasurys-irs-bank-reporting-plan-raise-t...

The new threshold starting in 2022 is still $600 in gross sales on any online selling platform, or any type of 3rd party payment processor.  So if you already sold $600 or more online, you are getting a 1099-k in January/February 2023.  

The IRS is also hiring more auditors, so if people in the past have not reported their online sales, getting that 1099-k for the 1st time, could trigger an audit.  The best thing to do is not get a 1099-k.  

@oregonpapa Bravo!!