I am part of a MLM and received a 1099MISC. In order to earn commission, I have to spend $100 a month. Can I deduct this as an expense? I use the $100 for personal use.

[DianeW · Accepted solution]

No.  When any purchases are made for personal purposes or personal use they are not a business deduction even though it helped to earn your commission.

[lashleyzoo]

I found a response stated this same way and that turbotax person stated that since the 100 is a requirement to getting commission for the company that it could be used as an expense..  Now I am confused. I am also a Doterra Consultant and the only way we can receive our commission and be part of the business is the requirement to order 100 each month.

[lashleyzoo]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3665005-i-am-a-consultant-for-doterra-selling-essential-oils-can-i... is the link to the question and answer given there

[fanfare]

You will get all kinds of answers from TurboTax persons, not infrequently, wrong ones.

[TaxGuyBill]

I agree ... not deductible.

[mwave36]

The confusion here is due to the semantics many MLM companies use within their Policies & Procedures manual regarding a distributor's monthly Personal sales Volume (PV). Technically, the vast majority of MLM programs, such as doTERRA, do not "require" that a distributor personally purchase the requisite amount of products because the sales they make to their (non-distributor) customers also counts towards PV. So if your customers purchase more than 100 PV you don't have to purchase anything more. In this case, doTERRA's P&Ps even go on to state that there is, "No Requirement to Purchase Products" (Sec. 5.A.) and "Purchasing Product Solely to Qualify for Bonuses is Prohibited" (Sec. 5.C.). So you do need to delineate between those products you purchased for personal use and those you used for business purposes (e.g. as samples, for display, or for resale). Although the latter may be deductible, the former are, as TurboTaxDiane said, definitely not.