When does the IRS become a factor?

[Anthony1]

If your goal is to sell stuff on Ebay, but you would prefer not to have an actual company, and just do it on the under, but at what point do you need to concern yourself with the IRS?

[briguy578]

something I've been wondering. I think its 6k of sales per year, but I'm really not sure. Anyone know this?

[jonjandran]

If you make more than $800 a year it's considered a business and you're supposed to start counting it on your taxes.

But if you are just selling personal items, as in you collect but you collect to much so you have to sell some of it. Then that's still just personal selling and not business. ;)

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Ah, but say you specifically go out to car boot sales to buy stuff to sell specifically on eBay...

But then I guess that can still come under personal selling, as you would be buying the games for yourself and then deciding you no longer want them...


There is a fine line really, and I really don't pay attention to what I am supposed to declare and not Etc. Cos at the end of the day, anything I buy is then considered mine - Anything I sell is just reselling, not actually earning. If a game sells for more than I paid for it, then fair enough, but I still wouldn't say it was earning money...

[tholly]

id say you would probably have to be concerned about the IRS if every week you listed say 100 copies of the exact same item

for the casual person selling maybe 50 items a year, but all of them being different its probably not a problem