@johnb974 wrote:

They have no business and my only business is mystery shopping. I do have the e-mails they sent me about the money. The issue I see, if they send me a notice of a tax bill, they can say I have to pay while they figure it out. You're guilty until proven innocent.

It is prudent to retain every e-mail one sends and receives. I keep them in my computer for a few years and then deposit them for permanent safe-keeping with my alma mater which also has on deposit all of my personal correspondence, class notes, exams and syllabi both for courses I have taken as a student and those I have taught.

Why can I no longer send friends and family payments to Business accounts?

As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

I have a business account, my friend sent me money on PayPal. It was a gift. They could not send it any other way. This is going to make things a mess.

[www.paypal.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2023 04:36AM by johnb974.

@johnb974 wrote:

Why can I no longer send friends and family payments to Business accounts?

As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

I have a business account, my friend sent me money on PayPal. It was a gift. They could not send it any other way. This is going to make things a mess.

[www.paypal.com]

People do not typically have businesses as friends, Odd that your friend sent a gift to your business rather than sending it to you. I have never heard of a business receiving a gift.

@Rousseau wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

Why can I no longer send friends and family payments to Business accounts?

As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

I have a business account, my friend sent me money on PayPal. It was a gift. They could not send it any other way. This is going to make things a mess.

[www.paypal.com]

People do not typically have businesses as friends, Odd that your friend sent a gift to your business rather than sending it to you. I have never heard of a business receiving a gift.

I only have one account on PayPal and that's for my business. My friend tried using Western Union, but had problems with it. The only way to send it was using PayPal. I did not know there would be an issue with it. I wonder how many others don't realize that.

Many people today use Venmo or Zelle to send money to friends.

@SueW70 wrote:

My daughter n law wants to sell some of her sons' nearly new clothing and shoes on EBay. As payment is by paypal and as she does not keep every receipt for every outfit she buys for the 2 boys she does not have the cost basis which would be required if ever questioned. .

Sue, Ebay no longer uses Paypal for payments. They now have their own payment system and they do the state tax collection. I'm sellling my cd collection, stuff I bought in the 80s and 90s, and some of it is valuable. I stayed under the $600 last year. If you get a 1099-K from Ebay, Turbo Tax will ask how much of the totat is personal items. This year I am up to $2000 in sales and I am crossing my fingers. If I get audited, it will be a one year thing.

@johnb974 Ah, there are people who supported the "safe" man in the basement. The one who self-proclaimed "equity", "ESG" and "fiscal responsibility." These people didn't examine the policies nor their impact.

But It looks like the consumer spending binge and resulting credit card bills are taking it's toll...
Now the US Treasury borrowing is going to be costly.
Savers (like me) will benefit.
Those that borrow will suffer.
More banks will close.
Unemployment will increase.

But let's look on their bright side; they don't have mean tweets, the media continues biased reporting and it's pride month. Take a gulp of Bud Light. That should be enough to keep their cars from being repossessed, right? ????

Policies matter.

Meanwhile, Zelle continues to be a bad actor harming consumers...
[www.google.com]

You asked "Why?" and quoted PayPal, but did not quote all of PayPal. I will quote more of the portion of PayPal that your link led me to:

"As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

* To ensure that all eligible purchases are protected for both buyers and sellers by PayPal’s Purchase Protection, guarding against fraud and other things that can go wrong with purchases.
* To help businesses properly track commercial income for reporting and tax compliance purposes.
* To decrease buyer confusion between goods and services, and friends and family payment types."

So there is your answer from PayPal. They are addressing the confusion issue that you have been complaining about. I also have only a business PayPal account since it started when I was selling items on eBay. Now, it is used to receive MSC payments and to pay some bills. I will have to see if the new limitations matter to me. As of now, I don't think so. However, if it becomes an issue, I will simply create a second, non-business, PayPal account. You could do the same.

@johnb974 wrote:

Why can I no longer send friends and family payments to Business accounts?

