@vanguard08 wrote:
With me being a reseller of this phone system license, I get a 25% discount on the product as do all resellers. That's 25% discount lower than market value, just like wholesalers get cheaper prices then resell those products in their retail stores. So I'm trying to figure out if there is a legitimate way for me to keep that 25% margin as personal profit without having to create an LLC or something to sell the product to the company I work for. Does that make sense, or am I just trying to create a sketchy scenario, and the only real way to do that would be to actually sell that license to my employer?
I think you need to talk to your employer about this. I don't know how they would feel about paying you (let's say) $1000 a month for the service, when you are paying $750 per month, in a sense, giving you a $250 per month back door raise. You can legally do it for income tax purposes by setting up a schedule C business as a reseller, and reporting your gross proceeds (what your company pays you) and your costs (what you pay the provider). The question is, will your company approve of making you a vendor, so that you now have two separate income streams.
Then I also think you need to consider "support" you mentioned. If you are providing tech support for the phone system, is that within the scope of your current job description, is that what you are being paid for by your employer, or will that constitute additional duties, and if so, will you receive additional compensation? Would that compensation be via your business as a reseller? Does that mean you have to work 40 hours/week for your regular salary plus work additional hours as a reseller providing tech support?
For federal income tax purposes, you could set up a sole proprietorship as a reseller of phone services and charge your company more than you pay the root provider, and pay income tax and SE tax on the difference. The real question is, if the company knew you were marking up the service, would they approve, or would they think you are cheating them?
