Hello everyone,

been a while since I posted. I decided to use the HR Block free online this year since total income was much less than $60K and I moved into rural WV where help is few and far between. I suppose I could use an online CPA?

I'm ready... spreadsheets, printouts, receipts... mileage log...

But there's a section to enter the 1099s on the HR Block website... They want the names and amounts... (doesn't really work out since most companies report our payment but not all the nitty gritty expenses and travel).
And a section to enter the gross receipts and sales....

Can I just forego entering the 1099s and names (because they only show what you were paid in real money without travel, reimbursements, etc) and just lump it all into the total receipts and sales and then work the schedule C to get all my expenses and deductions worked in? So instead of the $6K in payments, it shoudl show the $4100 I actually made?

The last couple years we used an actual CPA but we moved... new state ... and if you guys remember two years ago I quit my job and went full blown hobo on an organic farm running a tractor and raising honeybees.

To sum it all up, I think I made $4K total last year between mystery shops and eBay sales -- which was its own business entirely... It was a pretty fun year (I lived off savings and it was a great hiatus).

Also, if you sell online, do you describe your business as "eBay sales" ? I'm in the process of getting a license for that this year, too since my original intent was to declutter the house but I realized I loved the online sales and it was making me a little profit!

Again, yes, get a CPA... Anyone have an online one that you love?

I'm all over the place Hello everyone.

If you got a 1099, then you need to enter the information from the 1099 as a specific 1099 entry on your tax return since the IRS is going to match them up (payee, EIN for payee, amount you made etc.). You may have found a limitation in the free version of H&R Block. I have been using Turbo Tax for years. The free online version is good for very simple returns. As soon as you want to do something more complicated, they offer to upgrade you to a non-free version. I suspect that H&R Block uses the same business model.

I am curious - what state requires you to get a license to sell on eBay. Definitely not required in DE, PA, or NJ. I know that laws in different states vary widely, so this is just a question out of curiosity.

If you go through the IRS website, all HR Block becomes free for single taxpayers making under $61K AGI and under the age of 51, even with the self employment part but it doesn't seem to do a very good job of explaining itself.

For the online sales, WV requires online collection of sales tax to WV residents, as well as a business license within city limits to sell. Of course, city is a loose term in this town but they call it "city."

So do we just put the overlap into the total receipts and sales section?

Example: If Marketforce 1099'ed me for $1000 but they actually paid $2000 because I had expenses they reimbursed, do I list a 1099 for $1000, then add in an extra total receipt and sale of $1000, and then go into the other expenses and put Mystery Shopping expenses as $1000 to level it back out?

The CPA thing sounds more and more enticing for online the more I tinker in this and every other video or sheet online says something off the wall.

You have two choices.

The "extra" $1000 is reimbursed and is definitely not taxable. Some people (including some whose tax opinions I value like Walesmaven) do not put that $1000 anywhere on their income tax return.

Others, myself included, report the "extra" $1000 as revenue, and then list the same $1000 as a business cost / expense.

The effect on your taxes is the same either way. You owe nothing on the extra $1000. My felling is that if I spend $1000 on reimbursable items in 2018, but only get reimbursed for $900 in 2018, I get the full deduction in 2018. If the remaining $100 is paid to me in 2019, it is revenue. What if the MSC goes bankrupt (it has happened) and I never get the remaining $100? My accounting method takes that into account. The other way, you need to go back and find all of the "bad debts".

IMHO, both ways are right. Choose the one you are most comfortable with.

@MountainCacher88 wrote:

So do we just put the overlap into the total receipts and sales section?

Example: If Marketforce 1099'ed me for $1000 but they actually paid $2000 because I had expenses they reimbursed, do I list a 1099 for $1000, then add in an extra total receipt and sale of $1000, and then go into the other expenses and put Mystery Shopping expenses as $1000 to level it back out?

The CPA thing sounds more and more enticing for online the more I tinker in this and every other video or sheet online says something off the wall.

Thank you. That makes a fair bit of sense. I never really questioned what the CPA did in previous years. Just here's all my 1099, W2, and spreadsheets. Let me know the damage.

I hadn't tried it before on my own. The mystery shopping part seems like the spreadsheets are the best bet. I have my last few years of returns printed from 2016 on when I used this car. Just working my way through it. I know I accounted for every dollar I spent, every dollar I made, and every mile I traveled. And my bank accounts will definitely show a very meager living and earning for the time off.

Actually I'm fairly certain walesmaven does it the way you (and I) do. I do it not for simplicity but in case of an audit. If I have $5,000 in deposits in my business checking account in 2019 where $4,000 is fees and $1,000 is reimbursement I don't want to explain to the IRS why I didn't report that $1000. Sure I have to show how it is an expense but "that $1,000 was an expense" seems like a much better starting point than "that $1,000 wasn't really income even though they paid me."

We use Taxact... This year I got a notice to refile because of some changes. Dangit!

It makes the most sense to report it all. I'm wondering about a loss - for those of us who didn't realize how much mileage ate up. Technically, I was at a loss of $1200 because mileage.. I figured up around $0.30 per mile when I asked for shop fees because one of the sites had that as their base and I thought it was a good starting point. Didn't realize over time it would put me in the hole if I wasn't careful how many miles I traveled. I think we can carry that into this tax year as a NOL