gifts vs income in business account
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I've set up a PayPal Business Account. A friend wants to give me a gift of money personally, can I accept it in my business account, or would that automatically make it income, thus paying taxes? Should I instead add an additional personal PayPal account to keep a strong financial firewall?
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You have 2 issues.
1) Any money coming in to a business account is going to be subject to the 2.9% plus the $0.30 fee. So money from friends needs to go to a personal account ideally (no fees).
2) 1099-K report will include all receipts to a business account. However there is no requirement to reconcile your 1099-K to your actual sales (unless you get audited of course). The real purpose to issuing a 1099-K is to let the IRS know you have some income, if your Paypal 1099 shows $25,000 but you say you only had $10,000 in total sales, count on being asked some pointed questions. But if like me your business receipts are much higher than your Paypal receipts (less than 14% of my sales are paid with Paypal) then there is no harm in making your tax return reflect reality, and if by some awful luck you get the full line-by-line audit (unlikely) then you may be asked to explain differences between your 1099 and what you say was Paypal business related transactions.
Ultimately it is simpler to just have another Paypal account, with a different email, linked bank account and credit cards. I do, and my personal account is used about 3 times a year, for actual dealings with friends and family.
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Money received as friends/family is NOT considered as revenue or gross receipts by PayPal.
Money received for purchases IS considered a refenue or gross recepts and is subject to reporting to IRS.
Whether reported or not it is your responsibility to maintain business records and to report ALL business revenue (gross receipts) on your 1040-C. The 1040-c will also include your businesse expenses to arrive at your business income (or loss) which is then reported on 1040.
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