Do you keep records?

MICHAELDIXON

After reading Jade's post about the 1944 Mercury dime, I searched through the records I have to find some information. The information I needed was from August 1986.
.
My question is: "Do you keep records of what you buy, from whom and how much?"
.
"When you sell, do you keep records of to whom, for how much, any profit, etc?"

Sphinx357

Yea, I have photocopies of everything.

dbldie55

I think I still have a few records. No one had broken them the last I heard.

JadeRareCoin

Yes, I keep very detailed records. Or at least I though I did until I found out how far back you went into your records to find that one transaction. That is very impressive! Where do you store all of those old invoices????

Longacre

Yes; for tax purposes

Russ

Yep. I maintain my business records going back 10 years. At the close of each year, I toss the 11th year.

Russ, NCNE

Barry

Not really. That takes the fun out of it when I have to run it like a business. I have a bunch of receipts thrown in a folder, many of which I no longer own anyway.

coinguy89

I take photos and keep records of anything I spend more than $20 on.

Peaceman

Paper trails are good for some things and bad for others.......

mtnman

I keep a record of what I've paid, but not for sales as I seldom want to part with anything.

Fairlaneman

Clutter has no place in my life. Out of sight out of mind.

The Deposit Box has all of the records I need. Cost means nothing when reselling a coin when you are a collector. If the cost can be remembered thats a plus but if not a price guide will work just fine.

Ken

ldhair

My records go back almost 40 years.

I put everything on the PC about 15 years ago and
never need to look at the hard copy anymore.

I use a paper load sheet for all new items and
make a new backup every month.
It's easy to recover if needed.
I had a crash 8 years back but was up and running in one day.

If the IRS comes to your door you best have some great records.
They don't play around. Some folks keep two sets of records, if you know what I mean.

K6AZ

<< <i>After reading Jade's post about the 1944 Mercury dime, I searched through the records I have to find some information. The information I needed was from August 1986.
.
My question is: "Do you keep records of what you buy, from whom and how much?"
.
"When you sell, do you keep records of to whom, for how much, any profit, etc?" >>



Absolutely. You need this information for filing your taxes.

lava

Even aside from taxes, purchase and sale information provides valuable information that can help get a deal done. I use my records as a valuable tool that I routinely refer to.

Bochiman

I am not perfect, I probably only have about 80-85% of my inventory updated with purchase price and where/who bought.
I have only sold a few handfuls of items.

So, since I don't claim it as a business (it is only a hobby for me), why would I even care about the IRS/taxes and records?
Now, I do try to keep my records so if something happens to me, my spouse & child will hopefully have a guideline for what things are worth and not sell to the moron down the street for pennies on the dollar.

Again though, why would I, a collector/hobbiest, really care about the IRS and taxes? I gamble and don't file as a loser so I don't keep records there either (whether I won $50 or lost $100).

fishcooker

I sell everything for exactly what I paid.

mgoodm3

I built all that stuff into my database.

wam98

Yes, I keep records of everything.

ms70

Yup! Records & photos of every coin. I use CoinManage for the all the price/buy/sell details. I then take a digital pic of the front of each
slab. Every two or three coins I'll do a back-up of the CM program & the pics, burn it all onto a CD and put it in the safe deposit box. I also
keep all the receipts & print out the eBay auction page if no receipt is provided.

I do it 49% for insurance purposes in case of disaster and 51% to satisfy OC tendencies!

Dave99B

Yes; for tax purposes

That's funny!

Dave

mercurynut

I had all that info until I moved and lost in somewhere....grrr!

ldhair

<< <i>Again though, why would I, a collector/hobbiest, really care about the IRS and taxes? I gamble and don't file as a loser so I don't keep records there either (whether I won $50 or lost $100). >>


It really sucks but if you have an audit, it can be a problem. Coin sales are income.

One of the red flags for the IRS is if your bank deposits are more than you report as income.
Records prove your cost basis. Without proof your basis is face value. You have almost a 100% gain.
One big question is, just what type of records they will take as proof.
Sure an invoice on the purchase will work but, this might not be what you wish to offer

It worries me that Ebay and Paypal information will someday be in the hands of the IRS at time of an audit.
I feel that is going to happen in the near future.

