Pay Pal Alternative

72bluNblu said
I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, but you've always been required to report any profits from any sales you're making and pay the relevant taxes on them. The government just realized how many people were cheating, and because PayPal has a record of all the transactions they're doing the government required them to send the records direct to the IRS on a 1099, in effect forcing people to follow the law they were breaking previously by not reporting the sales themselves.

All these different cash transfer apps have records too, which means eventually the laws that now apply to PayPal will likely apply to the new apps as well. Only a matter of time, those apps have records. And even in the meantime, if you were directly investigated the IRS could probably demand those companies to hand over those records, even if they're not putting them on a 1099 like PayPal is now required to do.

So maybe you can "get away with it" for awhile with a new cash transfer app, but eventually the law will catch up again.

I agree to an extent. We need to be honest with our tax returns. However, the way PayPal reports everything makes it hard.
For instance, about two years ago, I bought a pair of Mopar Performance valve covers for my 340 for $225. I decided not to use them, so I turned around and sold them for $225 through PayPal. I broke even. Didn't make a penny. Since it was two years ago, PayPal did not report it. If that had happened this year, they would have reported it on a Form 1099, and it would have been Income. I would have had to fill out additional forms to TRY to get the government to believe that I didn't make a profit on that sale. Then there is the problem with selling a part for $20 that is rather heavy and charging $30 shipping. So you get $50 total, but only $20 for the part. But guess what, the 1099 from PayPal will list $50 of income. There needs to be a way to communicate with PayPal so that they can send me a 1099 that reflects my actual income. If I have $2000 come in from PayPal and $800 was shipping and $200 was from break even deals, that means I really only made $1000, but the 1099 will be for $2000.
For my Canadian friends, a 1099 is a form that a company files with the American Tax people (Internal Revenue Service (IRS)) and send you a copy. They are telling the IRS that the amount on the 1099 is income, and the government expects you to file all of the amount as income.