Just got my first egift card this morning. I did a shop that reimburses $65. A $100 gift card would not be obvious but this printed out GC says in large letters near the top, Congrats! (that could be anything I guess) but below that in very bold and large font it says $65.00. It seems to me that is an unusual amt of money that some non shopper would purchase a gift card for, that and the $60 shops. After a short while I would imagine the staff would start recognizing this as a tip off that you are a mystery shopper. True you can only go once every three months to the location and true in my big city there seems to be a lot of staff turnover, but if I keep going there it will not take much time for them to spot me the next time as the shopper.
I am wondering too, now that I have gotten my first, has anyone looked further into the value of the amount above reimbursement when reporting income to the IRS for 2023. Surely it is not the same as $$ that can be used anywhere.

Sandy,

How long did it take for you to receive the gift card?

@sandyf wrote:

There are three scenarios and one of them pays a $65 gift card. I did that one last month. I was offered a last minute shop at the end of October which I assume was due to someone flaking. So that is happening!

I think they said the gift card would come on the 10th of the month following the shop date. I got mine a day early and expect the paypal fee soon.

@DRJ wrote:

Sandy,

How long did it take for you to receive the gift card?

@sandyf wrote:

There are three scenarios and one of them pays a $65 gift card. I did that one last month. I was offered a last minute shop at the end of October which I assume was due to someone flaking. So that is happening!

I think they said the gift card would come on the 10th of the month following the shop date. I got mine a day early and expect the paypal fee soon.

@DRJ wrote:

Sandy,

How long did it take for you to receive the gift card?

@sandyf wrote:

There are three scenarios and one of them pays a $65 gift card. I did that one last month. I was offered a last minute shop at the end of October which I assume was due to someone flaking. So that is happening!

I thought about that too. I was thinking about cropping it to obscure the dollar amount.

I received 2 e-gift cards today. There is a FAQ that specifically states this will not be included in a 1099 and is therefore not taxable. There is no expiration and they are transferable.

Thanks Sandy.

I would advise against using a printout. The server only needs to see the gift card number and the PIN number. Have those two numbers copied and pasted and stored on your phone.

I have not and probably will not do the bar shop and therefore will not have a $65 gift card. If I did get a $65 gift card, I would probably make a small purchase during a personal visit before using the gift card for a shop. That way, the balance wouldn't be a dead giveaway.

Also, a shopper who can pass for 65 could pretend the $65 gift card was a birthday present. (I just got a $60 gift card and am considering gifting it to my sister, who will be turning 60.)

If you enter the card in the kiosk yourself, the server never sees the card or the amount.

Regardless of a 1099, they are taxable.

@ShopperGirly wrote:

I received 2 e-gift cards today. There is a FAQ that specifically states this will not be included in a 1099 and is therefore not taxable. There is no expiration and they are transferable.

@Madetoshop wrote:

Regardless of a 1099, they are taxable.

@ShopperGirly wrote:

I received 2 e-gift cards today. There is a FAQ that specifically states this will not be included in a 1099 and is therefore not taxable. There is no expiration and they are transferable.

I'd say the amount over what you spent is taxable.

Not sure how "store credit" is really taxable. This is STORE CREDIT. It's not income. If this was a visa gift card able to be used anywhere, then I would agree that would be income. But this is "future credit" at the branded store/restaurant. That is NOT income.

No 1099 no reporting. I found $20 on the ground while on a shop. I do not report that as income.

Thank you for a thoughtful response. Your answer sounds sensible vs finding money somewhere which might technically be taxable but is not "earned income"
The tax advice on this thread is not being given in most cases by professional tax people. At best it can be used as a beginning point to do your own research.
Just to caution other readers of this thread, a 1099 is not the whole story of money you owe taxes on. Some msc will include reimbursements on a 1099 others do not send one if you earn under $600. It goes both ways. You still need to check 1099's and your own account of how much you earned during the tax year and then figure out your allowable deductions. If they include your reimbursements you can deduct those, If they do not include your fees you still have to report them. Lets say you earned $500 in fees and bonuses this year working for each of 50 different msc. That amounts to $25,000 income. But you will likely not get a 1099 from any of them as they are not required to send them out for earnings of less than $600. If you want to take a chance on not reporting that income, that is exactly what you are doing, taking a chance! My advice needs to be checked out as well. quote=hbbigdaddy]
Not sure how "store credit" is really taxable. This is STORE CREDIT. It's not income. If this was a visa gift card able to be used anywhere, then I would agree that would be income. But this is "future credit" at the branded store/restaurant. That is NOT income.[/quote]

@johnb974 wrote:

No 1099 no reporting. I found $20 on the ground while on a shop. I do not report that as income.

If you find cash
This covers a wide range of miscellaneous income, including gambling winnings. According to the Cesarini decision, money you find isn't explicitly exempt. Miscellaneous income is taxable as ordinary income.

