The 1099-K for card sellers in 2026: eBay, Whatnot, PayPal, Cash App

What changed and when?

The federal threshold went back to $20,000 and 200 transactions in July 2025, retroactive to the start of tax year 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cancelled the $600 threshold and the $5,000 and $2,500 phase-in. The IRS confirmed the reinstated rule in its FAQs in October 2025.

Two things did not change. The IRS FAQs say all income, no matter the amount, is taxable even if you do not get a Form 1099-K. And the IRS sets no threshold for payment card transactions, which covers the card reader at your table. Square's help page says it uses $20,000 and 200 in most states and may report below that. Report every card sale whether or not a form comes. The master tax guide covers where the income then lands on your return.

What does each box on the 1099-K mean?

Box 1a is the one that matters: the gross amount of every payment the platform processed for you in the year. The other boxes help you check it. The descriptions below come from the payee instructions printed on the form.

The form may show only the last four digits of your tax ID. The same instructions say the issuer reported the full number to the IRS.

Which platforms send a 1099-K, and when?

All of them use the same federal test, but who issues the form and when it arrives differs. Forms for 2025 sales reached sellers by 31 January 2026 at most platforms; Cash App said 2 February 2026. The test is the same for 2026 sales, and eBay and Whatnot have already published it for 2026.

The Whatnot row trips people. Whatnot reports through Stripe, so a seller who cashes out only through PayPal gets nothing from Whatnot. PayPal decides on its own whether to file. Each platform has its own page here: Whatnot, eBay under $20,000, TCGplayer, Fanatics Collect and PayPal, Venmo and card readers.

Which states have lower floors?

Seven states and DC have a state source that puts the line below the federal one, and platforms report a figure for New Jersey. The table is for 2026 sales. Platforms apply the floor of the state in your account address. A Massachusetts seller with $700 of eBay sales can get a form while a Texas seller with $19,000 does not.

Platforms report a $1,000 New Jersey threshold; the permit, rate and returns are in the New Jersey card show sales tax guide. If you live in one of these states, expect a form at the state floor. California and North Carolina were at $600 on Whatnot's 2025 table and are not on its 2026 list. The 1099-K thresholds by state report links every state source and shows where they conflict.

Why is the form bigger than what I made?

Because Box 1a is gross. The IRS says the amount is not adjusted for fees, credits, refunds, shipping, cash equivalents or discounts. Those items are not taxable income; you deduct them from the gross, along with the card's cost. Report the form's number as income and you overpay. Report less without showing the subtractions and you invite a matching notice.

On Schedule C, the $24,000 goes on line 1 and the $14,000 cost of goods sold on lines 35 to 42, carried to line 4. Fees go on line 10. The IRS names no line for postage on cards you sold; listing it in Part V, which totals to line 27b, is a common treatment. The $5,400 is taxed.

The 1099-K reconciliation calculator does this subtraction with your numbers and names the line for each step.

What does a card seller subtract that the platform never saw?

The cost of the cards, which is usually the largest number on the return and is on no form. A platform knows what a buyer paid. It does not know what you paid, what grading cost, or what you gave in trade.

The cost only counts if you recorded it. Cost basis for cards bought with cash or by trade covers setting it with no invoice, and the grading fee guide covers when the fee is recovered. Comped records each card's cost when you buy it, so the cost of goods line exists when the form arrives.

What do I do when the form arrives?

Check it against the platform's own report before it goes near a return. The steps are the same on every platform.

1. Read the name, the last four digits of the tax ID and the FILER in the upper left. A wrong name or number is fixed by the issuer, not the IRS.
2. Download the platform's sales report for the same year. On eBay that is the 1099-K detailed report: Seller Hub, Payments, Taxes, 1099-K details, Generate.
3. Match Box 1a to the report's gross, and Box 3 to your order count. Use the monthly boxes to find any gap.
4. If Box 4 shows an amount, claim it on your return as tax withheld.
5. Add every form for the business together. Then add the sales no form covers: show cash and platforms under the threshold.
6. Subtract refunds, fees, postage and the cost of the cards on the Schedule C lines shown above.
7. Keep the form, the report and your cost records for at least 3 years.

Do I owe tax if I never got a 1099?

Yes, and the amount you owe is identical. The threshold decides whether the IRS receives a copy of your gross from the platform, not whether the profit is taxable. Sell $15,000 on eBay with 180 orders and no form arrives; the profit still goes on your return.

1. Check the platform's tax page in early February anyway. A state floor or backup withholding can produce a form you did not expect.
2. Pull the year's gross sales, refunds and fees from each platform's reports.
3. Add show cash and card reader sales from your own log.
4. Report the total on the same lines as a seller with a form.

Cash and card sales at a show never produce a 1099-K from a marketplace, and the IRS sets no threshold for a card reader's processor, though Square says it applies $20,000 and 200 in most states. Do you have to pay taxes on selling sports cards? covers what is taxed and which schedule it goes on.

What if the form is wrong or counts the same money twice?

Ask the issuer for a corrected form, and file on time either way. The IRS says it cannot correct a 1099-K; only the platform can. For a duplicate, a personal payment or someone else's sales, ask for a corrected form showing zero. Keep the original form and every message about it.

If the correction does not arrive before you file, do not wait. File with your real numbers on Schedule C, and keep the wrong form, the platform payout reports and your correction request together. If the IRS matches the form against your return and asks, that file is the answer. eBay asks sellers to raise concerns about a form by 30 March so it can correct by 15 April.

