Actually, a few of them. Since we sent our tax return off already, the answers to the questions probably doesn’t have much practical import, but here they are:
Y’all know that I get paid a (pretty modest) amount for blogging. As such, Seed sent me a 2007 Miscellaneous Income report (Form 1099-MISC).
This form shows the modest amount that I earned in box 5, “Fishing boat proceeds”. Under “Instructions for Recipient” it says:
Box 5. An amount in this box means the fishing boat operator considers you self-employed. Report this amount on Schedule C or C-EZ (Form 1040). See Pub. 344.
My questions:
- Seed is operating a fishing boat?
- Am I supposed to be writing my posts on the fishing boat?
- Will the IRS be suspicious that I’m not reporting any income from the sale of fish that I’ve caught while self-employed on this fishing boat?
- Given that the government maybe considers blogging to be a form of fishing, and given that salmon fishing has been halted off California this year (due to a crash in the salmon population), could I qualify for some kind of emergency assistance here?
There’s a reason I don’t fully understand these forms …
Or is it that the IRS considers philosophy a fishing expedition?
See, this is what happens when you use Firefox, Adblock, and the rest to clean up the screen.
You never even noticed Seed’s advertisements — advertisements, of course, being trolling for suckers.
That’s the business model for any publisher — collect readers, and sell them to the advertisers.
The advertisers are the buyers. Readers are the fish.
You’re just helping them troll, without knowing it.
No problem, glad to help.
I always thought you were just a tool of the right-wing global wackaloon fishing cabal.
Only if you can prove that your posts have been jeopardized by rising internet temperatures and the collapsing blogosphere food chain.
There is definitely something fishy here…
You’ve got a halibut story, and I hate to see you flounder around, but if you’re going after the goldfish, you’re going to have to worry about the sharks.
Sincerely,
Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
I know I’m being, um, I guess a wet blanket by answering you seriously, but since it *is* a tax form, you might want to find out a real answer to this (I would think the income would be better reported under box 3 or 7), because if Seed is reporting all of its bloggers’ incomes under “fishing,” that could bring them (and then y’all) under IRS scrutiny.
They must have sent out the wrong form. Tell me they have the wrong form?
And also, I am imagining a very entertaining conversation with the IRS. About your self-employed fishing.
Other questions might include: Where is this fishing boat proceeding TO, and do I want to go there? And does this have anything to do with working in the Bay Area? Are Iowan bloggers getting some Farm Exemption proceeds?
The fishing thing could present additional problems. As a self-reporter, I’ve always noticed that fishermen get placed in a separate category (along with farmers) when calculating their estimated tax for quarterly self-paying.
I’d like to think of your blogging activity more as farming than fishing. The seeds you’ve planted have already borne fruit.
If you get paid such a modest sum…then why worry about it..let your accountant figure it out : )
If the IRS catches scent of this, you’re gonna need a bigger boat.