|
|
Post by lvrr325 on May 11, 2022 5:31:11 GMT -8
Some people have absolutely no idea what they're selling. I picked up a MIB AHM GP18 in Lehigh Valley colors so I looked on eBay just to see if it had any collector interest. I found two, one as nice as mine, one with all the handrails broken off, listed for $89.99 each. Once the handrails are gone it's like a $10 parts engine tops.
But I think what happens is people get one of these old GP18s or C628s and they see Bowser or Proto or Athearn models of the same locomotive selling for what those are actually worth, and think theirs should sell for the same.
By the same virtue though I had a guy offer me $100 for a Walthers redbox auto rack kit because it's a harder one to find. I told him to just throw a bid on it and he'll probably get it for $50-$55. Wasn't sure it would sell at all, I had a couple of later RTR Conrails and they were in the usual holding pattern of non-sales so I took them to a show and sold them there.
The holding pattern is what I get on a lot of stuff when I look up and see it's sold, consistently, for a certain price range, so I put mine on at the low end of it and get week after week of no sale. People don't want to wait out the auctions, but I use that to try to cut down on extra trips to the post office. Generally if the listing ends on Friday they're paid by Sunday and I ship them all Monday.
|
|
|
|
Post by riogrande on May 11, 2022 5:59:49 GMT -8
Sellers will find out soon enough that item won't sell if it's over priced.
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on May 11, 2022 6:28:35 GMT -8
Well, you can't even go by people not buying either. I have some things running now that are priced pretty fairly, or they have Best Offer options on them and people aren't even trying to make offers. I don't normally sell N but I scored an absurdly low price on a couple of sound engines so I grabbed them and have them on for $65 below list with Best Offer set up to allow another $35 or so off. One did sell for full price but no one's ever tried to make an offer. Not even a low-ball below the rejection threshold offer.
I generally research everything I post to see if it's sold and for how much. If it sells 5 times for $30 each then it's probably worth $30. if there's a $75 mixed in there, usually it's just a fluke where two people bid something up. If it's been listed a bunch with no sales at $30 then I'd post it for less. But just as many people looking to buy things have as little idea what something is worth as people selling them have no idea.
I see a similar thing in person at shows. Absolute idiots will pick something up that has a price on it, ask how much it is, then put it back without even trying to haggle when I say it's right on there and they actually look and see it.
|
|
|
|
Post by riogrande on May 11, 2022 9:58:23 GMT -8
It's a business I would not want to be in. I haven't sold on Ebay for 15 years.
|
|
|
|
Post by el3625 on May 11, 2022 10:32:13 GMT -8
Maybe they are trying to make a living just ripping people off. They would probably make more money by just getting a job, some jobs are paying pretty good now. Some just want it NOW without having to work for it. I started to see that at my job before I retired from it, do at least as possible and want the big money. Ebay was good for me before but not as much now. Some things I had better luck at selling on Ebay than at train shows. I will keep my selling to the bare minimum and make sure I do not go over $600.00 for the year so the MAN cannot tax you again, hard to get to you at train shows. And I don't over charge, I give a fair price on most of my merchandise.
Bruce
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on May 11, 2022 11:05:26 GMT -8
I just had one offer $35 on an item listed at $89.95 with best offer, get auto rejected for being too low, and send an email complaining about the $90 price instead of making a new offer, asking what I would take for it. Uh, make your next offer, eBay gives you like six shots now, either you'll hit the magic number or not.
eBay is absolutely better for selling some things than others. Even when I do badly at a show I can usually help myself by flipping things on eBay I bought at the show. Anything that would sell for over $100 sells faster there.
|
|
|
|
Post by sd40dash2 on May 11, 2022 13:25:32 GMT -8
Some of the high prices are being paid by buyers who missed the item when it first came out years ago or want additional copies which may not be re-run for another 10-15 years if ever. If you're in desperate want, why wait 15 years if it's available now for a click-buy and have it in your hands in 1-2 weeks? Many foreign buyers also have a hard time finding their items from sellers who are buyer-friendly and will work with them on shipping. I think the high-dollar sellers are playing the long game and don't mind waiting patiently for such buyers to find their items.
