Sales Tax, and the bottom line

[mdlbear]

With sales taxes due at the end of the month, and a week of travel impending, it's a Good Thing that I was finally able to get started. I was able to get the data-entry for pre-orders done by starting with my shipping-label address list and editing in the somewhat smaller number of entries from my paper list. Sales to dealers, and non-preorder sales, were easy enough to add up by hand.

I have yet to break down sales by location for sales tax purposes, but that's all I have left to do this weekend. The bottom line is 390 albums out the door, and a gross take for the year of 4665. 80 out of the total were contributor, promotional, and gift copies -- anyone out there know how I treat those for tax purposes? There were a total of 195 pre-orders, meaning that there are 61 signed, numbered pre-order packages still available. All-in-all I've definitely made a profit on the project, so I'm a happy filkish bear at the moment. I may have to leave off some related expenses in order to convince the IRS that I've made a profit, but that's a problem for another day.

Comments

[aerowolf.livejournal.com]

Wisconsin has the 'use tax' concept on its income tax form 1 and 1A. Where and how does a private person/non-sole-proprietor file use tax in California?

[mdlbear]

One files for a seller's permit from the California State Board of Equalization; this also makes it possible for you to buy raw materials at places like Costco without paying sales tax.

I believe there's a box on the state income tax form that people who don't have a seller's permit can use to file use tax, but I've never heard of anyone actually using it.