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Reviews and IRS

This past year, for the first time, I did several reviews. I am uncertain if I should consider these as Barter and therefore, be subject to taxation under the IRS rules. How do the rest of you handle this? As a Christian, I want to do the right thing.
Thanks for any input.

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Permalink Reply by Phred St Laurent on March 11, 2016 at 3:57pm

Talk to your lawyer and or/ your CPA or tax professional

Nora and I receive a lot of books, most unsolicited

We have started three church Libraries and have receipts from nonprofits that certainly add up to more than we received.

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Permalink Reply by Connie Saunders on March 11, 2016 at 4:25pm

Thank you Fred. I have listed these books and shown their Amazon costs. I will certainly ask my tax preparers advice.

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Permalink Reply by Phred St Laurent on March 11, 2016 at 4:30pm

AND unless you want to use them as insulation, you can donate them to a 501c3 for a tax deduction

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Permalink Reply by Helen on April 13, 2016 at 11:03pm

A couple questions: Did you receive a 1099 or any other tax documentation from the person/company you got the books from. If so, you need to report this on your taxes. I am a tax preparer and have never run into this situation. If you donate the books to church libraries, you can ask the church secretary for written documentation. Then it can be taken on your taxes as an itemized deductions and some states allow a subtraction to the taxable income if you have more than $500 in charitable contributions. Since I have never seen this, I do not know if you could consider this a business and take the donations as a business expense.

This is a very good and interesting question. When I have training for the next tax season I will try to remember to ask questions.

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Permalink Reply by Connie Saunders on April 28, 2016 at 10:05pm

Thank you Helen for your reply. I gave my tax preparer the info but she didn't feel it was necessary to list as barter. No, I didn't receive any 1099s and I didn't ask for receipts either. If you find an answer in future training, I would appreciate knowing.

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Permalink Reply by Lee Carver on October 15, 2017 at 10:02pm

Connie, we readers and authors do this constantly, and I've never heard of anyone accounting for the review of a book as a barter. In fact, Amazon specifies that the author cannot insist on a review for the gift of the book or for money. The author GIVES the book and hopes the reader will review it and post reviews. I think that settles the question. I'm glad to welcome you as a friend.