As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

I have a business account, my friend sent me money on PayPal. It was a gift. They could not send it any other way. This is going to make things a mess.

[www.paypal.com]

@myst4au wrote:

You asked "Why?" and quoted PayPal, but did not quote all of PayPal. I will quote more of the portion of PayPal that your link led me to:

"As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

* To ensure that all eligible purchases are protected for both buyers and sellers by PayPal’s Purchase Protection, guarding against fraud and other things that can go wrong with purchases.
* To help businesses properly track commercial income for reporting and tax compliance purposes.
* To decrease buyer confusion between goods and services, and friends and family payment types."

So there is your answer from PayPal. They are addressing the confusion issue that you have been complaining about. I also have only a business PayPal account since it started when I was selling items on eBay. Now, it is used to receive MSC payments and to pay some bills. I will have to see if the new limitations matter to me. As of now, I don't think so. However, if it becomes an issue, I will simply create a second, non-business, PayPal account. You could do the same.

@johnb974 wrote:

Why can I no longer send friends and family payments to Business accounts?

As of July 28, 2022, US Business accounts can no longer receive friends and family payments from US senders. This change was made for the following reasons:

I have a business account, my friend sent me money on PayPal. It was a gift. They could not send it any other way. This is going to make things a mess.

[www.paypal.com]

My point was, if you have just a business account, like I do, and a friend sends you a gift, it goes to your business account and is counted as a business transaction, even though it wasn't.

@Morledzep wrote:

I'm sure there are plenty of things he's done, but so far none have hurt my pocketbook.

LOL someone doesn't buy gas, groceries, utilities or clothes.

I have read several articles and from what I have read the $600 has not changed. There is a bill proposing that it be increased to $10000 but I see no evidence that it has been changed.

@SueW70 wrote:

I have read several articles and from what I have read the $600 has not changed. There is a bill proposing that it be increased to $10000 but I see no evidence that it has been changed.

They nay delay it again. I hope they do, I hope congress stops this. It's going to create a mess and hurt the poor and middle class.

@johnb974 wrote:

@SueW70 wrote:

I have read several articles and from what I have read the $600 has not changed. There is a bill proposing that it be increased to $10000 but I see no evidence that it has been changed.

They nay delay it again. I hope they do, I hope congress stops this. It's going to create a mess and hurt the poor and middle class.

Are you ever capable of admitting you're ever wrong or must you always be "right" no matter how wrong you are?

@weatherman2111 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

@SueW70 wrote:

I have read several articles and from what I have read the $600 has not changed. There is a bill proposing that it be increased to $10000 but I see no evidence that it has been changed.

They nay delay it again. I hope they do, I hope congress stops this. It's going to create a mess and hurt the poor and middle class.

Are you ever capable of admitting you're ever wrong or must you always be "right" no matter how wrong you are?

I'm not wrong, the article said it was being delayed. Do you enjoy paying more in taxes?

Weatherman your's is a futile question in this case I am afraid. In addition this discussion has turned into a political debate which I thought was not allowed on this forum.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

@SueW70 wrote:

I have read several articles and from what I have read the $600 has not changed. There is a bill proposing that it be increased to $10000 but I see no evidence that it has been changed.

They nay delay it again. I hope they do, I hope congress stops this. It's going to create a mess and hurt the poor and middle class.

Are you ever capable of admitting you're ever wrong or must you always be "right" no matter how wrong you are?

This will affect mystery shoppers. Reimbursements are not taxable, yet PayPal and other apps do not separate reimbursements from fees paid. If your 1099's don't match, it will cause issues delaying any refunds or taxes you owe.

@johnb974 wrote:

This will affect mystery shoppers. Reimbursements are not taxable, yet PayPal and other apps do not separate reimbursements from fees paid. If your 1099's don't match, it will cause issues delaying any refunds or taxes you owe.

I feel like there is either willful ignorance on this subject or perhaps a desire to stir up trouble.

