Fees and Taxes

Once again, you are only taxed on the mark up above what you originally paid, not the total price, as you were always supposed to report such income, nobody did so this is where we are at. The fees, yeah they suck but, that’s what happens when someone takes on big debt to buy a buisness.

Now JK sit down with an accountant and figure out how much you can save tax wise if you set everything up as a buisness.
I do wonder if REVERB has a special rate for high volume sellers.

True, I sold for less than I paid...but I'm mostly talking about the $202 I paid in fees and taxes to sell property I own. I'm talking about the principle of being taxed possibly three times (if you sold for more than you paid) for the same item.

You're right - it SHOULD be the buyer that pays. They charged me $89 MA tax.

Well, that's surprising. Is that not in error??

I get what everyone's said on this issue about the gains/losses based on when you bought and then sold, but if you're like me where you have an LLC that makes 5-10% of what I spend a year on gear as well as a day job that you get a W-2 for, you're not writing off every damn thing you buy against your business.

Yes, my fault that I may want to sell something I never reported as an expense, but not my fault the gestapo reduced the income ceiling by $19,400 overnight. I would have rethought things the last five or six years and written everything off against whatever small profits came in.

It has certainly kept me from listing stuff on Reverb since the start of the new year. And, no mistake that I got an email from Venmo just today about what's taxable and what's not. They are feeling the immediate transactional pain. I'd bet on it.

Yeah. You’re right.

Can’t we all just start using bitcoin? until they inevitably start taxing that too

I keep telling you guys to try facebook's Marketplace. My last 4 of 5 sales came from a listing there. It's all done privately, facebook is not in on the action. Paypal or Venmo will take a small slice. You handle the rest.

John, sounds like you need to check on the tax thing with an accountant, something doesn't seem right there.

Oh, I will never list on Reverb or eBay. They're just way to much hassle for me. I only use Facebook, Craigslist, (which still works occasionally), and the classifieds here at RGO.

Get a good accountant who knows what s/he is doing! All your work expenses are deducted against ALL your income, regardless of division. But don't take my word for it, speak with an educated accountant or tax lawyer first. It is worth the money and time. It was for me at least!

Done to “catch” them or done because they are allowed to cheat?   Regardless, regular folks have been getting hammered on taxes forever.  

My problem with all of this is that they are implementing it during the pandemic when the entertainment industry has been devastated by canceled gigs/concerts/sessions/etc. which has forced people - who don’t typically have much money - to sell some/all of their gear to make ends meet. the fact that the musicians/engineers will then be taxed on whatever small amount of profit they make is ridiculous. The advice to get an accountant is smart but that’s not money most (not) gigging musicians can afford to pay - especially if they are selling stuff to make rent or whatever. Also if they haven’t done it in the past they will have to pay to redo/refile years of taxes to establish the gear was purchased as a business expense in the first place. Not to generalize too much but most creative people are not financial experts… did you ever hear the story about John Frusciante not even understanding what a credit card WAS when he was making millions with the Red Hot Chili Peppers?!?