SR and Taxes question...

[fourfoxesinpa]

By no means is my name H.R. Block, Jackson or Hewitt, but I would think any earnings are taxable in the year they are earned. It would be like interest or dividends. You may not withdraw them from the bank until another calendar year, but they are taxed the year they are given to you. That's how I'd view them.

[jnorth1007]

I seem to remember it being said at some point that the free money is taxable but the shopping and paid offers are not. I think this is why we don't get any papers from SR because I believe we have to earn $600 in actual FREE money in order for them to have to send the forms. I don't know for sure and I am just going on a conversation I remember seeing either here or on another board about this. Like I said though it would probably be best just to claim the whole amount on your taxes to be safe and I bet that for most people it isn't going to make a huge difference between what you are paying/getting back. Just kind of a KYA thing.

[sammielynn]

Then what would be considered "free money".

[jnorth1007]

anything you don't pay anything to get the money. So paid offers and shopping are NOT free money because they would be considered rebates. Surveys and freebie offers and clicks would be free money. Like I said before I am NOWHERE near a tax expert so I wouldn't take my advice about what is or isnt free money.

[mmm611]

By no means is my name H.R. Block, Jackson or Hewitt, but I would think any earnings are taxable in the year they are earned. It would be like interest or dividends. You may not withdraw them from the bank until another calendar year, but they are taxed the year they are given to you. That's how I'd view them.

OK, I remember an example from one of my tax books that was very similar. There was a young couple and the guy's dad was going to claim them as dependents. The situation had him asking the IRS in December if his son hypothetically sold some stock that would result in a gain that would make him and the wife ineligible to be claimed as dependents because they made too much money. The book response was that as long as the son did not take a distribution, it wasn't taxable and he wouldn't jeopardize the dependency exemptions. As long as the son waited till January to sell and received the proceeds then, he and the wife would have no taxable income.

Based on that (if you followed any of what I just wrote!), I think it's taxable when you actually cash out for the money.

[luvdisney00]

Does it make a difference if you cash out for cash (paypal) or if you cash out for gift cards from merchants? It seems weird to pay tax on $ that is earned in cards from merchants. I was under $600 anyway, but I was curious about this.

[m 'n c]

Does it make a difference if you cash out for cash (paypal) or if you cash out for gift cards from merchants? It seems weird to pay tax on $ that is earned in cards from merchants. I was under $600 anyway, but I was curious about this.

While I am a CPA I do not do taxes at all so here goes my knowledge of the subject.

Any income earned from any sources must be claimed as taxes. It does not matter the $$ amount nor the form of payment. If it is income it is taxable. So in your case you should technically claim all monies that you received from SR in either paypal or gift cards. Now the split between "rebate" and "free money" I do not know about so I will defer that portion of your question.