The facts:
You owe taxes on all income.
You need to keep detailed records.
Reporting does not automatically equal income.
Unreported income does not equal not owing taxes.

Everyone should consider having separate business and personal accounts on paypay, etc. so that you can keep things straight.

I am happy to have conversations with people who need help on this subject. I also needed help on this subject. For whatever reason, some participants are not willing to acknowledge the facts. For anyone else frustrated by these politicized discussion of this issue, it might just be time to mute some voices or not read these threads.

Edited to add - last year I made several thousand dollars mystery shopping but I did not earn enough with any MSC to receive a 1099. I still reported my income and expenses and I did not experience any delays in receiving my refund. That is my own, personal experience.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2023 01:46AM by olympia tennenbaum.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

This will affect mystery shoppers. Reimbursements are not taxable, yet PayPal and other apps do not separate reimbursements from fees paid. If your 1099's don't match, it will cause issues delaying any refunds or taxes you owe.

I feel like there is either willful ignorance on this subject or perhaps a desire to stir up trouble.

The facts:
You owe taxes on all income.
You need to keep detailed records.
Reporting does not automatically equal income.
Unreported income does not equal not owing taxes.

Everyone should consider having separate business and personal accounts on paypay, etc. so that you can keep things straight.

I am happy to have conversations with people who need help on this subject. I also needed help on this subject. For whatever reason, some participants are not willing to acknowledge the facts. For anyone else frustrated by these politicized discussion of this issue, it might just be time to mute some voices or not read these threads.

Edited to add - last year I made several thousand dollars mystery shopping but I did not earn enough with any MSC to receive a 1099. I still reported my income and expenses and I did not experience any delays in receiving my refund. That is my own, personal experience.

Many of us do get 1099's from mystery shop companies. Now there will be differences between the 1099's from mystery shop companies and 1099's from the pay apps. This is going to be a problem dealing with the IRS. As someone else pointed out, they had a family member just getting by selling baby items, now they have to just accept cash.

John I think you misread the post you are talking about. The daughter in law was selling her outgrown kids clothing on ebay. There was nothing saying she was just getting by. What she discussed is that she will now have to report income from EBay and keep receipts. This too has always been true. If you sell online you are supposed to report the income. For some it is only a handful of times they do this so it will not amount to much. Many of those people probably do not report their earnings as it is not really a business venture. For others they have big time businesses on Ebay and Amazon and the like and are earning a living. They too are required to report profits to the IRS and always have been. Income is income to the IRS no matter whether you sit at a desk all day in your pajamas to earn it or you go into an office or run some sort of store either brick and mortar or online.

@sandyf wrote:

John I think you misread the post you are talking about. The daughter in law was selling her outgrown kids clothing on ebay. There was nothing saying she was just getting by. What she discussed is that she will now have to report income from EBay and keep receipts. This too has always been true. If you sell online you are supposed to report the income. For some it is only a handful of times they do this so it will not amount to much. Many of those people probably do not report their earnings as it is not really a business venture. For others they have big time businesses on Ebay and Amazon and the like and are earning a living. They too are required to report profits to the IRS and always have been. Income is income to the IRS no matter whether you sit at a desk all day in your pajamas to earn it or you go into an office or run some sort of store either brick and mortar or online.

Cry me a river about paying your fair share.

These 19 Fortune 100 Companies Paid Next to Nothing—or Nothing at All—in Taxes in 2021

[www.americanprogress.org]

Those corporations are following the law. If you don't like the law, run for office, get elected, and change it.

But not liking the fact that those corporations are paying very little does not justify you not following the law. You are required by law to report all income (whether on a 1099 form or not), and you are entitled to deduct expenses that you have been diligently keeping track of.

