@DianeW777 wrote:
This program could easily be considered a hobby. You are not engaged in the activity for a profit and you have no product to sell to customers since each product is used so that you can create a review for Amazon.
The IRS may eventually give better guidance on this particular activity, but in the mean time there is no profit motive and you are being taxed on what Amazon has decided is the value of those products provided to you free of charge, essentially paying you for your review.
- The Vine is a product review program created by Amazon to provide customers with honest and unbiased reviews. Amazon Vine invites its top reviewers to receive a product for free in exchange for a review. This incentive program benefits both the reviewer and the seller.
@soupnazi02
Yes this is the dilemma many are facing and without any guidance many including myself are unsure of what to do. I will most likely need to hire a professional to help me sort this out. I think one part of this that makes many question the hobby aspect is the amount of income that is reported. It can be in excess of 50k for many, and it's hard to fathom any hobby that could earn that much. The catch is that it is not cash, and the products we receive have artificially inflated prices.
