If you sell an item that was owned for personal use, such as a car, refrigerator, furniture, stereo, jewelry, or silverware, for a gain it is taxable as a capital gain. A loss is NOT deductible.
(NOTE from me: most of this stuff is sold for less than the owner paid for it, so no taxable income OR deduction ... KEEP GOOD records of what you sold and where you got it)
Gain from the sale of an item that was held for investment, such as gold or silver bullion, coins, or gems, is taxable as a capital gain and a loss IS deductible as a capital loss.
(note from me: You will have a VERY hard time convincing the IRS that the Beanie Baby you sold for a $500 los was an "investment"
posted on December 27, 2000 10:46:50 AM new
Thank you!
I haven't ran across that statement, but that would mean as long as I keep my books for my personal record collection seperate from my other sales, I would not have to claim income on it. I can assure you I never get what I paid for them, and of course, I bought them for personal use without ever intending to sell them.
posted on December 27, 2000 05:28:59 PM new
abacaxi, this is a VERY helpful post to me. What I need to know, though, is whether I have to list sales of personal, never-intended-to-sell-it-when-I-first-bought-it, didn't-keep-the-receipt items that were sold for less than I paid for them on my taxes at all. If so, where the heck do I put that information on the tax form?
for instance, I sold a number of my older art textbooks for 20 and 25 dollars....most of which I paid 40-80 dollars for, 5 years ago. Can I just not list the 20 dollars on my taxes, since in reality there was not a profit? I don't care about deducting, I just don't want to have to pay MORE.
posted on December 27, 2000 05:40:43 PM new
Brighid ...
There is no spot on the IRS forms that I could find, but if you sold them on a public venue like eBay, make sure you kept track of what was personal and what was resale.
If you actually make a profit, it goes under Miscellaneous Income
posted on December 27, 2000 05:51:17 PM newWhat I need to know, though, is whether I have to list sales of personal, never-intended-to-sell-it-when-I-first-bought-it, didn't-keep-the-receipt items that were sold for less than I paid for them on my taxes at all.
You do not.
It is not a taxable event to sell personal property for less than what you paid for it, and you need not keep records of such events for the IRS.
Very secondarily, it probably is a taxable event from your state's sales tax perspective, but such laws are difficult to enforce and seldom are.
