Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just filed my tax return so this question that I've been thinking about for a few months now, is fresh in my mind. How do you go about reporting high dollar snake sales when it comes to taxes? I'm not sure how touchy of a subject this is, since I've never heard it mentioned. I won't go into alot of detailed questions. But I couldn't think of anywhere else to possibly find an answer. I'm hoping and fully planning on this being my first successful breeding year, so I'm just curious. Half of what I'm getting back this year is long spent. Try to guess what on. By the way, the IRS comment was a joke. Should probably point that out. Don't wanna upset them. They're scarier than the FBI. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks everyone.

I've heard of people that run their hobby as an official business and when it comes time for taxes, they report only losses, which is probably true for well over 75% of the breeders out there, especially after all the costs and expenses involved, including utilities. Otherwise, why claim taxes? It draws more unnecessary attention to this hobby PLUS it could cause prices to rise if certain breeders find out that they owe money for some reason at the end of tax season. I guess it depends on what you consider yourself: a hobbyist or a business person/dealer. There are a lot of other types of hobbies, such as baseball cards for instance, and I cannot imagine all the vendors at card shows claim profits for tax reasons. Then there is the underage hobbyists. Would a 15 yr old kid breeding reptiles need to file taxes for the profit made at a show or online? What if that money earned is being saved for college? Should the gov't get a piece of it? I know thats an extreme example but who knows? I have met a few older people currently in college that use their herp profits to reduce the amount of money they need in loans. I think people that are in it for their sole source of income might benefit from filing taxes but if you breed a few animals per year for a little extra income on top of your other career/income source, then why bother with making things more complicated for yourself.
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Sincerely, Jason
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

You should be proud to pay your taxes. We, in this country have more than any other country except Kuwait and a very scant percentage of the population. Paying your stinking taxes should be a matter of patriotic pride. ( how our tax money is mis-spent is what makes us angry about paying them, the IRS failed their last 3 internal audits, they don't even know how much they are taking in...)
If you are fortunate enough to report a significant income from your hobby, you should be planning aherad, and willing to file and pay honestly.
We, in my family, have written off thousands of dollars for the snake projects. The businesses were (until 2005) in my girlfriends name, as she was facilitating them financially, and needs a measure of tax protection. We are anticipating a very small profit this year, and have transferred our side-businesses into my name, because my day job doesn't pay terribly well so I can bear that burden for now. Being unmarried to each other has it's advantages.

See disclaimer below.
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Jeremy J. Anderson
snakepimp.com
gemstatereptiles.com
Of course it's my opinion, I said it, didn't I?
Breeding season is always just around the corner....JOY!!!

Lotsa typos, I was typing fast.
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Jeremy J. Anderson
snakepimp.com
gemstatereptiles.com
Of course it's my opinion, I said it, didn't I?
Breeding season is always just around the corner....JOY!!!

The short answer is, if you are recieving money by selling a product you are obligated to file and list the proceeds as "income". Conversely any costs incurred to maintain your product is a expense. If you don't file and the IRS does find out you can be liable for not only taxes but penalties and interest. Then there is the states percentage. In short you are taking a risk by not filing. Hope all of you who do not report the sale of your snakes as income do not get caught. By advertising on the internet your exposure to being discovered by the feds is greatly amplified. I'm not posting this to be scary, just to inform you.

I think I'll just break even this year but it is the first year I'll report anything on my taxes. Prior to this year I've mainly been just a hobbyist, in 2003 I only made about $400 in all. I have bought and sold casually. In 2004 though, I really have tried to get a small business going. I've made about $400 again but spent around $1000 out of pocket to get things going. I didn't produce anything but expect to next year. This year I will actually get a larger return for having "invested" money into a small business but next year I'll make more and have spent less so I'll pay a litte more in taxes.
Like was said earlier, it depends on how you classify yourself in this hobby. Just remember you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't claim all of your expenses and yet never claim any profit. You will get caught eventually.

Rich
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bigdnutz
1.2 Suriname
1.0 Venezuelan

Dont claim a dime ! If you work 9 to 5 the IRS is taken enough of your hard earned money to support all the freeloaders all over the WORLD !! So basicly take what you make reinvest it in supplys cages and other animals and let the Billion Dollar Ball Python Guys Pay the taxes ! You Pay Taxes On The Money You Purchased Your Animals With , Now You Have To Pay Taxes On The Money You Sell Your Animal For .... How Many Dam Times Do You Have To Pay Taxes ! Pay Taxes On Taxes !

I totally agree. I started with $500 dollars into this hobby and I bought and sold enough times to make money to buy more. So whatever money I make I basically "upgrade" my collection and supplies I need. So not really making money yet.

I agree with you about the double, triple, quadruple taxes as well. Isn't it amazing that I paid over $15k in taxes this year only to get back $1000 when someone who made less than $8000 and has 3 kids and collect government benefits, gets back about $7k? Amazing!!

Don't get me started about the our government misusing our hard earned money. Can you believe $1 billion dollars a week is spent on Iraq and on top of that they are tyring to cut back on just about every program needed to help out police, fire fighters, medicaid for the poor, and various school programs.

On top of that the government mysteriously lost $8 billion dollars that was supposedly used for Iraq. How in the world do you loose $8 billion dollars?

I don't mind paying my taxes but I want to make sure it gets put to good use. Enough about this. Sorry just had to vent my frustration.

Sam

I depends on what you have to be honest. if you are just selling a few animals here and there for 100 - 500 bucks I wouldn't bother but if we are talking about a litter of say 30 albinos then you should probable file if you only took cash but lets say you took a pied ball for 5 or 6 albinos and a jungle for a couple more you didn't real make any money and the IRS won't take shed skins as 10% of a jungle.

I have actually turned my hobby into a business because I was worried about the feds. If you think they are not watching this industry and the millions that are sold online, I would suggest you think about it. Beleive me, I am all for not showing them a dime,but is it really worth it. Who is to say John Doe that bought a $2000 snake from you and paid cash is not an IRS agent. Not to mention all the m/o and paypal sent across the country. I know a lot of people do not pay taxes on profits, but to me the gamble was not worth it. I think if you get a good accountant, and let him understand what you are doing, he will find plenty of legitamate deductions, power bill, space in the house, trips to the shows, long distance bills, internet service, computers, Barry White cd's during breeding season(that may be pushing it). You get the idea, good luck with whatever you decide. Craig

BARRY WHITE CD 'S DURING BREEDING SEASON !!! DUDE THAT WAS HILARIOUS ! I almost fel off the computer chair ..

This is my first year breeding. My male and female have been courting/copulating for about a week now. I am in college and will use it for college money. I asked my father's accountant, and said since i will be making under 9K, no need to even do it! off this topic, got my first bite of the season! feeding my male, who put down to small rats, but before he would get into his feeding enclosure...he gave me a good nip on the arm!
Hunter