Easy Auctions Tracker is the Ultimate Excel spreadsheet solution for eBay sellers and Trading Assistants. This spreadsheet doesn’t calculate your fees, it actually COLLECTS your transaction information from your eBay account for you!

Easy Auctions Tracker is fully automated and has been Tested & Certified by eBay as a compatible application. By using this spreadsheet, you will be able to quickly collect and record your transactions (sold items and unsold items) without the need to manually enter the information.

With the simple click of a button, Easy Auctions Tracker is able to collect all the information for a entire month’s worth of sales from eBay’s servers for you. No need to know the item numbers of the sold items, just select the month & year then click the “Get All Items” button.

As an accountant and tax professional who works with eBay sellers, I can say that this spreadsheet will make your bookkeeping and thus your tax preparer’s job much easier! Which will mean less time and lower fees for you.

I was excited to find this worksheet and recommend it for eBay sellers who want to track their sales and associated fees in a spreadsheet, but don’t want to spend hours entering the information manually.

You can check out the worksheet at EasyAuctionsTracker.com.

Related Posts:

• Tax and Accounting Solutions for eBay Sellers
• Bookkeeping for eBay Sellers

What should you claim if you want to reduce your refund, and what should you claim if you want to reduce the amount you owe at tax time?

Basically, the fewer exemptions you claim, the more taxes are withheld from your paycheck, and vice versa.

So if you need to increase the amount of taxes that are withheld, then you claim fewer exemptions; if you need to reduce the amount of taxes that are withheld, then you increase the number of exemptions you claim.

To change your withholding, you should complete and submit Form W-4 to your employer’s human resource or payroll department.

It’s also important to note that the number of exemptions that you claim on your W-4 may not (and doesn’t have to) be the same as the number of exemptions you claim on your tax return.  So, for example, on your tax return, if you are married and have two kids, your total exemptions claimed will be four (one for you, one for your spouse, and one for each child).  However, your exemptions on your W-4 may not be four.  The reason is that the exemptions on your W-4 are adjusted for things like higher itemized deductions, additional income (from business, investment or rental properties) and other factors.

The IRS has a withholding calculator you can use to determine the correct amount of exemptions to claim on your W-4 at www.irs.gov.

Related Posts:

• Standard Deduction and Personal Exemptions Increased For 2009
• Free Teleseminar - Your Top Tax Questions Answered!
• Tax Carnival #39 is Up!

Suzanne is participating in the Good Karma Experiment on Facebook, and is hoping her guide can help people who have lost their jobs, taken paycuts, or who are otherwise struggling financially learn how to make extra money selling on eBay.

Suzanne is a power eBay seller, consultant and author.  You can find more tips about selling on eBay at her blog, eBay Selling Coach.

Related Posts:

• The eBay Selling Coach is Grilling Me on Taxes
• Free Teleseminar - Your Top Tax Questions Answered!
• List of Tax Deductions for Online Biz Owners

Just to be clear, employees get Form W-2, independent contractors get Form 1099-MISC reporting their income.

Since most of the people visiting this blog are more likely to have independent contractors than employees, we will focus on the Form 1099-MISC for the rest of this post.

Do you need to prepare Form 1099 for anyone in your business?

Basically, you must prepare a 1099 if you paid $600 or more to an individual to perform services for you.  Some examples would be web designers, eBay assistants, virtual assistants, affiliates, accountants, etc.

You should get the name, address and social security number (or Federal EIN) from any person you expect to send a 1099 for.

You need to send copies of the 1099 to the recipient, the IRS and the state tax department.

While you can buy the forms and prepare them manually, I prefer to use an online service called www.FileTaxes.com.

For more help, please read:

Should I File a W-2 or Form 1099?
Instructions for Form 1099-MISC

Related Posts:

• Reporting 1099 Income
• Final Tax Estimate for 2008 Approaching Quickly
• Recovery Rebate Credit for 2008

The bill includes over $340 Billion in tax cuts for families and businesses, with a special focus on creating jobs and helping unemployed Americans keep their health care coverage and find new jobs.  States who are struggling will also be helped by this bill.

Also included in the bill is a much-needed AMT patch, which should protect people from the alternative minimum tax this year.

This bill has not passed yet… the House and Senate each have their own version and will need to hammer out their differences before it can be made into law.

You can read more about the bill here.

Related Posts:

• More About Obama’s Proposed ‘Paycheck Bonus’
• Obama’s Proposed Tax Cuts Total $300 Billion
• AMT Patch May Delay Filing for Some Taxpayers

Here are a few articles you’ll find in this week’s tax carnival:

Pragmaticsage has some advice in Choosing a tax preparer: Do you need a CPA?

Robert D Flach, THE WANDERING TAX PRO of the Web, tells us WHAT NOT TO DO! when searching for a tax pro.

David Weliver says the Retirement Saver’s Tax Credit is a Great Benefit for Low Income Taxpayers, posted at Money Under 30.

FMF from at Free Money Finance lays out The 11 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions.

And finally, our own submission… Kristine McKinley looks at some specific “other” earnings in Are Prizes and Awards Taxable? It’s posted at Ebiz Tax Tips.

Thanks to Kay at Don’t Mess With Taxes for another great tax carnival!

Related Posts:

• Savers Credit Helps Low to Middle Income Taxpayers Save for Retirement
• More About Obama’s Proposed ‘Paycheck Bonus’
• Obama’s Proposed Tax Cuts Total $300 Billion

The notice provides that the new February due date established under a recent law change to provide Form 1099-B information to customers also applies to other tax information customarily reported to customers with Form 1099-B statements, such as interest and dividends.  This means that customers can expect to receive Forms 1099-INT and 1099-DIV late as well.

If you normally receive Forms 1099-INT, 1099-DIV and 1099-B for investment income and transactions, be aware that these forms will arrive later than usual this year.  Some clients have reported that they have received letters from financial institutions saying not to expect these forms until the end of February (although the official due date is February 17).

As a tax preparer, I’m not particularly happy about this change, but on the bright side, I’m hoping the extended deadline will cut down on the number of corrected 1099s issued this tax season.

Related Posts:

• W-2s and 1099s Due Monday!
• Reporting 1099 Income
• Where to Find 1099 MISC Forms

More Posts:

• Tax Rebates Are On The Way!
• Get Your EIN Online - Free
• Q&A: Do I Need to Collect Sales Tax?

Image via CrunchBase

I will be on the eBay Selling Coach’s internet radio show on Friday, January 16 to talk about taxes for eBay sellers. The show airs at 1:00 PM, Eastern Time.

Click here for details on how to listen or call in with your questions. The show will be recorded as a podcast, so if you miss it, you can listen as soon as the podcast is uploaded.

*** If you missed the live call, you can listen to the recording here. ***

Related Posts:

• PayPal and Ebay Must Report to the IRS
• List of Tax Deductions for Online Biz Owners
• The IRS and eBay: Tax Season Is Here

This estimate goes towards your 2008 tax liability so it reduces the amount you will owe on your 2008 tax return when you file.

To avoid the penalty for not paying enough estimated tax, you need to pay in at least 90% of your 2008 tax liability or 100% of your 2007 tax liability, whichever is less.

Alternatively, you can choose to file and pay your 2008 taxes by January 31, 2009 to avoid any underpayment penalties.

Use Form 1040-ES to submit your estimated tax payment.

For a refresher on estimated tax payments, see ‘Do I Need to Make Estimated Tax Payments?’

Related Posts:

• Savers Credit Helps Low to Middle Income Taxpayers Save for Retirement
• W-2s and 1099s Due Monday!
• Recovery Rebate Credit for 2008