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on May 15, 2022 2:43:22 GMT -8
Some of the high prices are being paid by buyers who missed the item when it first came out years ago or want additional copies which may not be re-run for another 10-15 years if ever. If you're in desperate want, why wait 15 years if it's available now for a click-buy and have it in your hands in 1-2 weeks? Many foreign buyers also have a hard time finding their items from sellers who are buyer-friendly and will work with them on shipping. I think the high-dollar sellers are playing the long game and don't mind waiting patiently for such buyers to find their items. There has always been a trend on ebay because of the auction feature where certain items, once they sell out and become hard to find, the prices would be driven up sometimes to absurd levels. There was a time when Proto E8/9 in Santa Fe and Amtrak would bring $100 used. Walthers various industry series, the Waterfront, the Auto Manufacturing and the Steel groups in particular would bring big money. The steel mill stuff still goes fairly high. The vintage stuff did the same thing, Tyco in the red boxes was hot for a while, particularly the operating hoppers and certain other cars. It peaked and came down as most of the guys who wanted one got theirs. Even now I notice with things I get new that when the supply dries up the ones I have finally move. I had three leftover Rapido F30 piggyback flats, so I put them on eBay. One sold right away, the other two sat for some time and then both sold a couple weeks apart. Kind of hoping the last two X72 boxcars do that. (Yorkrail ones sure seem to be a bust!) |
|
|
|
Post by loco8107 on Jun 1, 2022 17:02:54 GMT -8
Browsing tonight I realized I forgot to mention another observation- not only are the prices for locos way too high for what they are but the best part is - they’re being sold as used!! Imagine used locos are at least the same and even a lot more in many cases than when they were brand new. And these are both Athearn RTR and Atlas master units more times than not. So much for depreciation!! (Sarcasm)….
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on Jun 2, 2022 22:37:32 GMT -8
We kind of covered this before. Some of it is people with no idea what things are worth and some of it is driven by the market because there's more demand than supply.
I'd just as soon these things hold some value given what I spent on some of them new.
|
|
|
|
Post by loco8107 on Jun 3, 2022 4:54:31 GMT -8
True and I always wondered how much demand really exists for used stuff too especially given how well most new stuff sells. I didn’t think there’s that much of a demand for used stuff especially what’s not genesis quality but I guess I’m wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on Jul 10, 2022 3:58:39 GMT -8
eBay managed to screw things up again, whatever changes they did my sales took a nosedive. I am sure some of it is the rise in fuel prices and so forth, but I can look at old listings and for instance I can't get $125 for an AHM Cab Forward even though others have sold for as much as $210 and one just recently sold non-running for $132. Mine runs nice. I have some other things that somehow other people have sold for more while I've relisted mine over and over to no results. Or occasionally someone wanting to offer less. Makes no sense whatsoever. I bust my butt to keep my top rated rating for apparently nothing.
I did have a look at their forums and I'm not the only one seeing a drop in sales, which is how I know it's eBay. Those who sell across other platforms aren't seeing it in their other stores, either. It's more like your account is just invisible. I already see different search results when I search in a different (logged out, or on different eBay account) browser window.
The new stuff is slow, too, but there I have to compete with guys who seem to think it's okay to dump it at a price point where I would make about a dollar an item. It's not worth the effort to list them for a dollar profit. Atlas in particular doesn't help either when they split up a shipment, for instance the Trainman flatcars about 2/3rds showed up way back in the spring and I sold all of the ones I got then at shows. The rest didn't turn up until June. Any time they split a group like that, the second half doesn't seem to move as well, they've become "old hat" at that point and it doesn't matter that these are actually different roads or numbers than the first half.
There's just no better alternative at this point, short of setting up "shop" in the storage unit and selling by appointment.
|
|
|
|
Post by Gino Damen on Jul 10, 2022 11:23:02 GMT -8
Living in Europe shipping costs for items through eBay are killing and sometimes even ridiculous. You have to pay full shipment for each item from the same dealer and most won't work with me to solve that.
