If the furbuyer pays you in cash without giving you a receipt, why would anyone report how much their furs sold for? The cost of the license, fuel, food, depreciation on the vehicle, traps, trapping equipment, yearly supplies such as lures, new traps, utility costs to heat the fur shed, auto insurance, depreciation on clothing, ect, ect, ect , would surely outweigh any supposed profit from trapping.
And this is my whole point.
There is no saying "those traps on the wall are just decoration"....You have to be REALLY special to get a visit from the IRS. We have a client that literally owes the IRS 400,000...and they are taking their sweet ole time. Why? He's playing with them. He responds to their letters, etc. They should NEVER end up on his property. All meetings will be mediated through his CPA. The guy handling the account at the IRS is handling a lot of other accounts too.
They dont care about little guys that are gettin a check for a couple grand running a trap line. If you get a letter in the mail, you should NEVER EVER EVER respond to it yourself. Take it to an accountant. They KNOW what to say.
Why do people get audited?
1) They recieved money from a company for contract work, and did not report it. IE: You worked for XXX and made 601.00 on a 1099 and did not report the 1099.
2) The amount that is on your 1040 is different than the amount reported to the IRS by your employers.
3) You filed a Schedule C and things didn't feel right to the IRS. The schedule C is the MOST AUDITED FORM. PERIOD! Dont start reporting income just because you want to be a business owner....that is, unless you like following ALL the rules, saving ALL the proof. Invest in a copy machine. Photocopy all of your reciepts. Organize them well. If you're accountant doesn't have a sheet feed scanner and off site electronic data storage, consider going elsewhere.
4) You deposited a BIG check. Banks are now required to report any check over *I THINK* $600. This is part of the whole anal probe homeland security thing...you might be a terrorist...or a plain ole non-income reporting criminal.
The point is...it's too much hassle for the average person to report the income. Save all the reciepts related to it regardless...if you feel you are turning a lot of profit, start reporting it.
Saying that the IRS is going to bust you because you turned a profit of a couple hundred bucks is like saying BobbyJean is gonna get busted because she had a yard sale.