Re: Ownership and Taxes

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Who is responsible for tax filing in a friend-owned drop shipping account?

Kolanoah
Visitor
1 0 0

I'm 17 and wanted to start drop shipping, so I got a friend to make the account. They own the account, but I run it. The money will be going to me, and I'll be handling the entire thing. So, when I go to do income taxes, who is responsible for filing them? Me, or them? They aren't making any income from this, its going to a card that I run, and I'm only going to pay myself. Do the taxes get applied to me or them. I don't know if it will make a difference, but I got an EIN for the sales tax, and that does belong to me. I don't want to get my friend in any legal/financial trouble though. Once I turn 18 in April, we plan on switching the account to be Mine and Only Mine. But that's 8 months away.

If you have an questions to answer this more correctly, let me know. 

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Edit: So when I go to set up my Shopify payments, it askes for my EIN(optional), then further down the page, it asks for personnel details, where my friend would put in her Name, age, and last four of SSN. If I have that EIN there, would the EIN be enough for the taxes to belong to me instead of her?

Accepted Solution (1)

Trevor
Shopify Staff (Retired)
3408 463 1003

This is an accepted solution.

@Kolanoah 

When setting up Shopify Payments, it will require an SSN for the individual who will be responsible for the account. In this case, your friend would need to input their SSN as an EIN would not be sufficient. All income will be reported to the IRS under your friend until the account is changed. Meaning, your friend would need to report the earnings of the business under their taxes for each year they are listed as the account owner. 

Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Trevor | Community Moderator @ Shopify
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 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
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View solution in original post

Reply 1 (1)

Trevor
Shopify Staff (Retired)
3408 463 1003

This is an accepted solution.

@Kolanoah 

When setting up Shopify Payments, it will require an SSN for the individual who will be responsible for the account. In this case, your friend would need to input their SSN as an EIN would not be sufficient. All income will be reported to the IRS under your friend until the account is changed. Meaning, your friend would need to report the earnings of the business under their taxes for each year they are listed as the account owner. 

Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Trevor | Community Moderator @ Shopify
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog