#side-hustle

Side Hustle

Tax, accounting, and growth tips for side projects, freelancers, and part-time businesses

July 26, 20269 min read

Why Your DoorDash 1099 Might Not Show Up This Year — and Why You Still Owe Taxes on Every Mile

The 1099-NEC threshold is now $2,000, so many part-time DoorDash, Instacart, and Grubhub drivers won't receive a form for 2026 — but the IRS still taxes net self-employment earnings above $400. How multi-app delivery drivers can capture the dead miles apps don't report (often 30% or more of total driving), choose between the standard mileage and actual expense methods, and set aside 25–30% of each payout for quarterly taxes.

Mike Thrift

taxself-employment-taxindependent-contractor

July 22, 20267 min read

The CRA Already Has Your Gig Income Data: Canada's Platform Reporting Rules, Explained

Since 2024, Part XX of Canada's Income Tax Act requires Uber, Airbnb, Etsy, and other platforms to report sellers with 30+ transactions or over $2,800 CAD directly to the CRA — including names, SINs, gross payouts, and fees. With two reporting cycles now on file and penalty relief expired, here's who gets reported, what data the CRA matches against your return, and how to reconcile before the next January 31 deadline.

Mike Thrift

tax-complianceself-employmentside-hustle

July 20, 20268 min read

Goatscaping Bookkeeping: How to Account for a Targeted Grazing Business

A working goat herd is livestock the IRS lets you treat as either inventory or depreciable business property — an election that's hard to reverse. How targeted grazing operators should handle herd cost basis, diversified revenue streams, equipment costs, and the May-to-September seasonal cash-flow cliff.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessseasonal-business

July 20, 20269 min read

Storage Unit Auction Reselling: How to Book a Lot You've Never Seen Inside

How storage unit auction resellers allocate one lump-sum bid across an entire unit of unknown items — dividing by item count or by relative fair market value — plus the cash-method small-business inventory election, a lot-based chart of accounts, hobby-vs-business rules, and sales tax registration.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepinginventorycost-of-goods-sold

July 20, 20269 min read

Storage Unit Auction Reselling Bookkeeping: How to Price a Lot You've Never Opened

How to keep books for storage-unit auction flips — allocate one winning bid across dozens of items with the relative fair value method, deduct COGS only when items sell, use the Section 471(c) small-business exception, and report income even below the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingside-hustleinventory

July 20, 20268 min read

Vinted Just Came to America. Here's Why Your Bookkeeping Needs to Change, Not Just Your App.

Vinted's zero-fee US launch changes reseller bookkeeping. Learn how to track Wallet holds, reconcile a 1099-K, and handle sales tax under marketplace rules.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepinge-commerceside-hustle

July 20, 20267 min read

Virginia's HB 402: Cottage Food Producers Can Now Sell Online and Ship Statewide

Virginia's House Bill 402, effective July 1, 2026, lets cottage food producers accept online orders and electronic payments, sell from any location in the Commonwealth, ship via third-party carriers within the state, and list a PO box on product labels. Production limits stay in place — home kitchens only, no potentially hazardous foods, no wholesale, no interstate shipping, and the $9,000 acidified-food sales cap — and localities can still impose their own zoning or permit requirements.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscompliancelegal

July 19, 20267 min read

Colorado's Tamale Act: What HB26-1033 Means for Cottage Food Businesses

Colorado's HB26-1033, the "Tamale Act," legalizes home-kitchen sales of tamales and other temperature-sensitive foods starting January 1, 2027, and raises the cottage food revenue cap from $10,000 to $150,000 per product per year. Here are the food-safety, labeling, and transport rules producers must meet — and the bookkeeping needed to run at the new scale.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscompliancelegal

July 19, 20267 min read

North Carolina's HB 372 Home-Based Business Fairness Act: What Home Entrepreneurs Need to Know

North Carolina's HB 372, signed July 7, 2026 as Session Law 2026-51, bars cities from requiring permits, licenses, or rezoning for "no-impact" home-based businesses. Here's who qualifies, what cities can still regulate, and how the change affects your bookkeeping.

Mike Thrift

small-businessself-employmentside-hustle

July 19, 20268 min read

West Virginia's New Cottage Food Permit: How SB 44 Lets Home Producers Sell Pickled, Fermented, and Refrigerated Foods

West Virginia's Senate Bill 44, effective June 12, 2026, created a potentially hazardous cottage food vendor permit that lets home producers legally sell pickled and fermented vegetables, acidified salsas and hot sauces, kombucha, and refrigerated items like custards and cream pies. The permit requires a kitchen inspection, food safety training, a WVDA permit, and water testing for kitchens on private wells, while raw meat, poultry, seafood, and Grade A dairy remain prohibited under both cottage food tiers.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscompliancepermits

July 17, 20267 min read

How Sports Card and Collectibles Reselling Is Taxed: The 28% Rate, Cost Basis, and the IRS's Three Buckets

Sports cards are taxed as collectibles at up to 28% long-term capital gains, higher than stocks.

Mike Thrift

taxcapital-gainstax-compliance

July 16, 20269 min read

Bookkeeping for Affiliate Income: Amazon Associates, LTK, and ShareASale

Amazon Associates pays roughly 60 days in arrears, ShareASale and Impact pay per merchant program rather than as a single payer, and the 2026 1099-NEC threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 — so most affiliate income now arrives with no tax form at all, making a monthly earned-basis reconciliation the only reliable way to track what you actually owe.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingamazonreconciliation

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