If buying something I only use shops. They can combine items so I only pay shipping once. Still steep but always better.
|
|
|
|
Post by valenciajim on Jul 10, 2022 18:47:49 GMT -8
eBay managed to screw things up again, whatever changes they did my sales took a nosedive. I am sure some of it is the rise in fuel prices and so forth, but I can look at old listings and for instance I can't get $125 for an AHM Cab Forward even though others have sold for as much as $210 and one just recently sold non-running for $132. Mine runs nice. I have some other things that somehow other people have sold for more while I've relisted mine over and over to no results. Or occasionally someone wanting to offer less. Makes no sense whatsoever. I bust my butt to keep my top rated rating for apparently nothing. I did have a look at their forums and I'm not the only one seeing a drop in sales, which is how I know it's eBay. Those who sell across other platforms aren't seeing it in their other stores, either. It's more like your account is just invisible. I already see different search results when I search in a different (logged out, or on different eBay account) browser window. The new stuff is slow, too, but there I have to compete with guys who seem to think it's okay to dump it at a price point where I would make about a dollar an item. It's not worth the effort to list them for a dollar profit. Atlas in particular doesn't help either when they split up a shipment, for instance the Trainman flatcars about 2/3rds showed up way back in the spring and I sold all of the ones I got then at shows. The rest didn't turn up until June. Any time they split a group like that, the second half doesn't seem to move as well, they've become "old hat" at that point and it doesn't matter that these are actually different roads or numbers than the first half. There's just no better alternative at this point, short of setting up "shop" in the storage unit and selling by appointment. This does not surprise me. Inflation is eating up people's discretionary income. If you have to choose between groceries and buying an AHM Cab Forward, I don't think the model trains are going to be the top choice. I wish you the best in your endeavors. |
|
|
|
Post by bnsf971 on Jul 11, 2022 2:44:39 GMT -8
eBay managed to screw things up again, whatever changes they did my sales took a nosedive. I am sure some of it is the rise in fuel prices and so forth, but I can look at old listings and for instance I can't get $125 for an AHM Cab Forward even though others have sold for as much as $210 and one just recently sold non-running for $132. Mine runs nice. I have some other things that somehow other people have sold for more while I've relisted mine over and over to no results. Or occasionally someone wanting to offer less. Makes no sense whatsoever. I bust my butt to keep my top rated rating for apparently nothing. I did have a look at their forums and I'm not the only one seeing a drop in sales, which is how I know it's eBay. Those who sell across other platforms aren't seeing it in their other stores, either. It's more like your account is just invisible. I already see different search results when I search in a different (logged out, or on different eBay account) browser window. The new stuff is slow, too, but there I have to compete with guys who seem to think it's okay to dump it at a price point where I would make about a dollar an item. It's not worth the effort to list them for a dollar profit. Atlas in particular doesn't help either when they split up a shipment, for instance the Trainman flatcars about 2/3rds showed up way back in the spring and I sold all of the ones I got then at shows. The rest didn't turn up until June. Any time they split a group like that, the second half doesn't seem to move as well, they've become "old hat" at that point and it doesn't matter that these are actually different roads or numbers than the first half. There's just no better alternative at this point, short of setting up "shop" in the storage unit and selling by appointment. I noticed over the last several days, something different in the way they handle "best offer" transactions. Instead of making and submitting the offer, you now have to effectively pay for the item up front, whether your offer is accepted or not. Down in the fine print, the money doesn't leave your account until the offer is accepted, but a lot of folks are going to look at how the offer looks, and think they have to pay that amount, and if the offer isn't accepted, they're out that amount of money. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2022 6:05:49 GMT -8
I have just a few last model railroad items to sell period. I tried to get my credit union bank account (and ONLY bank account) "verified" but Ebay says they are unable to do that.
Similarly, I sold some model train items directly through my email, and sent them on approval. Buyer is very happy and I have subsequently been paid. However, after hundreds of previous sales through Ebay where I accepted Paypal as a form of payment, Paypal has determined for my own "security" that they have to hold my money for 21 days. They had said that all I needed to do was have another $90 in sales. That was a lie, because when I got there they are STILL holding my money.
As soon as I get paid I will be closing both my Paypal and my Ebay accounts. They can stick it, and there is absolutely nothing I need that can't be pre-ordered right now for a future product run. Not.one.single.item.
Best regards--
John
|
|
|
|
Post by valenciajim on Jul 11, 2022 16:04:37 GMT -8
I had a horrible PayPal experience fifteen years ago when my account was hacked. I finally got things resolved, but it took a lot of my time, and the money was not put back in my account immediately, like it would in a bank account. Since then, I refuse to use PayPal. As the years have passed, I have found both PayPal and eBay increasingly difficult to deal with and I avoid using either one.
