PDA

View Full Version : Can the govt tax an income of buyin and sellin shit?



JerrySeinfeld
02-22-2015, 06:11 PM
if I started buying cars on craigslist for cheap and selling them for more, making 1000+ a month, could the govt tax this?

DeuceWallaces
02-22-2015, 06:19 PM
You're supposed to report that.

knickballer
02-22-2015, 06:20 PM
Technically, you're supposed to report it as income which will be taxed but if the transactions aren't being recorded than the gov't won't know and therefore won't be taxed.

bigkingsfan
02-22-2015, 06:31 PM
If you're selling cars there will be paper trails with titles and such.

KevinNYC
02-22-2015, 06:41 PM
if I started buying cars on craigslist for cheap and selling them for more, making 1000+ a month, could the govt tax this?

Income is taxable.

Even illegal income in taxable.

Ask Al Capone.

KNOW1EDGE
02-22-2015, 06:45 PM
Like everyone else said, you are supposed to report that sh1t on your taxes.

But if you only deal with cash then you can get away with it. If they ever asked you why you bought so many cars and what you did with them you could say you gave them away. They can't prove otherwise.

I've bought and sold probably 20 cars in my lifetime and never reported any of it on my taxes.

DeuceWallaces
02-22-2015, 07:08 PM
You'd probably be fine even with the paper trail associated with cars, but you better make sure you don't screw anyone over, because if they go to the cops the first thing they'll try and bust you on will be taxes. Most every Craigslist / Ebay gone bad story ends with the guy being busted on taxes because it's much easier to prove than any transactional wrong-doing.

Akrazotile
02-22-2015, 08:57 PM
Income is taxable.

Even illegal income in taxable.

Ask Al Capone.


You know what's really interesting that I found out recently, others may already know this but I'm sure it'll be news to some, but the IRS cannot, by law, report illegally obtained income to any other authorities.

So if a huge drug dealer files his taxes with the IRS, in theory he would be able to remain anonymous and also not fear tax evasion being used as a substitute charge if his illegal doings cannot be proved. They instituted this IRS confidentiality sometime after Nixon in order to basically prohibit the IRS from playing politics and reporting people with certain political ties and not reporting others etc. So no matter how you are making money, if you pay the tax on it the IRS can't inform on you.

Of course, we know the IRS apparently still unethically targets people for tax scrutiny based on their political affiliation. But as long as people pay their taxes, they IRS technically cannot report any other crimes.

gts
02-22-2015, 09:25 PM
I don't know what state you're in but in California if you buy/sell even one car and you make a profit the computer starts monitoring you, 3 cars or more their ears really perk up and question you're an auto dealer and start asking questions.. it's called "curbstoning" and it's illegal, the fines can range into the thousands if you're caught and they do actively investigate the problem.. Ca. is hyper aggressive on this topic

They also report auto sales with a profit to the state franchise tax board which I imagine could end up in the feds hands

BTW the fees for registering a vehicle if you're a dealer are actually less if you're a dealer vs being a regular joe.. it's like a $50 flat fee or something... So if you're truly thinking about doing this you may want to investigate a bit further on getting a dealer license and doing it on the legit because it will open doors for more places to purchase cars wholesale

anyways at least check your state laws because you don't want to get

SupermanOnSteroids
02-22-2015, 09:48 PM
yep. in laymans terms, any profit you make on a transaction is considered income and is taxable.

Jet
02-22-2015, 10:00 PM
Like everyone else said, you are supposed to report that sh1t on your taxes.

But if you only deal with cash then you can get away with it. If they ever asked you why you bought so many cars and what you did with them you could say you gave them away. They can't prove otherwise.

I've bought and sold probably 20 cars in my lifetime and never reported any of it on my taxes.
Thanks. I work for the IRS and have sent Jeff a request for your ip info. See you soon!