IRS May Consider eBay Sales Taxable Income

I’m surprised that this did not happen before. (Co-published with gadgetopia)

“The big issue is whether you’re doing it as a business or not.”

The IRS can apply a list of nine indicators that might prove whether someone’s online auctions amount to a business. These indicators include evidence that the taxpayer depends on the income, acts in a businesslike manner, or puts enough time and effort into the activity to suggest a profit motive.

[...] If someone is selling the junk that is collecting dust in a garage or basement, then that person probably is getting less than he paid for it – no profit here. But if someone is buying goods in bulk from a wholesaler and hoping to make a couple extra bucks reselling each one, then that person could have just started a profitable business, Fooden said.

Via Drudge.