If we are required to report online earnings, what about donating to charity through these sites?
By PrettiMamita
@PrettiMamita (207)
United States
May 14, 2013 9:56pm CST
So I've been trying to research earning money online and taxes. Now I have heard no matter what you do if you earn over $600 a year you have to report but then some say this is just each individual site. I've never made near this amount in all my sites combined though although this year I may if I combined them all although most I'm choosing gift cards to spend online anyways to buy gifts for others.
However something I've been trying to figure out is if we have to report these sites if we make over $600 what about when we choose to donate to charity? For example on Swagbucks you can choose to donate to charity. Also with the Endorse app, once you get like 50 points, you can donate $5 to charity as well. And before Crowdtap changed over, you could choose to donate to charity. It would make sense to me that we should be able to report these as well because just like we had to earn points(or maybe straight up cash) to receive whatever reward we were aiming for, usually we are doing the same stuff to donate to charities.
If anyone knows I would love to know the answer. I've tried looking on google but it's mostly talking about reporting your earnings if they are over $600.
2 responses
@FrugalMommy (1438)
• United States
15 May 13
The actual IRS requirements are that you have to report all of your income. If you made only $5 from a site, you'd still have to report it. The $600 threshold is just the point at which a site has to send a 1099 form to both you and the IRS.
Technically speaking when it comes to charitable donations the money doesn't pass through your hands. Although you've earned it, it was never paid directly to you. It's an interesting gray area, and I'd probably ask a licensed tax preparer about it.
1 person likes this
@PrettiMamita (207)
• United States
20 May 13
@FrugalMommy Well I probably will ask. My mom does taxes but I don't think she knows anything when it comes to earning online. Plus she's not professional and only does it for a little extra money on the side. And honestly some of the sites that I donate on I'm thinking of stopping since I see no proof it goes to charity. There's only one I know actually does since I received an email that proved it. Thanks though. I just know some people told me that sometimes it's just not worth claiming because you end up paying someone to do your taxes plus what you owe and it's more than what you earned.
@StartFlatBoke (222)
• Portland, Oregon
8 Jun 13
Since charitable donations are deductible anyway, seems to me it's a wash. In my case I make a lot more than $600 and don't mind filing at all, I still get to keep most of it.
