Q: Any tips on how to make online business tax reporting easier? What forms do online sellers need to file, what should we have handy and what write-offs can we use?  A: Let’s start with the basics. While you certainly should check with a certified tax professional in your state about your specific tax situation, most online sellers are considered sole proprietors, or LLCs if they have registered as an LLC. Read More

A change in U.S. social security tax law that decreased Americans’ take-home pay is affecting how much people buy. That’s according to a recent survey by researcher BIGinsight. It finds that 73.3 percent of shoppers say their smaller paychecks are influencing their spending habits. Read More

You may find that when your online business reaches a certain size, you can’t handle all the aspects of your operation—shipping, creating listings, packing, sourcing, etc.—on your own. You need help, so you decide to hire an assistant. You get the word out that you’re looking for help, you meet with applicants and you hire the right person. Read More

I recently co-wrote my first book, Introduction to Tax Laws for Amazon Sellers. While this may not make me a tax “expert,” it does mean that I field tons of questions every day about tax laws and tax write-offs, and how they pertain to people’s businesses. Read More

Sellers in the U.K. who sold regularly on online marketplaces and did not report the income these sales generated to the government have one more week to report their earnings to get “preferential treatment.” HM Revenue & Customs reminds sellers of this on its site, noting that merchants who report previously undisclosed income before June 14 will be able to pay lower tax penalties than those who don’t come forward by the deadline. Read More

Technically, tax season is over. If you are like many online sellers, you just want to forget the month of April, completely. It was tough enough to pull together all of your records and get everything together for taxes. Many online sellers don’t worry about taxes at all until March or April, and then spend hours—if not days—pulling together records and receipts for tax time. Read More

If you are like most online sellers, you have a spreadsheet that you update weekly—or maybe even daily—to track and manage your business finances. You probably have heard of all of these fancy schmancy cloud-based technologies that you can use to replace your spreadsheet, but you may be unsure why you should use them. Read More

Bookkeeping—yuck! Why should you even consider reading an article about bookkeeping? I’ll tell you why: Because ignoring your bookkeeping is the No. 1 mistake you can make to harm your business. At Outright, we see that most online sellers associate bookkeeping with preparing for taxes. Read More

A federal court has thrown out a Colorado law that would require out-of-state online retailers to collect state sales taxes, sometimes called the “Amazon Tax.” The law was passed in 2010 in a package of bills that was intended to help balance the state budget. Read More

In response to Making Tax Prep for Online Sellers Easier: I inherited from my mother-in-law all the unsold inventory in the little retail doll store she had, plus her personal collection. She died in 2011. The law states that there is no limit on the amount you can inherit from someone during that year. Read More