Looking for tax advice ..............
- Thread starter blueline
- Start date
Power Seller status .............
Meet the following average minimum sales requirements:
-Three Month Requirement: a minimum of $1,000 in sales or 100 items per month, for three consecutive months
-Annual Requirement: a minimum of $12,000 or 1,200 items for the prior twelve months
PowerSeller program eligibility is reviewed every month. Sellers not meeting the requirements above may lose their PowerSeller status
I met the Three Month Requirement ($1000/month for three consecutive months) and only maintained the status for roughly 6 months or so. I lost my Power Seller Status in 2005 because I could not maintain the minimum requirements and have not had it back since.
To be exact ...............fuji said:
Meet the following average minimum sales requirements:
-Three Month Requirement: a minimum of $1,000 in sales or 100 items per month, for three consecutive months
-Annual Requirement: a minimum of $12,000 or 1,200 items for the prior twelve months
PowerSeller program eligibility is reviewed every month. Sellers not meeting the requirements above may lose their PowerSeller status
I met the Three Month Requirement ($1000/month for three consecutive months) and only maintained the status for roughly 6 months or so. I lost my Power Seller Status in 2005 because I could not maintain the minimum requirements and have not had it back since.
That's a good article, thanks Fred. I found this one post to back up what I have been led to believe and what I have read off the ebay discussion boards .....Fred Zed said:
It reads:
"As a follow up to my previous comment, you said your friend's revenue would have been between $ 20,000-$ 30,000 thousand. While I don't know exactly what he was selling, it may turn out if he was selling his own personal items and not items he purchased for resale. If this were the case there might not be any tax consequences as those items would be considered personal- use property "
I would say it could be 'argued' that you were running a business, but that you could 'argue' you weren't. If you get audited, which even with the media hype, is slim (CRA doesn't have the manpower to audit everone), you'd have to be VERY persuasive not to be assessed on the income. That being said, you can always appeal their decision/assessment and if that fails, fight it out in Tax Court ... at which time you could throw good money after bad and visit DioGuardian or another lawyer or accountant. If it goes that far I'd sooner pay the taxman instead of a lawyer (likely cheaper).
It comes down to a few things: If you believe you were in business and are ethical, you declare the income and pay the tax (and interest, the voluntary disclosure would only make you immune to penalty). If you either don't believe you were in business or are a gambling man, sit tight and play the 'catch me if you can' waiting game.
It comes down to a few things: If you believe you were in business and are ethical, you declare the income and pay the tax (and interest, the voluntary disclosure would only make you immune to penalty). If you either don't believe you were in business or are a gambling man, sit tight and play the 'catch me if you can' waiting game.
Yes and as I mentioned before, it is not that difficult to take in 1000/month for a few consecutive months if you have high end items. A couple old Gordie Howe cards this week at 200-300 bucks each, my Wayne Gretzky rookie next week at a few hundred more, 30-40 pucks the week after at 4-5 bucks each, some considerably more and theres the first month at over 1000. I have a friend who sells coins and he gets hundreds of dollars for a single coin. Sell 20-30 coins a month and you are a powerful power seller.......lolfuji said:
The key is if you were acquiring this stuff with the intention of selling it, I think that would make it a business. That's quite different than if you just had stuff you'd forgotten about lying around in the basement and one day decided to unload it all.
If Blueline is worried about CRA. Wouldn't it be better for Blueline to get a free 30 minute consultation with a tax lawyer?
As Dioguardi said in one of his commercials. "accountants aren't under attorney-client privilege, therefore if audited accountants have to give full disclosure to the CRA about their clients. Whereas tax lawyers like MR. D. don't have to because all conversations are covered under attorney-client privilege."
I'm probably way off-base on this! However, Mr. D. did say that on his commercials and info--mercials
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As Dioguardi said in one of his commercials. "accountants aren't under attorney-client privilege, therefore if audited accountants have to give full disclosure to the CRA about their clients. Whereas tax lawyers like MR. D. don't have to because all conversations are covered under attorney-client privilege."
