Taxing GoFundMe Donations
"I'm going to post this as an answer because it's from the GoFundMe website, but ultimately even they say to speak with a tax professional about it.  Am I responsible for taxes? (US Only) While this is by no means a guarantee, donations on GoFundMe are   simply considered to be ""personal gifts"" which are not, for the most   part, taxed as income in the US. However, there may be particular,   case-specific instances where the income is taxable (dependent on   amounts received and use of the monies, etc.).     We're unable to   provide specific tax advice since everyone's situation is different   and tax rules can change on a yearly basis. We advise that you   maintain adequate records of donations received, and consult with your   personal tax adviser.     Additionally, WePay will not report the funds   you collect as earned income. It is up to you (and a tax professional)   to determine whether your proceeds represent taxable income. The   person who's listed on the WePay account and ultimately receives the   funds may be responsible for taxes.     Again, every situation is   different, so please consult with a tax professional in your area. https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/articles/204295498-Am-I-responsible-for-taxes-US-Only- And here's a blurb from LibertyTax.com which adds to the confusion, but enforces the ""speak with a professional"" idea: Crowdfunding services have to report to the IRS campaigns that total   at least $20,000 and 200 transactions. Money collected from   crowdfunding is considered either income or a gift. This is where things get a little tricky. If money donated is not a   gift or investment, it is considered taxable income. Even a gift could   be subject to the gift tax, but that tax applies only to the gift   giver. Non-Taxable Gifts These are donations made without the expectation of getting something   in return. Think of all those Patriots’ fans who gave money to   GoFundMe to help defray the cost of quarterback Tom Brady’s NFL fine   for Deflategate. Those fans aren’t expecting anything in return –   except maybe some satisfaction -- so their donations are considered   gifts. Under IRS rules, an individual can give another individual a   gift of up to $14,000 without tax implications. So, unless a Brady fan   is particularly generous, his or her GoFundMe gift won’t be taxed. Taxable Income Now consider that same Brady fan donating $300 to a Patriots’ business   venture. If the fan receives stock or equity in the company in return   for the donation, this is considered an investment and is not taxable   . However, if the business owner does not offer stock or equity in the   company, the money donated could be considered business income and the   recipient would need to report it on a tax return. https://www.libertytax.com/tax-lounge/two-tax-rules-to-know-before-you-try-kickstarter-or-gofundme/" The $20k limit seems to be (from another answer) the threshold for GoFundMe to report the campaign. However, such a report does not change the taxability of the income. The income is either taxable or non-taxable regardless of whether the amount is $19,999 or $20,001. This is a common misconception, commonly seen when people think that income or gambling winnings are not taxable below $600, when in reality $600 is the threshold for issuing a Form 1099. Given that, it would be foolish to close a wildly successful (*) GoFundMe campaign, because closing the campaign won't change the taxability of the income. But it will probably cut off the continued donations you may have received. With the amount of money at stake, you should spend the couple hundred dollars to hire a CPA to look at your specific situation. Your uncle's comments are not specific to your situation at best, incorrect at worst, so don't hire him. (*) I don't know what the median GoFundMe campaign raises, but I strongly suspect it's well below the $20k/200 donor reporting limit. Just because you have one campaign that's gone viral enough to approach that limit, doesn't mean if you close that one and start a new one, that it will go viral again, especially if it's under a new username. "To echo part of stannius' response. If it's taxable, there would be tax on $19,999, just a bit less than on $20,000. Your uncle may have a credential, and members here may not, but still he may be mistaken. Or he could be giving you advice on how to skirt the law.  The taxability and the $20,000 threshold are unrelated! Trying to 'avoid' the   $20,000 is a completely misplaced effort. Gifts from anyone are not taxable to the recipient. So long as nothing is received in return, it's not taxable income to her. In contrast a blogger with a ""tip jar"" is soliciting money in exchange for advice, entertainment, etc. that's taxable. Donations to individuals, in the circumstance you describe are not income to her, nor are they deductible to the donor.  Edit - a fellow blogger (more than that, she's my tax crush) had an article Cancer survivor gets $19,000 tax bill for GoFundMe donations which may render my answer incorrect. Other article on this story suggest that the IRS is notified, but the nature of the transfer needs to be addressed.  In my opinion, you should find a new uncle CPA." From WePay (GoFundMe's payment processor) support. I received only gifts and donations.  Will I receive a Form 1099-K?   As of 2015, the IRS has clarified that WePay is not required to send    a Form 1099-K with respect to payments that are made solely as gifts   or donations.  The purpose of Form 1099-K is to report payments for   the provision of goods or services, which may be subject to tax.   Gifts and donations typically are not reported as income by recipients,   so it is not necessary to send them a Form 1099-K.   https://support.wepay.com/hc/en-us/articles/203609483-Tax-Reporting
