You only need to report personal items that you sold if they were sold for more than what you originally paid. Let's say you purchased a vintage nut grinder for $5 in 1972 and recently sold it for $75 at a yard sale. In that case, you'd have to report the $70 profit as an investment sale.
If you sell at a gain (that is, you get more than you paid for the item), you have income.
In the rare situation where you sold a personal use asset for more than what you bought it for, then you would report the sale on your tax return and you would report capital gain income for the amount you sold the asset above what you paid for the asset.
Whether or not you receive a Form 1099-K, you must still report any income on your tax return. This includes payments for any: Goods you sell, including personal items such as clothing or furniture. Services you provide.
The IRS requires you to report all your income; hobby income is no exception. You pay taxes on your income whether you profit from a hobby or a business. However, one key difference is that taxpayers with hobby income (not considered business income) can avoid self-employment taxes.
The new "$600 rule"
Under the new rules set forth by the IRS, if you got paid more than $600 for the transaction of goods and services through third-party payment platforms, you will receive a 1099-K for reporting the income.
Personal selling involves person-to-person communication, which requires interpersonal skills and expertise to persuade leads to buy products and services. There are many different types of personal selling, including retail sales, business-to-business sales, and telemarketing.
Profiting off the sale of a business asset is considered taxable income, and the IRS applies the capital gain taxes depending on how long you've owned the equipment.
Personal property is any property that's not land and all things that are permanently attached to it such as real estate. Examples include cars, livestock, and equipment.
If you've sold an item and made money on the sale (whether in your business, hobby, or a capital gain on your personal items), then you may owe taxes. However, you likely won't pay taxes on the total amount shown on your 1099-K.
If you have items cluttering your home and you need quick cash, local stores, markets, and community sales provide great opportunities to sell your goods directly.
For example, money from odd jobs, baby-sitting, or a one-time “gift” if it is not more than $30 in three months [7 C.F.R. § 273.9(c)(2); MPP § 63-502.2(d)]; or severance pay (unless paid out in regular installments) or vacation pay at termination of job, which should be treated as a lump sum.
No matter what is sold (it's a treasure to someone) or how often, all taxpayers who make a profit on a sale are obligated to report that money as taxable income.
Key Takeaways:
Gifts of up to $19,000 in cash are exempt from reporting in 2025. Those who have household employees must report cash payments that exceed $2,800 in 2025. All cash income should be reported on federal tax returns, regardless of whether a person receives a W-2 or 1099 Form from the entity that paid them.
The money you make will be subject to federal (and possibly state) income tax. And if your net profit from reselling items is more than $400, you may need to pay self-employment tax, too.
Personal items sold at a gain
If you receive a Form 1099-K for a personal item sold at a gain, figure and report the gain on both: Form 8949, Sales and other Dispositions of Capital Assets. Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses.
The main taxes to consider are income tax and sales tax. As a reseller, you pay income tax on your net profit—the amount left after deducting business expenses from your total revenue. This is reported on your tax return, typically using a Schedule C form if you're a sole proprietor.
Generally, all gains are taxable. Going back to the previous example, you purchased a car for $25,000. Then you sell the car later for $30,000. The result is a $5,000 taxable gain.
THE GOLDEN RULE OF PERSONAL SELLING refers to the sales philosophy of unselfishly treating others as you would like to be treated.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is clear in defining the term, “sale” as the “selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer's personal information by the business to another ...
Zelle® does not report any transactions made on the Zelle® network to the IRS, even if the total is more than $600. The law requiring certain payment networks to provide forms 1099K for information reporting does not apply to the Zelle® network.
For tax year 2025, the threshold is $2,500, regardless of the number of transactions. For tax year 2026 and after, the threshold is $600, regardless of the number of transactions.
For background: The ARPA lowered the reporting threshold to impose a reporting requirement on TPSOs on Form 1099-K from gross payments of more than $20,000 and 200 transactions for a payee to gross payments totaling more than $600 (regardless of the number of transactions) for a payee.