I have had a loss on every coin I have ever sold, so I have no gain to report.

This is something to talk with your CPA or tax person about. It's important.

I learned this the hard way. They don't play games if they see income that is not reported.

ldhair

<< <i>I sell everything for exactly what I paid. >>


But can you prove it?

ConstellatioCollector

I certainly do, especially if some I day I decide to leave this world and my wife will need (want) to sell these assets (collection)! I also keep an up to date value so that she won't have to look for values.

RYK

I keep all my receipts (buys and sells) and all of the coins that I currently own on an Excel spreadsheet. My spreadsheet includes data of purchase, price paid, seller, Trends, and the slab number (in case of theft).

ccr

I have almost every receipt of the coins I`ve bought.

ldhair

If I were to pass my wife would assume my cost basis.
If it would pass by way of my will (say my son), the basis would step to market value.

It's a big game. Pays to plan for it. Keep good records.

islemangu

Yes, it doesn't take up that much space or extra time

Newmismatist

<< <i>If I were to pass my wife would assume my cost basis. >>



Not necessarily - it depends whether it was solely owned by you (market value) or jointly owned - (your "joint" cost)

relayer

Years ago I kept a journal of my coin purchases. Now it's all on my PC - tracking raw coins, registry sets, slabs, proof sets, albums, submissions, my collection and coins for sale generating eBay auctions, tracking sales, and shipping. I am fully automated now.

mirabela

Yeah, I do, back to 1986. I just last summer converted it all into an excel spreadsheet, which I'm now very happy with although it was a big PITA and a lot of work at first. It makes it a lot easier to sort, compute, and update. Someday I'd love to link it to my photo files so I can click to a pic of each coin (or all the ones I have images of) but that's another project for another season.

I wish I had records from before then, as I did lots and lots of buying in 1980-83 and I've sold a lot of that stuff off in the last year. I've had to rely on memory for prices paid.

ldhair

<< <i>

<< <i>If I were to pass my wife would assume my cost basis. >>



Not necessarily - it depends whether it was solely owned by you (market value) or jointly owned - (your "joint" cost) >>


True in some states. In mine she would assume my basis.

wingedliberty

I use the Heritage -MY COLLECTION- feature, its free and great.

ibzman350

Yes... CoinManage


I keep all the pertinent info, buy date , cost, from whom, pics, etc.,etc.

I also keep receipts that 95% of the sellers provide when coins are shipped, just in case the puter goes south.


Herb

DeepCoin

The statute of limitations for the IRS is three years. They changed it from 7 quite a number of years ago.

FYI, I keep records for all my purchases and sales but they are on a very small scale and a spreadsheet does nicely.

MICHAELDIXON

I keep records of coins, not for the tax purposes, but in order for reference. The Jade PL Mercury dime was especially interesting to me, as I bought an identical coin in 1986 and hadn't seen one like it until now. My records don't go back past 1985, so I don't have detailed records of the coins I've sold. But, as I told Dennis, I sold an Unc 1835 bust half dime with rainbow toning in 1972 (mailorder) for $85. Collectors thought the coin was hideous, but now the coin would be in demand!

Shamika

<< <i>"Do you keep records of what you buy, from whom and how much?" >>


Absolutely!



<< <i>"When you sell, do you keep records of to whom, for how much, any profit, etc?" >>


Yes, though it's more of a chore than when a new piece is acquired.

Longacre

The general rule is a 3 year statute of limitations (starts on date return is filed); there is a 6 year statute of limitations for "substantial omissions of items" from income, and the most scary rule is in section 6501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, which states, "in the case of a false or fraudulent return with the intent to evade tax, tax may be assessed, or a proceeding in court for collection of such tax may begin without assessment, at any time". In other words, there is no statute of limitations for a fraudulent return.

JadeRareCoin

sold an Unc 1835 bust half dime with rainbow toning in 1972 (mailorder) for $85

Ouch!!!!

Dog97

I keep piles. A pile is a stack that fallen over sideways & spread out.
My harddrive is loaded with dead eBay links, links to message board threads, millions of pictures that I snagged from the internet and don't have a clue as to who owns them, who sold them or why I even saved them.
My program Coin Elite has so much info entered in the memo tab that it makes me dizzy to look at it but I can find out most anything I want to know.