I agree with your strategy of reporting the entire $90 as revenue. But you need to do the next step and report the $25 as a business expense. It goes on the same Schedule C as the $90 revenue. If in a year you have $1000 of non-reimbursed business expenses (which is what the $25 is) and you are in the 22% percent marginal tax rate, then you are giving the government a gift of $220. And you may be in a state with (for instance) a 5% income tax rate, so another $50. And you have to pay both sides of the Social Security tax on the $1000, so another 12.4% or $124.00 dollars. Add it up. $220 + $50 + $124 = $374. So, you are giving away $374 that could have been in your pocket.
@MMMM wrote:
Usually (for the shops I completed on the ISecret shop platform) if it says "Compensation" it means that you'll get $90.00 regardless of how much you spend. Ex: the items costs $25, they'll pay $90. Ex: the items costs $150, you still get $90.00.
For my personal accounting purposes and tax filling I consider the entire $90.00 as income, better to err on the side of caution. On the traditional shops where it says: $16 fee and $20 reimbursement, for example, I only count $16 as income.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008