This is not tax advice. It is a map from the numbers in your Whatnot earnings reports to the lines on IRS Schedule C, written so you and your tax preparer speak the same language. Your CPA decides how it applies to you.
Who this applies to
If you sell on Whatnot as yourself or through a single-member LLC, the IRS treats the shop as a business you report on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business). Whatnot may send you a Form 1099-K reporting gross payments; the federal threshold for that form has changed several times in recent years, so check the current rule — but whether or not you receive one, the income is reportable.
The single most useful habit: keep every weekly earnings CSV. Together they are a complete ledger with unique transaction IDs. Your preparer can work from them directly.
Line by line
Line 1 — Gross receipts or sales. What buyers paid you for items, before Whatnot’s fees: the sum of POST_COUPON_PRICE (or original price plus coupon) for every paid ORDER_EARNINGS row, plus tips. Do not use TRANSACTION_AMOUNT here — that is your payout after fees, and reporting it as gross understates receipts while also losing the fee deduction.
Line 2 — Returns and allowances. Refunds: the absolute value of negative ORDER_EARNINGS rows and any REFUND-type rows.
Line 4 — Cost of goods sold. What you paid for the items you sold: COST_OF_GOODS, if you entered it when listing. If you didn’t, this comes from your own purchase records — and it is the largest deduction most resellers have, so it is worth reconstructing.
Line 10 — Commissions and fees. Whatnot’s cut: COMMISSION_FEE + PAYMENT_PROCESSING_FEE + tax on fees. This is the deduction that only exists if Line 1 is gross — which is why the payout-as-gross mistake costs you twice.
Line 18 — Office expense. Equipment and software you bought for the business (lights, camera, tripod, subscriptions — including analytics tools).
Line 22 — Supplies. Packaging, mailers, tape, thank-you cards.
Line 25 — Utilities. The business share of phone and internet you stream on.
Line 27a — Other expenses. The Whatnot-specific ones: giveaway shipping (BUY_FORMAT = GIVEAWAY rows, negative amounts), platform shipping adjustments (SHIPPING_CHARGE rows), and any shipping cost deducted from you on paid rows (SHIPPING_FEE). Itemize them on Part V.
Line 9 — Car and truck and Line 30 — Home office come from your mileage log and square footage, not from Whatnot. The CSV can’t help; a notebook can.
Cash basis, and the week-boundary detail
The earnings report is dated by when a transaction completed — the payout — not when the order was placed. For a cash-basis business (most sole proprietors), that is the right date, and it makes year-end clean: a December order that paid out in January is January income. If your preparer wants order dates instead, ORDER_PLACED_AT_UTC is in the file.
A worked year (illustrative)
| Line | Source | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Gross receipts | Σ item price + tips | $87,800 |
| 2 Returns | Σ refunds | $0 |
| 4 COGS | Σ cost of goods | $42,500 |
| 5 Gross profit | 1 − 2 − 4 | $45,300 |
| 10 Commissions & fees | Σ commission + processing + tax on fees | $11,800 |
| 27a Other (giveaway shipping, adjustments) | Σ negative rows | $300 |
| 28 Total expenses (before 9, 18, 22, 25) | $12,100 | |
| 29 Tentative profit | $33,200 |
Add your own lines 9, 18, 22, 25 and 30 and you have the number that flows to Schedule SE and your 1040.
What MARGN.PLUS does with this
The Schedule C Starter Kit in MARGN.PLUS is a fillable Schedule C PDF. Lines 1, 2, 4, 10 and 27a arrive filled in from your uploaded reports using exactly the definitions above; every other line is a form field for your own records (mileage, home office, supplies), so you can finish it yourself or hand it to your preparer. A year-end CSV with every order row comes alongside it for cross-checking. It is a starting point, not a return — the caveat is printed on the export, and it’s true.
MARGN.PLUS is not a tax preparer, accountant, or financial advisor. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. Verify every figure against your own records and consult a qualified professional before filing. MARGN.PLUS is independent and not affiliated with Whatnot, Inc.
