financial privacy
  • The IRS Is Coming for Your Venmo Income

    Small-business owners, prepare yourselves for the era of the 1099-K. That’s the tax form for disclosing transactions with services such as PayPal, Venmo, and Airbnb. Until this year, anyone with less than $20,000 in total payments typically didn’t get a 1099-K—and thus, in theory, could avoid paying taxes on money earned on such platforms. But since Jan. 1 those companies have been required to report gross payments of more than $600 directly to the Internal Revenue Service. That means small-business owners—as well as people who periodically empty their closets on EBay—will receive a 1099-K from any service provider where their income exceeds that amount.