I don't understand the logic in the other answer, and I think it doesn't make sense, so here is my take: You pay taxes on income, not on sales price. So if you put X $ of your own money in the account and it becomes X + Y $ in the future, at the moment of liquidation, you will own taxes on the Y $. Never on the X $, as it was your own (already taxed) money to begin with. The difference between long-term and short-term gains just influences the tax rate on Y. If you donate the gain alone (the Y $) to charity, you can deduct Y from your tax base. So adding Y to your tax base and then deducting Y again obviously leaves your tax base at the old value, so you pay no extra taxes. Which seems logical, as you didn't make any money in the process. Aside from extreme cases where the deductible gain is too large a percentage from your income or negative, I don't see why this would ever be different. So you can take your original 100 $ back out and donate all gains, and be fine. Note that potential losses are seen different, as the IRA regulations are not symmetric. Yes. Donating to name-brand charities or politicians will result in you geting solicitied for more donations -- charities sell your info and donation habits. [&amp;#9733;&amp;#9733;&amp;#9733; Register To Vote &amp;#9733;&amp;#9733;&amp;#9733;](https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/registertovote)   [**Randy Bryce**](https://randybryceforcongress.com/) is running against Paul Ryan.   [Donate](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/randy-bryce-for-congress-1) | [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/RandyBryce) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RandyBryce2018) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/IronStache)   Bryce supports universal health care, living wages, protecting Social Security and Medicare, affordable college, renewable energy, campaign finance reform, and DACA.    [**Cathy Myers**](https://cathymyersforcongress.com/) is running against Paul Ryan.   [Donate](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cathy-for-congress-1?refcode=website) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/cathymyersforcongress/)   [Map of Wisconsin District 1](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/WI/1)   ^(I'm a bot and I'm learning. Let me know how I can do better. I'll add candidates who will represent working-class people instead of billionaire political donors.) Another benefit of holding shares longer was just pointed out in another question: donating appreciated shares to a nonprofit may avoid the capital gains tax on those shares, which is a bigger savings the more those shares have gone up since purchase. You're right about FICA (I forgot it is calculated on gross income and not Adjusted Gross Income). State tax rate in that bracket still should be nominal or zero depending on the state. Sales tax... things cost what they cost.  &gt; Regardless, 70% of minimum wage isn't enough to cover a car, a child, a good vacation, a serious health care problem, an aging parent, or a modest retirement.  Social safety nets are impossible to address via a minimum wage. You could make the minimum wage $30/hr and some people will still become bankrupt by our ridiculous healthcare system. Why not lobby for single-payer healthcare and a universal basic income like $1000/mo/adult and $500/mo/child? I suspect that the new VATMOSS rules come in to play here.  So you owe VAT for donations from EU countries,  providing you are below £81k there would be no UK vat payable though, however then you couldn't recoup the vat you paid out.   Note I am not an accountant but I did speak to one this week about a similar issue. "There are many people who have deductions far above the standard deduction, but still don't itemize. That's their option even though it comes at a cost. It may be foolish, but it's not illegal.  If @littleadv citation is correct, the 'under penalty of perjury' type issue, what of those filers who file a Schedule A but purposely leave off their donations? I've seen many people discuss charity, and write that they do not want to benefit in any way from their donation, yet, still Schedule A their mortgage and property tax. Their returns are therefore fraudulent.  I am curious to find a situation in which the taxpayer benefits from such a purposeful oversight, or, better still, a cited case where they were charged with doing so. I've offered advice on filings return that wasn't ""truthful"". When you own a stock and cannot find cost basis, there are times that you might realize the basis is so low that just entering zero will cost you less than $100 in extra tax. You are not truthful, of course, but this kind of false statement isn't going to lead to any issue. If it gets noticed within an audit, no agent is going to give it more than a moment of time and perhaps suggest, ""you didn't even know the year it was bought?"" but there would be no consequence.  My answer is for personal returns, I'm sure for business, accuracy to the dollar is actually important." A simpler view is that tax deductions allow you to give to charities from your gross salary, not your net salary.