|
|
|
|
Post by loco8107 on Jul 17, 2022 8:00:36 GMT -8
eBay managed to screw things up again, whatever changes they did my sales took a nosedive. I am sure some of it is the rise in fuel prices and so forth, but I can look at old listings and for instance I can't get $125 for an AHM Cab Forward even though others have sold for as much as $210 and one just recently sold non-running for $132. Mine runs nice. I have some other things that somehow other people have sold for more while I've relisted mine over and over to no results. Or occasionally someone wanting to offer less. Makes no sense whatsoever. I bust my butt to keep my top rated rating for apparently nothing. I did have a look at their forums and I'm not the only one seeing a drop in sales, which is how I know it's eBay. Those who sell across other platforms aren't seeing it in their other stores, either. It's more like your account is just invisible. I already see different search results when I search in a different (logged out, or on different eBay account) browser window. The new stuff is slow, too, but there I have to compete with guys who seem to think it's okay to dump it at a price point where I would make about a dollar an item. It's not worth the effort to list them for a dollar profit. Atlas in particular doesn't help either when they split up a shipment, for instance the Trainman flatcars about 2/3rds showed up way back in the spring and I sold all of the ones I got then at shows. The rest didn't turn up until June. Any time they split a group like that, the second half doesn't seem to move as well, they've become "old hat" at that point and it doesn't matter that these are actually different roads or numbers than the first half. There's just no better alternative at this point, short of setting up "shop" in the storage unit and selling by appointment. It sure is eBay. I have a customer at work who sells non RR stuff on eBay and she and a lot of folks she knows who all sell on eBay have not done well at all this year, mainly due to the eBay changes. Amazon is better for them now. There are the other factors of course but eBay is definitely the root cause. |
|
|
|
Post by Baikal on Jul 17, 2022 8:39:09 GMT -8
I'm seeing more & more listings where the "shipping" fees are nearly as much as the model. A large USPS Priority box is now $21.50.
Only the total out-of-pocket cost matters. How the seller decides to split the price between product & shipping is irrelevant.
|
|
|
|
Post by crblue on Jul 17, 2022 10:10:46 GMT -8
Only the total out-of-pocket cost matters. How the seller decides to split the price between product & shipping is irrelevant.
im noticing that I’m buying more and more from modeltrainstuff since they give me free shipping on orders over $100, where as train world charges more for shipping the more you spend. |
|
|
|
Post by riogrande on Jul 17, 2022 11:58:29 GMT -8
Only the total out-of-pocket cost matters. How the seller decides to split the price between product & shipping is irrelevant.
im noticing that I’m buying more and more from modeltrainstuff since they give me free shipping on orders over $100, where as train world charges more for shipping the more you spend. Same here. Rewards club. |
|
|
|
Post by el3625 on Jul 17, 2022 13:28:42 GMT -8
I buy about 95% of my train stuff from MBK and the other all over the place. I really like the rewards program and free shipping, works for me! I quit selling on Ebay and have not bought hardly anything on Ebay also. I keep getting emails from Ebay that I lost my "status", who cares, you are not getting my money anymore. How many times do have to pay tax on something, TOO MANY TIMES? Ebay is actually driving people away with too many fees. I very rarely make any money on items; I break even or lose money and then they want you to pay tax on your money! PHOOEY!!!!!!!!!!! Good by Ebay!
