Tax Information With A Mother's Touch
Published by Eva Rosenberg, MBA, EA
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Tax Information With A Mother's Touch Published by Eva Rosenberg, MBA, EA |
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Keeping Irrefutable Records By: Eva Rosenberg, MBA, EA “What type of records need to be kept for buying merchandise an garage sales and selling it at the flea market or eBay for a profit? And how to determine the cost of each item when I am buying several things at each stop? Let’s face it. Generally at garage sales, people want cash. The sellers don't want to find out later that they've gotten a phony check. So, here's an idea. Get a receipt book. You know, one of those with duplicate receipts. Here's one you can get for a couple of dollars - 
Then, when you make a purchase, you can fill out the information of the seller - name, address, date, phone number and a brief description of what was bought. Have the seller sign it. Give them one copy of the receipt, if they want it. Keep the duplicate in the book. There will be many times they will refuse, or won't provide the information, like their name or phone number. Then, just for your own benefit, take a photo of the yard sale and of their purchases - and on the signature line, write seller refused to sign. Be sure to enter the address and the date. And if you got there because of an ad, to include a copy of the ad with the receipt copy. This may be a little overkill, but if you get into the habit of doing this, you'll always have records that will stand up to any audit. Not only that, but you'll have a pictorial history to use for your blogs to tell the story of where/how you found some special items. Not only will this lend credence to your “business motive”, it could be fun! Now, when it comes to assigning a cost to each item bought, if several items were bought at the same time, what’s a re-seller to do? If a price was assigned to each item, and you paid it without bargaining, it's easy. Use that price. If not? Use your best judgment. For instance, if you spent $50 to get 25 things, if they are all of similar value, assign $2 to each one. Or if one item is clearly worth much more, assign a value to that item, and split the rest of the $50 among all the other items. Whatever you do, create an inventory list with an assigned cost, so when you sell it, you will know the profit immediately. © 2007, Eva Rosenberg Bio Eva Rosenberg, your TaxMama, has taken the most dreaded topic, taxes, and turned it into fun. Aside from saving people amazing sums of money on their taxes, she has also created a brand recognition unique in the tax industry. Can you think of another tax company that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling? Imagine what she can do for your business. TaxMama's site: http://taxmama.com |
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| Library of Congress - ISSN 1532-0790 Copyright © 2000-2006 - Eva Rosenberg |
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