Posted on 02/22/2007 5:56:59 AM PST by Fighting Irish
Perhaps the budget deficit is getting too large. The IRS is trying to get eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) to turn over records on its customers, especially the larger ones, so that the IRS can go after those who have not paid taxes on their auction transactions. What fun. Getting a company to rat out its own.
eBay is fighting the move, but the government seems determined to go after merchants, especially those who have transactions of over $5,000 a year.
The government may have a point; tax evasion is a serious business. And so why shouldn't eBay potentially poison its relationship with thousands of customers? It would be, after all, the patriotic thing to do.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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Ebay fights plan to report users to IRS By Eoin Callan in Washington
Published: February 19 2007 17:47 | Last updated: February 19 2007 17:47
Ebay is fiercely resisting a Bush administration plan it says will force it to snitch on customers who are not paying tax on billions earned on the popular online auction site.
The Treasury estimates it could collect $2bn in unpaid tax if companies such as eBay reported American users who carry out more than 100 transactions worth at least $5,000 a year to the Internal Revenue Service.
Why not. Everyother company in the united States bows to the government and withholds taxes.
Hmmm....Treasury ESTIMATES? Based on the many debacles in their history, not least of which a multi-billion-dollar "upgrade" of their Information Systems which went literally nowhere, I think the estimates are about as reliable as a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Of course, when Dems are involved, the donkey tries to pin the tail on you.
Note my tagline.
This is ridiculous. Many many people sell used items on Ebay (like an online garage sale - I sell my daughter's clothes and toys as she outgrows them). When I do this I am not making a profit - I am selling things at a loss (getting much less than the original retail price) so I don't consider it "income" and therefore should not have to be taxes on it. With all the ebay fees and paypal fees and then adding taxes on, it really would not be worth it at all to see on ebay anymore. I'll just go back to the old fashioned real garage sales.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The shoe won't feel so good on the other foot.
I pay taxes on my profits. Ebay sellers should too. However I object to the strong arm tactics of the government.
The government gets more and more totalitarian every day.
Nowadays, income is whatever the IRS says it is.
A lot of people do make money and run business on eBay. If you ran your own business, you'd be expected to collect sales tax based on the state you are in, and if you dealt with people from other states they would be expected to file their own taxes with their own state (Virginia for example calls it as "Use Tax").
Since eBay is the "storefront" for these businesses, the IRS is asking eBay to collect the information for them.
I would expect eBay to say no. But companies making profit on eBay SHOULD have to pay taxes on the profit. And if there are sales taxes, they should be paid by people whether they buy from a local store or from an internet store. Otherwise it's unfair to the companies who provide services directly to the community.
The IRS should go hang out at those Day Labor sites. Plenty of taxes going uncollected from transactions conducted there.
One of my plans for retirement is to operate primarily in the underground economy. This is driven by my pension and 401k withdrawals being fully taxable, and the huge 50% social security penalty for going over the "earnings limit" before my "full retirement age".
eBay, for all its problems, is the by far the best auction site, IMHO.
Another government "help" for my old age.
I was thinking the same . I sell on ebay and sometimes I make money and sometimes an item doesn't sell. Does that mean I will get taxed on the listing or just what items I have sold? If they are going to do this I will just do a garage sale here and there. Otherwise like you say it wouldn't be worth it. Its not like I am making a killing on there. Its a shame because some people are able to boost their income to pay their bills . Or like me be able to stay home with my child. I am sick of taxes on everything.
I know several people who have sold over $10,000 in product over E-bay...I think what the IRS wants is a report to show how much they sold so they can match that to what they report...Ie if I ran a brick and morter I would have to show profit loss and report the gain as income...same thing only without Ebay reporting it you can say anything...
The point is you have already paid taxes on it multiple times. The cookie stealing children, I mean the gubbamint wants to tax it as many times as possible untill the system totally breaks.
I say that eBay is not responsible for the fact that these people are evading the IRS.
If a straight commission salesperson were failing to make quarterly tax payments to the IRS while working for Mary Kay cosmetics or Tupperware...would the IRS go after those companies?
EBay should tell the IRS to go p!$$ up a rope.
Every day, I hate the f---ing IRS more. Pardon my French, one of the only times I feel compelled to use the "F" word is when discussing terrorists or the IRS.
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