Taxes on BST sales

Here's PayPal's update:

Will I have to pay taxes when sending and receiving money on PayPal - what exactly is changing?
Beginning January 1, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) implemented new reporting requirements for payments received for goods and services, which will lower the reporting threshold to $600 USD for the 2024 tax season from 2023’s threshold of $20,000 USD and 200 transactions.

PayPal's statement doesn't match what the IRS said in November. The IRS's press release stated:

Given the complexity of the new provision, the large number of individual taxpayers affected and the need for stakeholders to have certainty with enough lead time, the IRS is planning for a threshold of $5,000 for tax year 2024 as part of a phase-in to implement the $600 reporting threshold enacted under the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announc...ementation

Guess they haven't updated theirs yet then. Important thing is this year isn't an issue. Thanks

This ruling should only apply to merchants who use Paypal to receive payments.
Not casual users who occasionally use it to offload used gear that they have already
paid sales tax on.

You only have to pay taxes on that portion of hobby derived income that exceeds hobby derived expenditures. It has nothing to do with sales taxes. It is not an issue for most of us. HOWEVER, many of us do not keep good records of our expenditures each year. If PayPal reports income during the year and the IRS audits your return, you will need receipts for expenses that exceed that amount. If you have such records, then you have no problem. If you purchase an expensive razor, for example, and later decide to sell it for less than you paid, then you might need a receipt proving the value you initially paid for the razor or other items you purchased in the year of sale to replace the razor sold.  

If a business loses money, they can deduct the loss. However, for hobby income, you can only deduct the expenses up to the level of your hobby derived income. You cannot report a loss, even if you sell an item for much less than you originally paid. Where you might get into a problem is at the end of your wet shaving hobby when you stop purchasing new items and try to sell off everything in your den. Since your hobby expenses are low that year and you are likely to have hobby income that exceeds your hobby expenses and as a result you might owe income taxes on the difference. 

The moral of the story is that you should keep good records of all your purchases. even if that means your spouse might find out how much you spend. I tend to use PayPal for most of my online purchases. Thus, I have a record of a significant portion of my expenses.

In Illinois, we have a use tax which means that if we make purchases out of state and do not pay as much sales tax as Illinois would charge on the purchase had it been made in state, you have to pay the difference to Illinois each year. There is a provision for estimating those taxes based on your taxable income, but I find that if I keep records of my out of state purchases and taxes paid, I end up owing less than the estimate. Using PayPal for such purchases allows me to track what I purchased and how much taxes were paid. Companies like Amazon have facilities in most states so they charge state sales taxes; I do not have to worry about those purchases as far as uses taxes are concerned.