THE IRS HAS TAKEN MY TRANSACTIONS VIA PAYPAL AND IDENTIFIED THEM AS TAXABLE INCOME


I had multiple transactions here and at US Audio Mart in 2019 and yesterday received a letter from the IRS stating the transactions were "Taxable Income" anyone else ever experience that with Paypal and now what?
Fighting the IRS is not something I look forward to!
128x128eag618
Wouldn't it be easier for them to tax the rich instead of double taxing the workers?
I disagree with jdane about the hobby part. 

If you have the receipt showing you paid $1000 for something and the receipt showing you sold the same thing for $500, that’s a $500 loss to be applied against other income. 

I’m not a tax lawyer but it does look that way to me. 
IRS is watching this thread.

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Good I hope they know just how close we are to firing the whole bunch. AND putting them in PRISON. The biggest slush fund on earth needs a new Daddy. It has nothing to do with the current IRS agency or any of its staffing either. 2% tax across the board within 10 years reduce it to 1% after ALL the staffing is retired, fired or put in PRISON.. I prefer the latter, UP Front...

And any one that supports that type of complex system of figuring GD taxes. Put everyone one of the thieves in PRISON.

Defund... DEFUND the IRS.

Then on to the state thieves. 10% in CA. instant 5% across the board, then down to 3% after we sort the thieves out of the 5th largest slush fund on the planet and put their A$$ in PRISON. Start in the university funding, payola, and nutso crazy salaries that are unfettered and unchecked.. PRISON...

Nonprofits, done overnight.. Biggest scam on EARTH, PRISON..

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Whole different THING!!!

Then required watching by everyone on the planet. 

"Close encounter of the 5th kind" Time to invite the angles of old to come and stay forever.. 72 million is the estimate. Watch the movie.. I didn't think they new the number yet, NOW they do..

I really want folks to hear the testimony of the man whos hearing was fixed.. no more hearing aids..

July 4 1976 for me.. Have you had an encounter? 1/2 of our town did, the pictures we saw in the news papers over  the next few days were what we saw over our town for the next 30 days or so in the Northern California Sky.
Mount Diablo, and Lawrence Livermore propulsion lab in particular.

Their not back, they never left.. IRS that.. Their watching, the money grubbin' thieves of the world, the IRS is number one on the clean up list, Isle 1 please.

There I go being petty again..

Regards
@eag618 
Glad to see that you are on a path to getting problem resolved.

While I don't agree with all of PayPal's policies, on this issue with taxes, they are only doing what is required by lay for them to do.

Either of two ways to handle, depending on which most applies and works best for you: 

1) Show, with records of past purchases and sales and intent of sale, that you are only doing as a no profit hobby or are simply reducing or replacing some of your collection of audio gear.

2) If you are consistently making a bit of profit on sales and equipment turn over, consider yourself a small business and take advantage of itemizing cost of goods and operating expenses, that will help reduce or offset apparent profits.

Best of luck either way.........Jim
You should probably look at it differently.  You will have to deal with them so I would learn to play their game.  Yes, you made income but I highly doubt you made profit.  You should take the deductions on the equipment you originally bought (higher dollar amount) and that should offset the sales proceeds from paypal.  
Wednesday morning I was at the IRS Office in Providence RI, the gentleman there informd me that I need to fill out a "Schedule C" which is a business's identification of costs associated with a sale.

Will post how this all goes 
Hey guys politics aside, this is a new thing in the past year where several STATES (not the IRS) passed laws greatly reducing the threshold for reportable 1099 income. The intent was to “legitimize” much of the gig economy that is paid off the books and was unable to qualify for COVID-related benefits etc.

But the side effect is that average hobbyists who buy and sell gear (audio or otherwise) are now getting pinched by PayPal who are just following the new state laws. And once they follow the State laws and send out the 1099s, then the IRS gets copies as well and this is what happens next.

A lot of folks who bought gear and sold it at a loss to finance new gear are ending up with reportable income from PayPal. For example in Virginia, the federal thresholds remain the 200 transactions or $20,000. But VT, MA, VA and MD lowered that threshold to $600. IL lowered it to $1,000.