The common card-seller case is Whatnot plus PayPal. Whatnot's page says its form reports all Whatnot earnings for the year. It adds that a seller who cashed out through both Stripe and PayPal may also get a PayPal form reporting those payments. Our reading: the same sales can sit on two forms. Reconcile each form to that platform's payout history, and report each sale once. TCGplayer's figure includes shipping, fees and refunds, so it runs above your net payouts by design.

What if I sell on several platforms and at shows?

You may get no forms, and you owe tax on all of it. The test is applied by each platform to its own payments. A seller with $18,000 on eBay, $12,000 on Whatnot and $9,000 through PayPal has $39,000 of gross sales and possibly zero forms. eBay is the exception within one site: it combines accounts that share a tax ID before applying the test.

Show sales sit on top of that. Cash is on no form. A trade is barter under Tax Topic 420: the fair market value of the card you receive is income, and that value becomes the new card's cost. A buyer who hands you more than $10,000 in cash triggers a separate filing, covered in the Form 8300 guide.

Spreading sales across platforms to avoid forms changes the paperwork, not the tax. In an audit the IRS reaches the same income through bank deposits.

What is backup withholding on a 1099-K?

It is tax a platform withholds from your payouts when it has no valid taxpayer identification number for you. Under the IRS FAQs, any backup withholding triggers a 1099-K regardless of the $20,000 and 200 test, and PayPal says the same. Give each platform your correct name and SSN or EIN when it asks. If an amount was withheld, Box 4 reports it and it counts toward your tax when you file.

What are the dates for 2026 sales?

Forms for 2026 sales are due to sellers by Monday, 1 February 2027. The usual date is 31 January, which falls on a Sunday in 2027, and IRS Publication 1099 moves a weekend due date to the next business day.

If profit is steady through the year, the quarterly estimated tax guide covers the payments before January.

Which mistakes cost card sellers money?

• Entering Box 1a as income and stopping. Fees, postage, refunds and the cost of the cards are all still inside it.
• Reporting bank payouts instead of the gross. The IRS has the gross, so start there and show the subtractions.
• Leaving off show cash because no form covers it.
• Having no cost for the cards sold. A cost with no record behind it can be challenged.
• Counting the same Whatnot sales from two forms, or subtracting fees twice.
• Waiting for a corrected form past the filing date.

How this looks in the Comped app

A sale's Transaction screen shows the price, the fees, the shipping, what hit the bank, the cost basis and the true profit. The Money tab totals realized profit for the year and exports the year's sales, purchases and write-offs as a CSV. With a linked bank account on Comped Pro, a payout is marked as a card sale or matched to a sale already recorded.

Run your own deal through the card sale tax calculator to see the tax to set aside.

Related guides

• The Card Vendor's Master Guide to Taxes: where 1099-K income lands on Schedule C and what a dealer deducts.
• Do you have to pay taxes on selling sports cards?: the profit rule, the three seller types and the forms.
• Cost basis for cards bought with cash or by trade at a show: the number that turns gross into profit.
• New Jersey card show sales tax: permits, the 6.625% rate and the $1,000 floor platforms apply.
• 1099-K thresholds by state: every state source behind the table above.

FAQ

How much can I sell on eBay before I get a 1099?

For 2025 sales onward, eBay files a 1099-K when gross payments exceed $20,000 and transactions exceed 200. Your state may set a lower floor, down to $600. The form and a detailed report are in Seller Hub under Payments, then Taxes, by 31 January.

Does Whatnot send a 1099?

Whatnot issues the 1099-K through Stripe to sellers who cash out through Stripe and pass the federal test or a lower state floor. Sellers paid only through PayPal get no Whatnot form, and PayPal may file its own based on the payments it processed.

Do I owe tax if I never got a 1099?

Yes. The IRS says all income, no matter the amount, is taxable even if you do not get a Form 1099-K. The threshold controls the paperwork a platform files, not the tax on your profit.

Should I just stay under the threshold?

No. The threshold is a reporting rule, not a tax rule, so staying under it or spreading sales across platforms does not change what you owe. It only removes a form that would have helped you reconcile your own numbers.

I would get a form even though I didn't make money. What do I do?

Report the gross the form shows and subtract your cost of goods, fees, shipping and refunds, so your return shows the real result. The IRS says those items are not taxable income. If the form is simply wrong, ask the platform for a corrected one and file on time regardless.

Why is my 1099-K higher than what hit my bank?

Box 1a is the gross buyers paid, before the platform took fees and before refunds. The form's own instructions say it is reported without regard to fees, refunded amounts or shipping. You subtract those on Schedule C, along with what the cards cost you.

Does the 1099-K include sales tax the platform collected?

eBay's page says sales tax and canceled transactions are excluded from the gross it reports. The Whatnot, TCGplayer and Fanatics Collect pages read on 13 November 2026 do not say. Compare Box 1a with the platform's sales report to see what yours includes.

When do 1099-K forms for 2026 come out?

The IRS due date for the seller's copy is Monday, 1 February 2027, because 31 January falls on a Sunday. Whatnot says its forms will be in Seller Hub by 31 January 2027, and eBay says by 31 January each year.

This is general information for card sellers, not tax or legal advice for your situation. Rules change and states differ; a CPA who knows your numbers wins every time.