The PayPal loophole is going away in a little over six months from now.
In Practice
You used to be able to avoid giving 1099s to contractors and vendors when you use PayPal or a similar service as your payment platform. This pushed the reporting requirements to PayPal. Current federal law requires that PayPal file Form 1099-K with the IRS and send it to you when
• your gross earnings are more than $20,000, and
• you have more than 200 transactions.
Example
You work as a consultant. Your clients pay you $30,000 via PayPal. PayPal does not give you a 1099-K because this fails the more than 200 transactions in a calendar year test.
According to lawmakers, this created a situation where those people who use PayPal have an easy ability to cheat (i.e., not report the income on their tax returns).
Tax Law in 2022
Starting January 1, 2022, the American Rescue Plan Act kills the two-step “more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions” threshold for third-party settlement organization (TPSO) filing of 1099-K and replaces it with the single “$600 or more” reporting threshold.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this change in the 1099 rules will gain more than $8 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years.
Several states have already closed this reporting loophole on the state level:
• Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Vermont, and Virginia require a 1099-K to be filed with the state tax agency if a TPSO pays a state resident $600 or more during the year.
• Illinois and New Jersey have a $1,000 1099-K threshold (plus, for Illinois, a requirement of at least four transactions).
• Arkansas has a $2,500 threshold.
• Missouri has a $1,200 threshold.
In conclusion, we recommend to report all income you receive (whether reported to you via tax form or not).
Takeaways
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me by scheduling a call, or by emailing at [email protected].
We specialize in helping clients clarify their taxes so they keep more of their money. Many small business owners who come to see us in Fort Worth, TX generally do not understand the tax law enough to explain it to a fifth grader.
Tatsiana B. Bender
Bender CPA, PLLC
Fort Worth, TX 76107
[email protected]
Phone: (817) 313-4352
Bender-CPA.com