Selling used clothing on eBay does not require the original receipts. If you buy a shirt for $50, wear it for 2 years, and then sell it for $10, you do not have a loss of $40. You need to assign a reasonable value to the worn shirt, the same way you assign a reasonable value when donating a used shirt to Goodwill. The original receipt is not required, just a reasonable estimate of the current value. There are many sources that help determine the value of the used item. Here are two of them: [satruck.org] and [goodwillnne.org]

@johnb974 wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

John I think you misread the post you are talking about. The daughter in law was selling her outgrown kids clothing on ebay. There was nothing saying she was just getting by. What she discussed is that she will now have to report income from EBay and keep receipts. This too has always been true. If you sell online you are supposed to report the income. For some it is only a handful of times they do this so it will not amount to much. Many of those people probably do not report their earnings as it is not really a business venture. For others they have big time businesses on Ebay and Amazon and the like and are earning a living. They too are required to report profits to the IRS and always have been. Income is income to the IRS no matter whether you sit at a desk all day in your pajamas to earn it or you go into an office or run some sort of store either brick and mortar or online.

Cry me a river about paying your fair share.

These 19 Fortune 100 Companies Paid Next to Nothing—or Nothing at All—in Taxes in 2021

[www.americanprogress.org]

Once again this is going to create a nightmare for individuals and small businesses. Many will just move to cash only.

I admire the patience of those who are explaining what everyone on this forum should know. However, some people just don't get it. We are all accountable for income generated from our business. Blaming some one else, other companies, the government does not alleviate your responsibility, John. But, I think you are determined to not "get it."

@kathygry wrote:

I admire the patience of those who are explaining what everyone on this forum should know. However, some people just don't get it. We are all accountable for income generated from our business. Blaming some one else, other companies, the government does not alleviate your responsibility, John. But, I think you are determined to not "get it."

I get it, just following the examples of major corporations and the rich. I said from the start this is going to cause a mess even with mystery shoppers.

@johnb, you mentioned that your income is derived from soc security and mystery shopping. My hubby and I are also on soc sec. I do ms'ing and merch'ing part time, and he umpires softball part-time. We also have 3 small annuities that we report whatever reportable income is on there that we have to add on our taxes. My son also sends me $200.00 every month as a loan repayment that he owes me, as I borrowed $20K for him back a few years ago when he really needed some help between jobs and the pandemic hit. So he sends me that via Paypal. It's done as personal/friends. As long as I can show that it's not business, I have NO worries about whether or not I'd have any tax liabilities for this, since I could show the IRS through my record-keeping that this was listed as personal.

Since my ms'ing is a hobby and not really a business, I don't do Schedule C, but just report my income as "hobby" income. That being said, the IRS has this formula when reporting taxes that basically divides in half most income from soc sec recipients in hubby and my income level on the tax report. So even though my ms'ing/merch income was around $3500 and hubby made just under $2000 from umpiring, and we reported around $1600 from annuities, by the time our Soc Sec income was divided in half, and we used the standard deduction, we owed nothing in taxes. We really haven't even been obligated to report our taxes for the past several years because of this, but I like to do it, so I do. With the standard deduction for two people up now to around $26K, we could even earn just a tad more without being taxed anything if we wanted to. But we're happy where we're at.

Here's basically our income as the example: Combined SS Income = $34K.....Divide that in half to = $17K (formula used by IRS for SS recipients on the tax form). Add to that the other incomes totalling $7.1K, and our income comes to right at $24K. So with the standard deduction of right at $26K, that brings our liability to $0. We do own our small, modest home, and live in a state (SC) that allows seniors to claim "homesteader" status, which decreases our property tax liability by about 70-75%, and we drive older used cars, so we do OK with our income. But if you're a single filer, then this situation would not apply to you.

Of course, even as a senior, single or joint filer, if a shopper earns a good deal more than this, which many here on the Forum do, then my tax situation here is not reflective of others' circumstances. In those cases, it is more advantageous to use a Schedule C. But as others have said, keep records!! I keep a spreadsheet, just for my own curiosity, of what my real earnings are, separate from my reimbursements. I like numbers, so I do it. We HAVE to report our income, that's all there is to it, whether or not big corporations have loopholes, cheat or are honest. WE have to report OUR income!