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/FAQ3895

I receive a 1099 from Paypal for eBay sales of less than $5K a year so the $20K minimum isn't necessarily true. Filing a Schedule C allows you to deduct the costs and expenses. 
Further, prisons have horrible accoustics.  Bad taste in music is widespread. Horrifying. Confess yur sins.  
by the way, good governance practices at firms of that size have an independent third party do your taxes. Ask me how I know…

@taxguy gets award for sane guy on the thread

question for the Law and Order ( except taxes ) crowd; Is the esteemed private school Liberty University ? 
to the OP, if you really do run a $1b business ( I did ), then i would advise corresponding with the IRS in written form only !


A country full of bean counters that can’t count?

Congress The more or less accounting method. LOL. I'm actually sobbing... thinking how broke it really really is..
tweak1, "in the name of TAXES" has ended more businesses, want to be businesses and even, a though of a business, than any other single obstacle.

When a companies primary concern is, how to pay the "payroll taxes, workmans comp insurance, company tax liability for city, county, state and fed, property taxes, fire insurance, liability insurance, vehicle insurance, la=te-da.... AND then and ONLY then can you figure how to pay an employee, their health and welfare which includes supplemental work injury ABOVE workmans comp insurance and fund some type of retirement.

When we use to figure a total compensatory package for a single Union employee with a 30.00 per hour wage it was close to 90.00 per hour..

I understand the Employee side, I understand the Employer side, I don’t understand any part of the Governments position.

If there is a problem, it all has to be settled in a court. You can’t go to a local police station and say "that guy didn’t pay me" or anything else if you don’t have 10 witnesses. The police have no say so in "business matters" If your fired because of your age, being hurt on the job, your gender, religion, race, or for ANY reason you have ZERO recourse unless you have a contract or YOU hire a lawyer.

THAT is the problem in THIS country.

1. There is WAY to many "TAXES" on business

2. There is way to little enforcement for a worker rights.

3. There should be criminal enforcement on behalf of a worker in the event of unlawful termination, NOT the employee has to wade through civil courts, BUT NOW. Prove why you terminated an employee, with his arm chopped off, or is 60 years old, or Jewish or they didn’t like employers putting their hands on you or fellow workers.

AND pay them their wages owed and every mumpin penny if your ARE going to fire them for any other reason.. I’ve seen people wait a year for wages, and EARNED bonuses. WHILE the guy owing the money spent money hand over fist on 500.00 lunches.. and 6 week vacations twice a year..

Same for employers. A thief is a thief and all that. Criminal behavior is just that.  An employee can call the cops USUALLY nothing happens.. But let an employer call the cops on an employee and say the wrong thing.. YIKES
SWAT!!

You know the whole gambit.. I worked for a woman that couldn’t keep her hands off.

AND a terminal manager that though he could physically man handle women at work, ?im Carlso? No Names, LOL

The only broke part is who gets paid first. and the amount when they do..

Every Federal Agency is STILL shut down to the public. PURE BS.. Open the offices and do the business that the people are PAYING for.. NOW... Guards standing outside every agency.. You can’t even leave an EMail to anyone, to complain..

8 months for me trying to get SS to respond to 20K in back payments they OWE ME.. 20K is 20K.

Time to march people.

Everyone in this county that can walk should walk up to City Hall Monday, PEACEFULLY, and say "today it changes". AND peacefully march home..

Think Star Trek, over night the whole world changed, when the Vulcans landed.. "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations", ya think they got a TAX PLAN?

2063 the Warp Barrier Zefram Cochrane. :-)
About 2 years ago I heard that the IRS (illegal entity, see link below) . About 6 months ago I decided to see for myself and went to the local office. The doors are locked. A guard told me it's by appointment only. A couple days ago I drove a friend out there. Same issue. When he asked the guard the reply was, you don't want to know.

If you really want to get MAD:The Internal Revenue Service, a Private Corporation https://famguardian.org/TaxFreedom/Evidence/OrgAndDuties/IRSPrivateCorp-20070630.pdf
I had gear stolen from me that I paid about 7500.00 usd for.  I had replacement  insurance IF I replaced the gear. I replaced the gear and it cost about 35,000 usd. So if I sell it for less than the replacement cost, not the original cost, it's considered a loss, but not deductible?

I have receipts for the original purchases and the replacement gear.

Does anyone see a problem here? I sure do..

The IRS would never know which was which. One way would show a gain one way would show a loss. Which way would be correct according to the IRS.

My point is there shouldn't even be taxes on used personal property, not part of a business. There is profit and loss on everything and a reason to collect taxes. My issue is the system in place that is so complicated and it can be manipulated if your willing to lie cheat and steal your way through the corrupt thing..