Bruce
|
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on Jul 21, 2022 19:59:14 GMT -8
I had a horrible PayPal experience fifteen years ago when my account was hacked. I finally got things resolved, but it took a lot of my time, and the money was not put back in my account immediately, like it would in a bank account. Since then, I refuse to use PayPal. As the years have passed, I have found both PayPal and eBay increasingly difficult to deal with and I avoid using either one. eBay threw out PayPal as the payment handling service like three or four years ago now and you can just pay with a normal credit or debit card through eBay. |
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on Jul 21, 2022 20:16:03 GMT -8
I buy about 95% of my train stuff from MBK and the other all over the place. I really like the rewards program and free shipping, works for me! I quit selling on Ebay and have not bought hardly anything on Ebay also. I keep getting emails from Ebay that I lost my "status", who cares, you are not getting my money anymore. How many times do have to pay tax on something, TOO MANY TIMES? Ebay is actually driving people away with too many fees. I very rarely make any money on items; I break even or lose money and then they want you to pay tax on your money! PHOOEY!!!!!!!!!!! Good by Ebay! Bruce You pay tax once as a buyer, sales tax, thank the Supreme Court for that when they decided that businesses like eBay should collect it for every state that requires they do so. I as seller never even see that money but I do pay a fee for their collecting it. But that would be the same if I processed your payment myself, the fees you pay are on the total transaction amount. You're going to pay those sales taxes virtually anywhere you buy things now, unless you go to a state which has none and pay in person. Starting this year with eBay, as a seller you'd get 1099'ed for sales over $600, but you were supposed to pay income tax on that money anyways. In theory there's ways to deduct from your liability such to minimize any payment due. (can thank current administration for that change) I mean I do occasionally buy on eBay and I see posts like this and have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. If you live in a state which has sales tax and requires it be collected for online sales, you will pay it at any large online retailer, be it Amazon, eBay or I would imagine even MBK. If you're losing money on the items you list, you priced them too cheaply or you paid too much for them. The fee is a pretty straight up 12.5% plus 30 cents per transaction process charge. I'll throw an example out there, the Rapido Chevy Caprice models. With the short discount and an additonal 5% fee they tacked on because of higher costs, subtract the eBay fee, when I sell one there I make about three bucks. But I posted them there because they showed up after train show season was over. I didn't want to sit on them all summer. I have also taken them to car shows, and sold a couple there. Better for me, I make a whole six bucks. I don't know how an MBK can give free shipping on something like that. They're going to cost like four bucks first class plus whatever the boxes cost since plain little brown boxes don't grow on trees for free. More if you're far away from them. I mean I guess it's okay if they sell 1000 and profit a quarter on each one, but it's not worth my time to do that. I'm sure they get some kind of discount from the USPS too but I doubt it's more than a dollar. All it takes is a couple lost in shipment to wipe out a big chunk of profit. I don't think I have ever used a large flat rate USPS box. I don't believe I have ever sold something which would fit in one and be cheaper to use that box for. Medium a few times yes. Small, fairly regularly. Clearly it's not a discretionary income issue if out of 10 cab forwards listed, eight sell for more than mine. Including one noted not running. Mine did finally sell after I pointed out how many had sold for more. Should have been delivered Thursday this week. |
|
|
|
Post by riogrande on Jul 22, 2022 3:11:56 GMT -8
eBay threw out PayPal as the payment handling service like three or four years ago now and you can just pay with a normal credit or debit card through eBay. I just paid for some items via PayPal purchased on Ebay and it worked just fine. |
|
|
|
Post by rockisland652 on Jul 26, 2022 10:21:40 GMT -8
The IRS is choking on paperwork. Solution? More paperwork. This is yet another example of the out of control Federal bureaucracy spending dollars chasing pennies.
As a hobbyist selling off his surplus, you should not have to report this income, as it will cost the bureaucrats more to process it than will be netted in the process. Economics be damned, right? This is government at its finest. More work, more cost, less revenue. Brilliant. Even better when folks either stop selling entirely, go 100% cash only and sell items for less than they paid for it: that's zero Revenue for the Internal Service.
Even worse for the hobbyist if you hire a 'professional' to help navigate these intentionally complicated waters. These guys are not volunteering their time and they don't work cheap.
The Leviathan has other insane ideas. They need their wings clipped. And soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by el3625 on Jul 27, 2022 8:52:21 GMT -8
As far as the dollar limit is now a gross of $600.00 before you get 1099nd for that year, is that the price you were asking for it, the payout you got or what is the actual number they are using to get the amount that you are selling? I only sell in the "buy it now" format and always offer free shipping as well. I am all confused on the actual number because I do not want to go over the $600.00 limit. I have more to sell but will not put it on Ebay until January 1st, 2023. I can wait till next year; I just do not need the hassle of more paperwork at tax time for that minimal amount it would be. For all I have sold this is a big pile of hoey to screw the seller that just wants to sell off excess and stuff they do not want anymore. I tried to find out on Ebay but I cannot get a good answer. They want you to contact the IRS and tell them how you feel about this low number, let them do it, they are the ones not making any more money. I am not in a need of sorts to sell what I have now, I can wait for the fall train shows and next year for more Ebay sales. I just need a clarification on how they get you to the number of $600.00.