For those of us who are used to reporting our income and keeping diligent records, I can't see where these laws, new or old, will change our own tax liabilities. Keep diligent records, in case there are ever any questions asked.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2023 04:51PM by guysmom.

@guysmom wrote:

@johnb, you mentioned that your income is derived from soc security and mystery shopping. My hubby and I are also on soc sec. I do ms'ing and merch'ing part time, and he umpires softball part-time. We also have 3 small annuities that we report whatever reportable income is on there that we have to add on our taxes. My son also sends me $200.00 every month as a loan repayment that he owes me, as I borrowed $20K for him back a few years ago when he really needed some help between jobs and the pandemic hit. So he sends me that via Paypal. It's done as personal/friends. As long as I can show that it's not business, I have NO worries about whether or not I'd have any tax liabilities for this, since I could show the IRS through my record-keeping that this was listed as personal.

Since my ms'ing is a hobby and not really a business, I don't do Schedule C, but just report my income as "hobby" income. That being said, the IRS has this formula when reporting taxes that basically divides in half most income from soc sec recipients in hubby and my income level on the tax report. So even though my ms'ing/merch income was around $3500 and hubby made just under $2000 from umpiring, and we reported around $1600 from annuities, by the time our Soc Sec income was divided in half, and we used the standard deduction, we owed nothing in taxes. We really haven't even been obligated to report our taxes for the past several years because of this, but I like to do it, so I do. With the standard deduction for two people up now to around $26K, we could even earn just a tad more without being taxed anything if we wanted to. But we're happy where we're at.

Here's basically our income as the example: Combined SS Income = $34K.....Divide that in half to = $17K (formula used by IRS for SS recipients on the tax form). Add to that the other incomes totalling $7.1K, and our income comes to right at $24K. So with the standard deduction of right at $26K, that brings our liability to $0. We do own our small, modest home, and live in a state (SC) that allows seniors to claim "homesteader" status, which decreases our property tax liability by about 70-75%, and we drive older used cars, so we do OK with our income. But if you're a single filer, then this situation would not apply to you.

Of course, even as a senior, single or joint filer, if a shopper earns a good deal more than this, which many here on the Forum do, then my tax situation here is not reflective of others' circumstances. In those cases, it is more advantageous to use a Schedule C. But as others have said, keep records!! I keep a spreadsheet, just for my own curiosity, of what my real earnings are, separate from my reimbursements. I like numbers, so I do it. We HAVE to report our income, that's all there is to it, whether or not big corporations have loopholes, cheat or are honest. WE have to report OUR income!

For those of us who are used to reporting our income and keeping diligent records, I can't see where these laws, new or old, will change our own tax liabilities. Keep diligent records, in case there are ever any questions asked.

I'm making over $10,000 a year on mystery shopping. No way I can call that a hobby.

Cry me a river about paying your fair share.

These 19 Fortune 100 Companies Paid Next to Nothing—or Nothing at All—in Taxes in 2021

[www.americanprogress.org][/quote]

The only way a corporation pays little or no FIT is if they have losses from prior years they are carrying forward the liss or non refundable tax credits such as work opportunity credit, paid family leave credit, enterprise zones etc.

Corporations do not pay taxes. All taxes are ultimately paid by individuals through higher costs.

@DRJ wrote:

Corporations do not pay taxes. All taxes are ultimately paid by individuals through higher costs.

You have the choice to shop somewhere cheaper.

@johnb974 wrote:

I'm making over $10,000 a year on mystery shopping. No way I can call that a hobby.

Yeah, you're right. That amount is no hobby. Schedule C is the way to go with your income, especially if you're a single filer. Just keep on keeping diligent records, and you'll be OK. You don't need to worry so much about this stuff....it uses up too much internal energy. Just do what's right, report all your income, take all your deductions, and enjoy your life!