Selling on eBay

[Jason Hundley]

Hello everyone! I have been paralyzed for almost 7 years now and I am wanting to bring in a little money from time to time. I have had good success in the past selling on eBay (prior to my accident) and have been thinking of doing that again. Does anyone know about declaring this money? If I were to sell some things here and there each month, the income would vary from month to month. Any ideas on how to declare that?

Thanks!

[nauticalmike]

If you are on SSDi you are supposed to report any income that you earn, but it won't affect your payments unless you earn over the national poverty level which is around $800/month. If you mean taxes all you need to do is add it all up at the end of the year and call it income. DOn't forget to deduct what you paid for the things that you sell. You only are required to report profits. If you are just selling stuff that you already own then it is unlikely that you will need to bother declaring anything to anyone though. If it's less than 10,000/year I do not think that paypal will report it, but even if they do they will send you a 1099 as well so you will know what they are reporting

[Other Bruce]

Is selling your positions considered 'INCOME"? What if you sell your car for $20K - - you lose? I think a strong argument could be made that selling your stuff is not income (but I wouldn't listen to me if I was you).

[August West]

If you are on SSDi you are supposed to report any income that you earn, but it won't affect your payments unless you earn over the national poverty level which is around $800/month. If you mean taxes all you need to do is add it all up at the end of the year and call it income. DOn't forget to deduct what you paid for the things that you sell. You only are required to report profits. If you are just selling stuff that you already own then it is unlikely that you will need to bother declaring anything to anyone though. If it's less than 10,000/year I do not think that paypal will report it, but even if they do they will send you a 1099 as well so you will know what they are reporting

They key takeaway is that you are only required to report profits. Stuff you already own is almost always sold at a loss. Hence, no income needs to be reported.