This is a guest post written by KSSJudith, a member of MysteryShopForum.com. Thank you Judith!
Monthly Archive for March, 2008Page 2 of 3
This is a guest post written by Tabitha, a member of the msfreedom.org forum. Also, please note that any tax information is not guaranteed to be accurate (You know I have to say that!)
I see a bunch of newbies asking for tips about MSIng so I decided to put all my tips in one place. Many relate to tax time and record keeping and some are year round goodies. Continue reading ‘8 Tips to Make Mystery Shopping Easier’
Please not that I am not a tax professional, so please understand that this in not tax advice, and may not be accurate. I recommend consulting an accountant. Also, TurboTax is very helpful in walking you through filing your taxes.
Do I need to pay taxes on my mystery shopping earnings?
Yes — you are required to report all of the money that you receive as a mystery shopper to the IRS. This means that you report all of your fees AND your reimbursements.
As a mystery shopper, you are considered an ‘independent contractor.’ Which basically means you are running your own business, and the mystery shopping companies are your clients.
That means you will do your taxes as though you were a ’sole proprietor’ of a business. Effectively, you will end up paying taxes on the total profit you earned during the year. This is actually very good news, because it means you are open to a whole new world of deductions that AREN’T otherwise available. (More about deductions) Continue reading ‘Taxes & Mystery Shopping: Questions and Answers’
There are a few great mystery shopping blogs out there.
Here are some posts from those blogs that stand out:
- What Mystery Shopping Has in Common with Cake – Some excellent tips for new mystery shoppers by David Rich, former President of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. He knows his stuff, so pay attention
- An Interview with the Owner of I-Spy Mystery Shopping — This interview has some great real-world advice for mystery shoppers. Plus, its always get to be reminded of the perspective of the mystery shopping company.
- An Interesting Case-Study of Potential Mystery Shopping Drawbacks — This is a little ’serious’ but its interesting none-the-less. Mystery shoppers sometimes have a serious impact indeed…