Bruce
|
|
|
|
Post by rockisland652 on Jul 28, 2022 12:36:04 GMT -8
As far as the dollar limit is now a gross of $600.00 before you get 1099nd for that year, is that the price you were asking for it, the payout you got or what is the actual number they are using to get the amount that you are selling? I only sell in the "buy it now" format and always offer free shipping as well. I am all confused on the actual number because I do not want to go over the $600.00 limit. I have more to sell but will not put it on Ebay until January 1st, 2023. I can wait till next year; I just do not need the hassle of more paperwork at tax time for that minimal amount it would be. For all I have sold this is a big pile of hoey to screw the seller that just wants to sell off excess and stuff they do not want anymore. I tried to find out on Ebay but I cannot get a good answer. They want you to contact the IRS and tell them how you feel about this low number, let them do it, they are the ones not making any more money. I am not in a need of sorts to sell what I have now, I can wait for the fall train shows and next year for more Ebay sales. I just need a clarification on how they get you to the number of $600.00. Bruce $600 is attained via gross proceeds. You need to account for the shipping and original cost of the items sold. This is a boon to the CPAs and tax attorneys. The IRS can't handle what it gets now, so this will only aggravate their lag. |
|
|
|
Post by lvrr325 on Aug 22, 2022 12:47:14 GMT -8
It's going to be $600 every year from now on, not just 2022.
If you stop on eBay for a long period of time, they will restrict your ability to sell and treat you like a new seller.
eBay didn't want this, it was something decided by the current administration.
87,000 new IRS agents to handle the load here.
If you paid cash for your items at a show you'll never be able to prove what you paid for the item, either.
|
|
|
|
Post by valenciajim on Aug 24, 2022 20:02:09 GMT -8
It's going to be $600 every year from now on, not just 2022. If you stop on eBay for a long period of time, they will restrict your ability to sell and treat you like a new seller. eBay didn't want this, it was something decided by the current administration. 87,000 new IRS agents to handle the load here. If you paid cash for your items at a show you'll never be able to prove what you paid for the item, either. There is a considerable amount of misinformation in this post. First, the current administration did NOT decide to impose the new form 1099 reporting requirement. That requirement is part of the Internal Revenue Code. Only congress can modify the Code. Second, the 87,000 agents is political mythology. The following is reasonably accurate assessment of the situation from Time Magazine: According to a Treasury Department official, the funds would cover a wide range of positions including IT technicians and taxpayer services support staff, as well as experienced auditors who would be largely tasked with cracking down on corporate and high-income tax evaders. “It is wholly inaccurate to describe any of these resources as being about increasing audit scrutiny of the middle class or small businesses,” Natasha Sarin, a counselor for tax policy and implementation at the Treasury Department, tells TIME. At the same time, more than half of the agency’s current employees are eligible for retirement and are expected to leave the agency within the next five years. “There’s a big wave of attrition that’s coming and a lot of these resources are just about filling those positions,” says Sarin, an economist who has studied tax avoidance extensively and who was tapped by the Biden administration to beef up the IRS’s auditing power. In all, the IRS might net roughly 20,000 to 30,000 more employees from the new funding, enough to restore the tax-collecting agency’s staff to where it was roughly a decade ago. The IRS currently has roughly 78,000 employees. According to John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner from 2013 to 2017, that’s down from around 100,000 when he first started. You can read the remainder of the article here: time.com/6204928/irs-87000-agents-factcheck-biden/I have been a tax practitioner for 49 years and it is very disturbing for me to see the politicization of tax provisions, tax policy and the IRS. I have prepared tax returns for billionaires who pay less tax than first year associates working for my former firm. I have seen S&P 500 companies pay no taxes, take aggressive tax positions and never be audited. If you read the financial statements of the S&P 500 companies, you will note that the statute of limitations expires on about $500 billion of avoided taxes each year. The IRS either lacks the resources to audit them or lacks the resources to identify the aggressive tax positions. Based on my conversations with senior IRS officials I know, they all tell me that the examination resources will be devoted to examining the tax returns of large corporations, hedge funds and mega wealthy individuals who pay no tax. I deal with the IRS every working day and I am not afraid that I or any of my clients will have a greater chance of being audited. In fact, the chances are likely to decrease because the IRS is using audit selection criteria that are over 50 years old. Public accounting firms that do audit work use risk-based auditing which uses data to target large dollar taxpayers who are most likely cheating. They will raise a lot more money going after large corporations rather than you and me. I don't mean to be political; I merely want to provide the prospective of a senior tax professional who has seen a lot over the last half century. If you pay cash for an item at a show, ask for a receipt. I have done that successfully in the past. Now, that I have that off my chest, I need to get back to completing that resin model of an Allis Chalmers well car. |
|
