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Does Liberapay provide the various tax forms a receiver needs to file their yearly returns in the US?

by bsnnkv 2y ago

creer 2y ago
The receiver does not need any tax forms in the US. Payers are obligated to issue tax-related forms in certain circumstances. But the receivers don't even need those to file their own tax paperwork.
- internetter 2y ago
  This is an oversimplification. More than likely, income from Liberapay can be categorized as a 'gift.' Often, gifts aren't taxed to the recipient, so long as its less than $18,000 (this is not tax advice), Liberapay does not provide tax forms or tax advice. Its up to you to accurately categorize the income you receive based on the LiberaPay ToS, the expectations of your donors and the IRS, and your specific campaign. Your payment processors (PayPal and Stripe) absolutely do provide tax forms. Its your responsibility to make appropriate use of them. But Liberapay itself doesn't have forms it needs to provide (and by god you don't want to provide tax forms or tax advice you aren't required by law to give)
  - schlauerfox 2y ago
    Pretty sure that is misleading, i'm no tax lawyer but gift rules only apply to friends and family. Buskers have to report income from performing, waitstaff have to report voluntary tips given to them and while there's probably no caselaw yet, I would suspect the IRS would fight you on income you receive entertaining other people not being 'gifts'.
    - internetter 2y ago
      A gift is defined by the IRS as "Any transfer to an individual, either directly or indirectly, where full consideration (measured in money or money's worth) is not received in return." Nowhere in this statement does it say "gift rules only apply to friends and family" If you reach the point where a substantial portion of your income is Patreon or whatever (and thus, you wouldn't be otherwise performing the entertainment service), I'm sure the IRS would view it differently. "a recipient generally can exclude from gross income for federal income tax purposes a donation from a nongovernment donor as a gift if the donation is motivated by detached and disinterested generosity and is not in anticipation of an economic benefit or in return for services." ref https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/03-0025.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/03-0025.pdf and Commissioner v. Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278 (1960) perhaps, my categorization of "more than likely" could be incorrect. But given how relatively small[0] most accounts make on Liberapay, that is what I imagine most in the US would be calling it. https://liberapay.com/explore/recipients https://liberapay.com/explore/recipients
filmgirlcw 2y ago
Last time I checked into this, the answer was no. This is very much a more EU-focused service, based on the stuff they offer. And even then, they don't pre-collect for VAT like Patreon does. (I just checked and couldn't get a definitive answer but since it's been 5 years [1] since there was any update on a ticket requesting the ability to offer invoices in PDF form of your monthly receivables, my gut instinct says the answer is still, "no") [1]: https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com/issues/714 https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com/issues/714
- mariusor 2y ago
  This is just my assumption, but I think liberapay being targeted at "to individual" payments/donations is the reason why they don't push too hard in adding these kind of features.

Does Liberapay provide the various tax forms a receiver needs to file their yearly returns in the US?

by bsnnkv 2y ago

Does Liberapay provide the various tax forms a receiver needs to file their yearly returns in the US?

The receiver does not need any tax forms in the US. Payers are obligated to issue tax-related forms in certain circumstances. But the receivers don't even need those to file their own tax paperwork.

internetter 2y ago
This is an oversimplification. More than likely, income from Liberapay can be categorized as a 'gift.' Often, gifts aren't taxed to the recipient, so long as its less than $18,000 (this is not tax advice), Liberapay does not provide tax forms or tax advice. Its up to you to accurately categorize the income you receive based on the LiberaPay ToS, the expectations of your donors and the IRS, and your specific campaign. Your payment processors (PayPal and Stripe) absolutely do provide tax forms. Its your responsibility to make appropriate use of them. But Liberapay itself doesn't have forms it needs to provide (and by god you don't want to provide tax forms or tax advice you aren't required by law to give)
- schlauerfox 2y ago
  Pretty sure that is misleading, i'm no tax lawyer but gift rules only apply to friends and family. Buskers have to report income from performing, waitstaff have to report voluntary tips given to them and while there's probably no caselaw yet, I would suspect the IRS would fight you on income you receive entertaining other people not being 'gifts'.
  - internetter 2y ago
    A gift is defined by the IRS as "Any transfer to an individual, either directly or indirectly, where full consideration (measured in money or money's worth) is not received in return." Nowhere in this statement does it say "gift rules only apply to friends and family" If you reach the point where a substantial portion of your income is Patreon or whatever (and thus, you wouldn't be otherwise performing the entertainment service), I'm sure the IRS would view it differently. "a recipient generally can exclude from gross income for federal income tax purposes a donation from a nongovernment donor as a gift if the donation is motivated by detached and disinterested generosity and is not in anticipation of an economic benefit or in return for services." ref https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/03-0025.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/03-0025.pdf and Commissioner v. Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278 (1960) perhaps, my categorization of "more than likely" could be incorrect. But given how relatively small[0] most accounts make on Liberapay, that is what I imagine most in the US would be calling it. https://liberapay.com/explore/recipients https://liberapay.com/explore/recipients

filmgirlcw 2y ago

Last time I checked into this, the answer was no. This is very much a more EU-focused service, based on the stuff they offer. And even then, they don't pre-collect for VAT like Patreon does. (I just checked and couldn't get a definitive answer but since it's been 5 years [1] since there was any update on a ticket requesting the ability to offer invoices in PDF form of your monthly receivables, my gut instinct says the answer is still, "no") [1]: https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com/issues/714 https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com/issues/714

mariusor 2y ago
This is just my assumption, but I think liberapay being targeted at "to individual" payments/donations is the reason why they don't push too hard in adding these kind of features.