Collecting and taxes - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

29 Jan 2001

Interesting question though -- "should the tax people visit my site they 
might think I'm making a living from buying and selling machines" -- what 
if the "site" in question is a web site?  Can the revenooers use what they 
see on a web site against the owner? :-)

-- Tony

At 10:45 AM 1/29/2001 -0500, you wrote:
...
   On a different
tack, what's the group's thoughts about taxes etc? Should the
  tax people visit my site they might think I'm
making a living from buying
 and selling machines and may want a little extra cash out of me despite the
  fact I can probably prove it's impossible to
make real money out of this AND
  have a full time job and it really is a hobby....

There is a long-established tradition here in America wherein we
take great difference with a revenuer's (taxman's) attempt to
enter the premises. The tradition involves guns and dead taxmen.

All kidding aside, the 4th amendment to our Constitution elucidates
our intrinsic right to be safe and secure in our persons and property
from unwarranted intrusion. In other words, a U.S. citizen is never
required to admit a government agent unless the agent has a warrant,
and while it may happen from time to time, I don't think that revenue
agents typically ask for and receive warrants to enter a private residence.

There are, however, some horror stories I could tell involving the
U.S. Marshalls' Service who are able to perform warrantless searches,
but they're looking for pirated software, not old iron.

Regards,
-dq 