Amazon announced suddenly last week that they will begun reporting the fair market value (FMV) of Vine items to the IRS as income for us. They have not yet stated how they will determine FMV. I occasionally mention items here, but those are the big ones that I'm excited about (shut UP!
). A lot of items are not expensive, not something that I would normally buy, and not uncommonly pre-production items that aren't even fit for sale. I (and others) pick them because our role is to evaluate items and write reviews, plus it gives us a chance to try out things that we normally wouldn't. However, if I'm now going to have to pay for the "privilege" of spending my time reviewing items...items that I don't even get to decide which ones are offered to me...that's a game changer. Vine has never been financially beneficial to me. Given the quantity of time that I spend on it, I'd be far better off just working more hours. The thrill of the hunt, as it were, kept me in the game - but that thrill is greatly reduced if I'm going to have to pay taxes on things that I'm not allowed to even give away.
Just wanted to think out loud (kinda). Now back to your regularly scheduled boredom...
