Comments on: Do you report ALL your income young man? Woman?

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:36:05 +0000

“Besides, I just don’t want the IRS all up in my business.” – Haha. You got that right! #1 reason for me playing it straight too :) And you’re totally right about the “gifting” stuff.

Thanks for joining the convo! It’s always fun going back and remembering previous articles… much better than them just dying off ;)

By: katie

katie — Thu, 12 May 2011 23:19:14 +0000

Pretty late in this discussion – but oh well!

When I was bartending – it was ALL cash. My employer didn’t track a penny of tips. Hourly wage, sure – but even that wasn’t “true” – she only reported that we worked 24 hours a week whether we worked 16 hours or 80 hours.

Many of the girls I worked with only claimed enough to cover the minimum wage stipulation. Not me. I recorded and reported every cent.

For one, I was receiving state daycare assistance as I was going to school full-time – so I had to report my income to have the right amount of assistance. The state didn’t pay for all it (actually, not even half of it) but I didn’t want to get audited by the state and then owe those suckers money for fraudulant assistance and then never be allowed to have assistance again if I really did need it.

For two – I did the calculations. By being honest, I got the most back (tax refund – thanks EIC!) than if I tried to hide what I made.

Besides, I just don’t want the IRS all up in my business. I don’t want to deal with an audit, fines, penalities, interest – any of it.

Now, when my momma gave me money, to say, go to the dentist, I didn’t report that as income, cause it was a gift. And even if she gifted me some money throughout the year, she never gifted me anywhere close to the $13,000 or whatever which is the magic number that you have to report.

By: Phobiaphobe

Phobiaphobe — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:46:15 +0000

If Amazon purchases are cheating, I do cheat in that way. And I will continue to do so as long as I can. The states have been trying for quite awhile to force the collection of taxes through Amazon, but have not succeeded. Because I don’t have to pay sales tax on the great majority of things on Amazon, I spend much more money than I used to before I discovered it. Spending helps the economy, but mine would be vastly reduced just on principle if I had to pay sales tax at Amazon. You hear people say that WalMart hurts small businesses – I do not shop at WalMart, but neither will I shop where I am overcharged just to help the local economy – not talking taxes there. But as far as taxes, my local economy has suffered because given a choice, I will not pay sales tax.

By: Pretty Unfamous

Pretty Unfamous — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:18:14 +0000

I wouldn’t say something illegal is necessarily immoral. Would you say that loitering is immoral? I don’t think so. But it’s illegal.

Hmmmm I think it’s probably less than 50% of people who make a side income, but this is “income.” I don’t think 50% of people make an INCOME from side jobs. I’d say maybe 20-30%, but that’s just my guess. But if you look at 14-year-old girls who babysit, then I’m sure it’s 100% of them who don’t pay taxes on it. But unless they’ve made their own Babysitter’s Club, the chances of them getting caught are less than 1% I’d think.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:04:44 +0000

True true – if there’s a trace online, there’s a chance of getting caught! No thanks.

By: twentysomethingmoney

twentysomethingmoney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:59:59 +0000

I this day of age, where everything is online (to a global level), its dumb to even try to hide or ‘not report’ income… Your bank account knows all.

Even the person paying you in cash, has to report it SOMEWHERE….

By: 20 and Engaged

20 and Engaged — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:47:31 +0000

Like you mentioned, if you make under a certain amount, you don’t have to report it. I come under that threshold, so the rules (in this case) don’t apply :)

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:45:14 +0000

LOL! I’m just too, toooo compulsive not to report every stupid penny. Whenever a check comes in from a client, it goes directly into the business checking account, and the corresponding entry goes into the Excel spreadsheet. Unless the person handed you a wad of cash, how would you hide it? There’s not only the huge risk that they’d emit a 1099, sending a copy to the IRS for you, but wouldn’t anything that landed in your bank account also be reported to the IRS? Ditto anything that came to you through PayPal?

Dollars to donuts every sou Adsense pays you through PayPal is reported straight to the gummint.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:24:40 +0000

it’s up to you to trust me or not – I know I’m telling the truth ;)

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:07:40 +0000

but you dont tell us how much money you make from your blog so how do we know you report everything?