FEBRUARY 3 2012 DO YOU FILE TAXES ON YOUR HOBBY?

"GIVING IS THE DIRECT PATHWAY TO HAPPINESS."

This may be true, however I would rather say the following, "Giving is the direct way to happiness if you also give to yourself." I will admit that I am a giver. It almost destroyed my life years ago. I gave and gave with expectations. I only got disappointed. I even got disappointed when I gave as a volunteer not so long ago. I have learned through prayer, meditation and self honestly that I am most content when I give to whom I wish --without expectations.

I happen to be reading my American Bee Journal this month when I saw the article entitled, "Are you hobby or a business?" The question was interesting. I am a beekeeper. I do not make my main living out of beekeeping, so it is not my business. I do not have to file Sole Proprietorship (Schedule C), Partnership (1065) or even Corporation (1120)

I do not sell my honey. It is for my own consumption. I give it away. As I read I found out that if I have a sideline or hobbyist activity with income, then I have the choice to file as a small business or a hobby. I never even thought of this. If I ever wanted to be like CC Miller, MD who left medicine to become a beekeeper it would be different. In his 1915 book, " Fifty Years Among the Bees" it didn't mention filing any forms. Rick acquired the original text (not paperback) for me. He had sales of honey from his home, from the local farmers market and he even rented hives for pollination. He was not a major beekeeper as the other Miller bee family. He was a diverse doctor, not unlike myself who enjoyed the activity of bees.

I did read that if I file as a hobby (since I might sell my honey in the future but I doubt it), I would be in the 25% bracket and I do not itemize. So if my profit from honey sales was $5,000 per year and my expenses were $1,000 I would have to pay taxes on the net profit of $4,000. This would include federal tax, state tax and social security tax. All together I think I would be paying 45% of my sales in taxes. I did not actually figure the number out but I think it is right.

So, I have made it easy. I am a hobbyist at heart. I do not want to sell my honey from my girls at this point in my life. What the future holds may be different. No expectations, so no disappointments. I love my girls. I am worried about them this winter. So far it seems like a mild winter, but one never knows. It is not like I can ferry over to Fire island at any time. There are ferry schedules which are sparse in the winter. I will be happy when Rick and I begin setting up our hives in the NYC schools. We can then watch our girls throughout he winter more closely. The placement of the hives on Fire Island was a gamble we will not know the outcome of until April.

Until tomorrow...