The only thing worse than our broken tax system is the Social Security skim, scam and the illegal collection of SS moneys and ZERO accountability for where the money comes from OR where it goes to.

Serious corruption in BOTH agencies. It's the TWO largest slush funds in the world.. With 6 slush funds between them.. Though I think Texas is not quite as corrupt (I say that tongue in cheek)

Three out of 10 of the largest tax collection sources and SS in the WORLD.

USA # 1
California  #5
Texas #9
oldhvymec,

Wise words. I'm with you 100%.

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I was so smart!!

I got disappeared!

I didn't even call anyone a booger eatin' spaz. :-)
Post removed 
I switched to stripe , PayPal is so bad in many levels .
I was selling a $5k preamp the buyer payed for UPS 
to pack and ship 2 day to WI. After it shipped he changed his mind, refused ups attempts 3x , PayPal said he was wrong 
but still gave back all his money and stuck me with the$400 
inpacking, shipping , that was enough for me ,
@audioman58 if you are buying and selling gear online and you don’t use PayPal then what platform do you recommend? For me, any platform would have to be linked to my credit card for consumer protection purposes. Thanks. 
PayPal sucks thsts why I don5 use them anymore
if you bought items if used ,taxes were already paid when new 
Was the product s new or used ? If used State that used products are bough5 at less then 50% retail on average

In all seriousness, best of luck with your meeting on Wednesday. After the last year and a half none of us needs any more stress. Best wishes for a quick resolution.
But there really is a Sect. of Debt. It’s right next the to the Ministry of Silly Walks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCLp7zodUiI

All the best,
Nonoise
"This country is broke . when are you guys going to realize that. were seeing massive inflation right now because its the only way they can handle the debt problem , its not transitory like the secretary of the debt said , you haven’t seen nothing yet , this is not the forum to talk politics or economics but since you brought it up here we are. Buy your HIFI gear now and save because tomorrow you’ll pay double. Biden is your man he will fix everything he’s so great !! I cant wait for him to keel over on live tv im going to get the popcorn out. Just enrolled my child into private school cause of the absolute BS there teaching these children. The masses think everything is normal because they dont know any better , things are NOT ok wake up you idiots. The IRS needs money and they will be cracking the whip your just getting a little taste of what’s to come."

This is complete political grandstanding nonsense otherwise known as spin. "Secretary of the debt"? Tell me, who is the "Secretary of the debt"? I will tell you from first hand experience that the inflation we're seeing is companies taking advantage of a situation. I sell equipment. The manufacturers we represent have raised prices three times this year. Usually we see price increases every other year. Why are they doing this? Becuase they can. Demand is very high and supply is limited due to chips for engines, shortage of workers etc. This is Econ 101. Tell me this Mr. politically astute, if the goal of any politician is to get re-elected, why would they purposefully cause inflation right before an election cycle? Oh, maybe it wasn't the Administration, maybe it was the "Secretary of Debt" gone rogue. Geez, the crap people come up with us amazing to me!  
@nickboy...way to bring politics into the thread. It usually leads to very positive discussions. And hoping someone will die in front of you on TV, you are smrt. What's the BS they are teaching? The truth?
A good reason not to use PayPal. Maybe accept only USPS money orders or personal checks? 
First, selling used does not constitute a loss. There may indeed be profit. There are depreciation schedules for all property items. Consider used car sales. Selling an as-new, or new old stock, or new in box set of speakers at a few hundred off list a few years after production will almost certainly represent a profit.

Second, all those naive bleeding heart entitlement bent people who feel that anyone with more money should support those with less need to stop flaunting their ignorance, because THEY DO. Bezos employs close to a million people, he should get a freaking Nobel prize and commission from the IRS.
No richopp, they missed ONE.. I hope it's not the one bad apple thing again.. The whole bunch is BAD AGAIN!!

Ok Let's toss this bunch too.. I just wish they could JUST add and subtract.

An audit of the IRS reveled they need to be audited. BUT there was no one qualified to count all the money..

It's that corrupt.. Just like Social Security. It's so large and so corrupt, where do you start? WHO do you blame..

I have an answer though. Guillotine, just the offending parts though. Their little slush fund for paying off all the grab A$$, you got it.. OFF

A thousand a day of Mr. Guillotine at work and they would still be lined up with their hands out. Non profits (# 1 on my list), gamblers, thieves, cheats, lawyers, travel holics career politicians and lobbyist are just that, uncontrolled ADDICTS without a name put to them..

