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Stay Away From EIN
 

Hey guys,
Do you all suggest I stay away from the EIN or go ahead and get one. If I get one the IRS will most definitely pry. If I don't I can report the income with my other accounts. I don't want to lose these accounts. Whats your suggestions?

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

If you can deal with the extra paper work and desire an ebay/paypal account that can be practically legitimate and can go much further than a stealth in sales, I'd say it's absolutely worth.

I have three EIN accounts and a dozen active stealth accounts, which for me is a much more preferable and quality-of-life increase when compared to having 50+ stealth accounts to maintain.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'IRS will most definitely pry'... but as long as you file your taxes and have an accountant on speed dial you'll be fine.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

I have 2 EIN's with 2 of my highest selling limit accounts. All of my regular 10/$1,000 don't but I would suggest you get the EIN for your higher selling limit accounts.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

At what limits do you think it makes sense to add an EIN to an account?

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

To be honest I would figure how much you can sell on an account, the 2 accounts I have my EIN's are 100/$5,000 accounts and I do sell well over the $20k/200 item on those accounts. Also you might want to consult your tax professional.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to meet with a tax professional at some point in the near future because I take off with stealth too much.

Huge learning curve compared to just selling on one account and paying personal taxes.

Still trying to judge how high it's possible for limits to go on a stealth account, since I would need 200 accounts at 10/$1000 to get back to what I was doing before lol.

So the LLC/EIN method is going to have to come into play somehow. Was hoping maybe 5 accounts at $40k apiece type of thing someday.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

Ebay Stealth Account limits do go up naturally but one never knows when or how much they will go up.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

Last question since I feel like I'm thread hijacking:

Say that I sell on an account and consistently stay around the $1,000 mark (to stay under the $20k/200 request) even after the limits raise. Can the limits still go up on their own after that, or will they pause since I'm not selling to the current limits?

I'm still learning about the whole tax process (read LLCs for Dummies, but still feel like I'm in the dummy demographic), but I'm not sure I'd want to use an EIN at $5000 and have it get stuck there.

So many variables.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

If you have a good account and it looks like smooth sailing ahead, I would add an EIN when asked. There is no sense on giving up a good account if you don't have to, unless your goal is to not pay taxes on your profits.

I have always paid what I owe (I'm too chicken to try to cheat the IRS) so it was a no-brainer for me.

YES, there is some extra paperwork and forms that must be filed if you are going to be using corporations or LLC's for your business. If you are not comfortable filing them yourself, you can hire a tax professional to do it for you. It does NOT have to cost a fortune! As long as you keep good records and don't just dump a box of papers and receipts on the professional's desk, the cost is usually minimal.

The tax pro has another advantage - they can find legal tax deductions for you that you may not be aware of.

In my experience, as long as you are being honest, you don't have to be terrified of the IRS. I have been audited and the guy told me that 99% of what they find are honest mistakes which can be quickly cleared up. I was VERY nervous for two weeks before the audit, but the actual audit itself was nothing. I ended up writing them a check for some trivial amount - I'm sure the check didn't even cover the auditor's time and gas.

I had also thought they might be very nosey about what I was doing, how I was doing it, what I was selling, etc. But they could have cared less. As long as the numbers match up and you have some sort of receipts or credit card statements to prove your expenses, that is really all they care about.

The bottom line is, pay the professional. It probably costs a lot less than you think and that way, you make sure that everything is filed correctly.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

Very imformative post. Something i need to jump on this year as sales are getting higher now. How did you put it to your accountant though?
Im thinking of just stating i run a small business online/website to my accountant but how much detail to you go into as i dont want him thinking something funny is going on with various bank accounts?
I am going to open a business account with my bank but that will only show 20% of my income. I would like to do it legit as possible for peice of mind but without going into too much detail :confused:

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

So you have (3) different EIN numbers?? Is this possible?

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

You can have on EIN as an individual. Any other EIN's you register for you have to register as some form of corporation.

I would still advise talking to a tax professional. Also if you go on the IRS.gov website it is pretty easy to navigate and you can find out most the info regarding EIN's.

Re: Stay Away From EIN
 

How long have you had your business before the audit? From what i read only a very small percentage of people get audited and usually they are big corps.