I would not report it. I find money on the ground, it's mine, not the government's. It's a gift from the person who left it or from a higher power.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2023 09:44PM by johnb974.

My gift card is for $60. The $5 fee was paid like a regular fee.

Taxable. Interpretations and justification are most intriguing.

Wondering if people are having a delay between getting the gift card and getting the fee. It has been 5 days since I got the gift card and the wording led me to believe the fee would be coming very soon. $5 is not a big deal but have other people had to wait for the fee? How long?

$100 gift card reimbursement is kind of like a 50% discount. Would you like to do a restaurant shop where you spend $200 and get $100 back?

They found a neat workaround to get people to pick up shops at 50% discount.

@sandyf wrote:

Wondering if people are having a delay between getting the gift card and getting the fee. It has been 5 days since I got the gift card and the wording led me to believe the fee would be coming very soon. $5 is not a big deal but have other people had to wait for the fee? How long?[/quote

Mine was the same day. Direct deposit.

My mistake on the $5 pay date. It says the 10th for direct deposit and the 20th for Paypal. Just checked i have paypal listed. So I should get it next week.

Where do you get your math?

Requirements were 1 entree and 1 additional item. You can easily spend less than $50 in there and you are still getting $100 gift card. You can go at lunch and get lunch specials.

$200 really? BJ's is not worthy of spending $200 unless you are taking 8-10 people.

The pizzas are HALF-price on Mondays.

@LindaM wrote:

$100 gift card reimbursement is kind of like a 50% discount. Would you like to do a restaurant shop where you spend $200 and get $100 back?

They found a neat workaround to get people to pick up shops at 50% discount.

I went to one for lunch today. When I ordered the pizookie for dessert, the server was very insistent that I sign up for the rewards program because the pizookie would be free. The guidelines don't say anything about not signing up for the rewards program. It just says to order an entree along with an appetizer or dessert. So I did sign up and it was free. But then the kicker is that she didn't put it on the receipt. So I took a photo of the dessert to prove that I did order it. I'll obviously explain everything in the report but I'm hoping this doesn't create a problem.

i have the pizookie pass. I order 2 just to be safe. We are usually splitting between 3-4 people. But I have not seen them not have it on the bill. I see it and then I see a promo code showing $0 next to it explaining it.

Yea, I found it strange that it wasn't listed on the bill. There was no place in the report to upload additional photos, so I just commented that I have a photo of the dessert for verification if needed. I think it was great service and I would think that they would want to know that servers are encouraging diners to sign up for the rewards program in order to get a free pizookie.

@Snuffycuts99 what area did you shop? I am a frequent visitor to BJs with the shops and without the shops. They have a pretty decent happy hour for Monday Night Football. I find at many of the Southern California locations...they don't upsell like they should. They will push the pizookie...but i've had many not even bother with the beer or rewards. The servers in this area are certainly not meeting what CORP wants them to do.

Other side of the country. My server was excellent and doing nearly everything they want. However, it was lunch and the place was about empty... so I had her sole attention.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

@Snuffycuts99 what area did you shop? I am a frequent visitor to BJs with the shops and without the shops. They have a pretty decent happy hour for Monday Night Football. I find at many of the Southern California locations...they don't upsell like they should. They will push the pizookie...but i've had many not even bother with the beer or rewards. The servers in this area are certainly not meeting what CORP wants them to do.

@Snuffycuts99

Let me know after you do a few more. The southern california locations are quite popular and busy. I never said I got bad service. They just did not do the extensive upselling that is being questioned in the report. I did a bar shop sitting at the counter. No one talked about the beers.

If you notice on the report...they are concerned about how long it took for the drinks to be served. There is NO question about how long the food takes. It has been quite excessive at times for the food. I wonder if they just don't care about how long it takes because they are NOT asking.

I have done two of these so far in so cal. at two different locations. They did not mention beer, chicken wings, upselling add ons, rewards or even the fact that I could pay differently. Personally I am more than happy not to have to turn down things I really do not want but I do understand the restaurant wanting their staff to sell more.
As for food , at one of the locations there was a 10 minute wait for the second entree to come out. I told my guest to go ahead and start but that wait was ridiculous. I mentioned it in the report even tho they did not ask.
In both cases even tho the staff did not do most of the service things on the form, I really thought both of them were great.
And for the PIzookie, both hbbigdaddy and I have the Pizookie pass. We paid $4.95 for an entire months worth of Pizookies for free once a day. The free one that comes when you sign up for rewards is a different issue. They should certainly allow that. As for the free Pizookie due to the Pizookie pass I am planning to ask about it before my next job. I would like to use that for my dessert order if allowed. The guidelines do not really mention the use of coupons or anything. BJ's is now selling the gift card where you get 20% off all orders in Jan and Feb is you purchase a $100 gift card. It was always allowed with the old company. Of course none (or most) of us really
do not need to buy another gift card after doing these shops and using the gift card from the last shop to pay for the next.

On these shops I just aske what they recommend. Makes is easier. Just remember what they recommend.