Why are they pulling out of the Afghanistan? Got tired off dropping off plane loads of money and watching it being stolen. By WHO? Who dropped it off who picked it up.. there's HALF. The US military might be pulling out but the CIA will never quit, EVER...

The money being spent in other countries is NUTS... The people doing that CRAP talked themselves into believing it's ok to be a scumbag.. Pretty simple..

I'll take a junkie or a drunk any day over the whole lot..

Regards
Could the IRS be broke because some people bought lobbyists to write laws that were passed by legislators they also bought to exempt them from paying taxes?  Possibly these people were billionaires, but of course that is not true.

ALL billionaires are HAPPY to pay their fair share of taxes and do not need to buy legislators to pass laws that exempt them from paying taxes.  Also millionaires, of course.

This is also true for large corporations, who happily pay ALL their fair share of taxes every year.

None of these billionaires or corporations stash money overseas or incorporate in Ireland or have secret bank accounts or EVER avoid tax laws.

American billionaires and corporations and even politicians are scrupulously honest and always pay their full share of income taxes just like all of us do.  They also NEVER lie about anything.

Some of you people are supposed to be educated and American citizens who believe in our country and its laws.  Could it be that this is not true?

Naw!  Everyone on here is honest and a true, law-abiding American I am sure.  All the crooks and cheaters have certainly been banned by now, right?
PayPal also sent you a 1099 as the law requires them to if you have over 200 transactions and over $20,000 of proceeds. Both have to be true. PayPal does not mail the 1099, but you need to look online. Look under activities - statements - tax documents. If none are there, then PayPal did not generate one and the IRS did not receive one from PayPal. If the IRS has a 1099 from PayPal and your online account does not show one, then the IRS has asked for it outside the normal guidelines. 
The IRS is going after bigger fish as they don’t have the resources to go after 4 small transactions. I am sure your 1billion dollar business is the sole reason this is happening. The IRS may have asked PayPal for it as they are looking closer a folks they deem big fish.  
Just my thoughts based on what you have shared.  


@nickaboy1

you are just touching the tip of the tip of the tip of this iceberg. Right on brother my children are in private school too!
The irs can only see the transaction that was reported to them. If this is for the sale or equipment you can apply the basis rule. Lets say you bought a piece of equipment for $10,000 and sold it for $8,000. The irs sees the $8000 sale not the purchase of $10,000. All you need to do is report said sale as a $2000 loss and produce the receipt of original purchase. If you have also sold equipment where you made money from your original purchase you will be able to use the loss from other sales to offset this gain. What if you don’t have receipts? Just report what you think it was and best rule with the irs ( which is the criminal collection division of the dc cartel) report at least a small gain say $250 and pay the tax on that amount. Just make sure the amount you report does not move you into the next bracket and impact your cap gains on investments or you social security taxation.
This country is broke . when are you guys going to realize that. were seeing massive inflation right now because its the only way they can handle the debt problem , its not transitory like the secretary of the debt said , you haven't seen nothing yet , this is not the forum to talk politics or economics but since you brought it up here we are. Buy your HIFI gear now and save because tomorrow you'll pay double. Biden is your man he will fix everything he's so great !! I cant wait for him to keel over on live tv im going to get the popcorn out. Just enrolled my child into private school cause of the absolute BS there teaching these children. The masses think everything is normal because they dont know any better , things are NOT ok wake up you idiots. The IRS needs money and they will be cracking the whip your just getting a little taste of what's to come. 
watching this i can only say -- see an accountant. This is basic accounting. You need costs/bases, revenues and the difference.  Clio noted the threshold, which you may or may not have met.
G
What if the OP does not have receipts for some of his original purchases? How does he then establish the cost basis, especially if he bought the gear many years ago?  Is the IRS likely to accept reasonable, good faith estimates that indicate the original purchase prices were higher than the sale prices?  

It depends on size, substance and intention.
Did you buy the items that you sold just to sell them?
Or did you just sell off a few items you had upgraded?

If the former then it's a business.
If you are doing that then make sure you claim the losses on the items you bought new and used in your system before selling them at a loss.
Others have said such losses are not allowable but if you are already carrying on a taxable business IRS cannot have it both ways.  Make sure they pay their pound of flesh.
You would only owe tax in excess of your cost basis.  If your the average person that bought a new piece of equipment and sold it a couple years later for less than what you paid for it originally then you owe nothing because there is no taxable income.  What your saying would only apply to people or businesses that buy and sell used gear for a profit.