I'm probably way off-base on this! However, Mr. D. did say that on his commercials and info--mercials
.This is true but I'm not sure it's an important factor here. He has said that if he owes tax he is willing to pay. In that case he's really got nothing to hide and no need of attorney-client privilege. What he really needs is a competent, informed opinion on whether or not his activities generated taxable income. He can then file the voluntary disclosure, if necessary, and be done with it.squash500 said:
Absolutely no problem having his accountant reveal all to CRA if that is his intention.
Now all of this changes if he gets "the letter" demanding an audit of his finances. At that point he may well have something to hide and the attorney-client privilege may come in handy.
agree, I would not go the lawyer route on this one. Check with an accountantfuji said:
but in any event you should be able to write - off a lot of expenses so when all is said and done
you shouldn't owe the taxman that much.
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/homebusinesstax/Home_Business_Taxes.htm
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/homebusiness/a/hometax1.htm
Absolutely. But I don't think when I walked out of MLG or some other hockey arena when I was 10 years old with a bag of hockey souvenirs I had dollar signs in my eyes. Nor did I run home from the candy store with my 10 cent pack of baseball cards and think one day I am going to be rich .... lol. Just like any collector, you do it as a hobby. At some point in your life you have to get rid of it because you sure can't take it with you. I have no family to speak of so there is nobody to leave it to. I chose to sell it off.fuji said:
Just the same as a person selling used clothing he/she can no longer wear. Surely the taxman isn't going to knock on your door because you sold a bunch of used Levis? Or a bunch of tools from your basement in a garage sale. One poster earlier, forget who it was, pretty much declared my selling as a business. Then I guess there are thousands and thousands of businees men and women all over the area each weekend having their yard sales. Let's get serious here.
My understanding of a business income is you buy products for the purpose of resale, you sell them, deduct expenses, realize a profit (or loss) and report that on your income statement. Somehow going into my basement to get a few boxes of unwanted hockey cards to unload on ebay or in a yard sale doesn't seem to fit the criteria of running a business.
Oh yes, I realize that. However, I have no records or receipts of expenses back from 2004-05. As I mentioned in an earlier post, if I had treated this like a business for the last 5 years, I would be out of business as my expenses would be greater than my revenue. Sure I had several good months in order to maintain Power Seller status but that didn't go on for very long.JohnFK said:
Right off the top, my ebay and paypal fees used to average $150-200/month while I was a Power Seller. Along with the high end stuff, I would list hundreds of individual baseball and hockey cards, little pocket schedules that I would receive by mail for free or from sporting events, over and over again at 99 cents each at a listing cost of 15 cents each. I would do this several times a month when they wouldn't sell. Take those fees from my $1000/month in sales for the few months I was at that level, then factor in all the other things I can write off and my profit amounts to barely nothing. If I had a purchase value of the items, then I would be even lower. Then the months where I only made a few hundred dollars, and there have been many of them. I would be running pretty much at a loss if I wrote off all my expenses and overhead.
So does that sound like much of a business? However, if that's what it takes to get the taxman off my back, I will do it. If they consider me as a business, they will be wasting a lot of time once I factor in expenses.
So any type of accountant will do? One that specializes in taxation, if there is such a type or just anyone out of the yellow pages? Sorry to have to ask, I have never used one before so I don't know if there is a difference. This would be preferred over a tax lawyer?fuji said:
The CRA has absolute power over what they want to know regarding business transactions. IN addition, there is no time limitation for the the information that they request, including statute barred information. This is NOT covered under client-lawyer priviledged information. That is the law, as explained by a member of the Justice Department. So, Diogaridan is misleading the public about protection. Yes, there is some priviledged information. However, any and all business transactions are subject to CRA examination, legally, according to the ITA.JohnFK said:
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