Anyone know how these will come to us? Via mail? Online? Will we get 7 1099s, one for each region, or just one?
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iOS 1099s
- Thread starter johnnybluejeans
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1099? Are you serious? Isn't that like reporting the cash you made from a garage sale?
No, 1099 is the form that you receive from someone for doing independent contractor work for them (among other things).
Gotcha. I was thinking this guy was talking about claiming his iPhone earnings on his taxes. I mean, that's like claiming cash you made from selling on eBay. That's just crazy talk.
That is exactly what he was talking about, and it is exactly what you are required by law to do if you make any money from iPhone apps.
Please tell me you are being sarcastic. Many iPhone devs make tens of thousands of dollars every month. We have to pay estimated taxes on all of it, every three months.
As a related comment* to this, I discovered that if you have a "regular" job that withholds taxes that are greater than or equal to the total amount you owed in the previous year, you will not be penalized for underpaying during that year. This applies to US federal taxes and probably most state taxes.
So if your total tax liability in 2007 was $3000, and your regular job will withhold $3000 or more in 2008, you won't be penalized for underpayment if you don't pay estimated taxes on any significant extra cash you make from apps in 2008. You will have to pay estimated taxes starting in 2009 though, unless you adjust the amount your regular job withholds to cover it.
*don't listen to anything I say in this post: ask your tax advisor.
Not according to the IRS. If Apple sends you a 1099, that means they've reported your earnings to the IRS. if you don't declare it as income on your taxes, you may be in hot water.
If Apple didn't send you a 1099, that means Apple would have to pay taxes on your app store income, even though they sent most of it to you. And Apple doesn't want to pay your taxes for you.
Amazon will send you a 1099 too, if you make over a certain amount. I don't know about eBay. Income is income, no matter where it comes from. If you ask the IRS, they'll say you should declare profit from a garage sale; although if you bought something for $20 and sold it for $5, I'd say there's no profit.
You can also fill out a W-4 form and give it to your day job's payroll department, detailing how much extra they should take out of your paycheck. Then you don't have to make estimated tax payments to the IRS - it'll come from your paycheck instead. (I did this for 5 years to cover the tax liability for contracting/side jobs.)
If you make a killing on an app, don't wait until the end of the year and figure on paying the taxes then. There's a penalty for coming up too short. (You can avoid the penalty with the W-4 method or estimated quarterly payments.)
Don't take tax advice from me either, I'm just some guy at the bus stop throwing out ideas.
Which you should do, since the IRS has been known to audit people who made lots of money selling on eBay.
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