Anyone have a good reference for an accountant who has experience with e-commerce (mainly eBay) and has done your businesses’ tax returns /strategy when dealing with resale Pokémon. DMs are welcome
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Dang, good question. I’m a CPA, but new to getting back into Pokemon and I don’t practice tax. So I’m not confident in my answers. So don’t take them for tax advice, just informational. That being said, for non-business I believe most collectables are taxed at 28% capital gains if held for longer than a year. Not sure what strategies there are to get around this tax other than trading or selling before a year. If you are doing it under a business as a dealer I believe its treated as normal operating income, but there are stipulations to qualifying.
Short version: get a good tax accountant.
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28% is the maximum (Federal only . . . state tax may also apply). If your AGI with capital gains from collectible sales still lands you in a lower tax-bracket, then you will pay that tax, not the full 28%. It depends on how much you make from all your revenue streams together. Also, you subtract the purchase price, selling fees, and shipping expenses (basis) from the sold price when determining your capital gains, so you only pay tax on the profit, not the entire sale.
I’m not a tax expert, but I did consult with one recently and that’s my understanding.
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@butchdawg32, yeah you may be right about the AGI impact. Collectables are tricky and its been a minute since I’ve done that schedule D worksheet. When I hear “tax strategy” I normally assume high bracket 
. So many rules…taxes are one of the reasons I left accounting and when into data science lol.
@alovell, let us know when you find out!
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I’m not an accountant but have a strong business background (I taught full time at a top business school for many years). I’ve mentioned in other threads some of the nuances between selling cards as a long-term capital gain and selling cards as a business. If you have a normal job with decent income and benefits capital gains may be best. If you are have little reportable income other than card sales then the business angle offers many advantages so long as you qualify. The difference has a lot to do with how detailed your records are, and whether you can take advantage of the numerous potential deductions available to a business but not relevant to a collector selling an appreciated asset.
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