Tax and Legal Questions forYour Business on eBay

Cliff EnnicoLawyer, Author, Columnist, TV HostConsultant, Small Business Expert,

Richard Nixon Impersonatorcliff@succeedinginyourbusiness.com

Legal Update 2010

• Your “Terms and Conditions of Service”: The Front Line of Defense Against Legal Liability– Your legal disclaimers– Your limitation of liability– Have a lawyer look at it annually (limit fee to 1 hour)

• Your Marketing Efforts– eMail Blasts and Newsletters (antispam)– Blogs and Social Media (not responsible for others’

postings; content removal)– Copyright and Permissions (right to use other

people’s stuff)

Legal Update 2010

• Do You Need a Privacy Policy?– A major litigation area right now– The two types of policy you shouldn’t have:

• “We sell your info to whomever offers the highest price”

• “We never sell your info to anyone, anywhere, anytime”

– If kids are buying or stuff or posting on your blogs, you need to comply with COPPA (Child Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998)

Tax Update 2010

• Income Taxes– “Bridging the gap” legislation continues– The IRS is hiring . . .

– Beginning 2011, PayPal and other online payment services are required to send you a 1099 if your gross payment volume is more than $20,000 and you have more than 200 payments during the year

– The time to “clean up your act” is now

Tax Update 2010

• State/local governments are desperate for revenue, and are looking to (legally) tax Internet commerce– Stricter enforcement of “use tax” laws– Expanding “nexus” rules to include Web sellers that

“directly target” in-state residents– Taxing “affiliates” (New York’s “Amazon Bill”)– Enforcing interstate agreements to collect sales tax

across state lines– Is SSTP (streamlinedsalestax.org) going anywhere?– Consider a software solution (avalara.com,

exactor.com, speedtax.com, taxware.com)

Thanks, and Enjoy Vegas!