I receive products in return for reviews with the Amazon Vine program. I am filing Schedule C as a sole proprietor for the income reported on the 1099-NEC from Amazon.
As example: I received 100 products from Amazon during 2023. Amazon reported my compensation as $5000. All of the products received were for my personal use. Five of the products received from Amazon were totally unusable and therefore trash. Reasons for the five products being unusable varied such as item was damaged, parts missing rendering it inoperable, product although complete did not work, etc. The reported value of those five products was $250. The resulting effect was that I never received $250 of that reported $5000 because I did not receive five working products. I kept proof the products never worked.
I know how to report the $5000 income. Question is - On the Schedule C, specifically where and how do I report a deduction/adjustment of $250 to offset the income to a true result of $4750. Since these products were for personal use they were never an inventory, so I can't claim it that way. I've never encountered this situation in 50 years of doing my own taxes.
Thank you in advance for any help.
