Quick answer. Gross item sales plus the shipping buyers paid, minus refunds, fees, ads and labels, is roughly your payout. Form 1099-K reports the gross before any of those come off. In New Jersey, a marketplace facilitator collects and sends sales tax on sales made through it; sales on your own website are yours to register for and collect.
Three numbers that never match
Most sellers notice it in January. The platform's annual summary says one thing, the deposits in the bank add up to less, and a Form 1099-K arrives with a third, larger figure. None of them is wrong. They measure different points in the same chain:
- Gross sales is what buyers paid for your items, and usually shipping too.
- Payout is what's left after the platform takes its fees, refunds go back to buyers, ads and labels are charged, and any reserve is held.
- Form 1099-K box 1a is the gross amount of payment transactions. The IRS says it is figured "without regard to any adjustments for credits, cash equivalents, discount amounts, fees, refunded amounts, or any other amounts" (IRS box 1a clarification).
Your books need the gross figure for sales and the fees, refunds and other deductions as separate amounts. Recording only the deposits understates both your sales and your costs, and leaves a gap with the 1099-K that you then have to explain.
Rebuild one month's payout
Take one platform's monthly statement and enter the figures. The check works out what the payout should have been and compares it with what reached your bank.
Enter the month's gross sales to start.
A difference under a dollar is rounding. Bigger gaps usually come from a reserve held back, a payout that covers the end of one month and the start of the next, a chargeback, or a fee you didn't spot on the statement. Write the reason next to the month so you aren't working it out again in January.
Form 1099-K: what changed and what didn't
The IRS's FAQs for 1099-K filers say the One, Big, Beautiful Bill retroactively reinstated the earlier threshold: payment apps and online marketplaces (third party settlement organizations) file a Form 1099-K when a payee's payments exceed $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeds 200. Payment card transactions have no minimum. For the year-by-year history, see what changed in the 1099 rules.
Two things didn't change. You report all your income whether or not a form arrives (IRS). And if a form is wrong, the IRS says to contact the filer named in its upper left corner, not the IRS; if you can't get it corrected, don't wait to file (IRS FAQs). With more than one platform, the IRS says to use all the forms together with your own records.
To line up a 1099-K month by month against your sales, use the free 1099-K reconciliation calculator and the guide to reconciling a 1099-K to your sales records. Platforms differ on whether the gross they report includes shipping and the tax they collected, so compare against both figures.
New Jersey sales tax: the marketplace's job or yours
Sales made through a marketplace
New Jersey's Technical Bulletin TB-83 says a marketplace facilitator must collect and remit Sales Tax on sales made through its marketplace, even when the seller is registered with New Jersey, and the marketplace seller isn't required to collect on those sales. A facilitator, in TB-83's terms, is a business that both lists or promotes sellers' goods (or handles fulfillment, pricing or customer service) and collects payment or charges fees. TB-83 also tells sellers to get regular, detailed reports of their New Jersey marketplace sales from each facilitator, because the seller must be able to show them in an audit. Download those reports every month.
Sales on your own website, at fairs and in person
Nobody collects for you there. The Division's sales tax guide (S&U-4) says anyone engaged in a business in New Jersey must register, using Form NJ-REG, at least 15 business days before starting. The rate is 6.625%, and delivery charges are taxable when the goods delivered are taxable. A store you run on Shopify under your own name counts as your own site for this purpose unless the platform's tax report shows it collected as a marketplace; check the report rather than assuming.
Selling into New Jersey from another state
The Remote Sellers page and FAQ set the threshold: register, collect and remit if, in the current or prior calendar year, gross revenue from New Jersey sales exceeds $100,000 or you make 200 or more separate transactions. Sales from your own website and from marketplaces both count. A seller over the threshold who sells only through marketplaces must still register but may ask to be put on a non-reporting basis with Form C-6205-ST. Under the threshold, a remote seller isn't required to register.
One gap in the official pages: they don't say whether a seller based in New Jersey who sells only through marketplaces needs a registration of their own. Ask the Division of Taxation and keep the answer with your records. For the wider picture, see New Jersey sales tax for small businesses and the sales tax calculator.
A monthly close that takes an hour
- Download each platform's statement, its tax report and the bank statement for the payout account.
- Rebuild each payout and note every gap.
- Move tax you collected on your own sales out of income and into what you owe.
- Update stock counts and record what you bought. If you need an inventory sheet, the Inventory Tracker & Reorder Workbook does reorder points and costs; this guide doesn't repeat it.
- Put aside money for income tax from the month's profit.
The records a preparer will ask for, from fees to cost of goods, are listed in income and expense records for marketplace sellers. On the 2026 Schedule C, line 1 is gross receipts or sales, line 2 returns and allowances, line 8 advertising and line 10 commissions and fees (Schedule C 2026). Your preparer decides which amounts go where.
Sources
- IRS: Form 1099-K, clarification of total dollar amount in box 1a
- IRS: Form 1099-K FAQs for third party filers
- IRS: Understanding your Form 1099-K
- IRS: Form 1099-K FAQs, what to do if you receive a Form 1099-K
- NJ Division of Taxation: TB-83, Sales Through a Marketplace (2018)
- NJ Division of Taxation: Remote Sellers
- NJ Division of Taxation: Remote Sellers FAQ
- NJ Division of Taxation: S&U-4, New Jersey Sales Tax Guide (Rev. 07/22)
- IRS: Schedule C (Form 1040) 2026
General information checked November 2026 against the official sources above. An organizer and calculator only, not tax or legal advice; it doesn't decide what applies to you. The check on this page runs in your browser, and nothing you enter is sent or saved.
Common questions
Why is my Form 1099-K higher than what the platform paid me?
The IRS says box 1a is the gross amount of payment transactions without any adjustment for credits, discounts, fees, refunds or other amounts. Your payouts are after fees, refunds and anything else the platform kept, so box 1a is usually larger.
Do I have to collect New Jersey sales tax on my Etsy or Amazon sales?
New Jersey's TB-83 says a marketplace facilitator must collect and remit Sales Tax on sales made through its marketplace, and the seller isn't required to collect on those sales. Check each platform's tax report to confirm it collected on your New Jersey orders.
What about sales on my own website?
Sales on your own site aren't marketplace sales, so no facilitator collects for you. The Division's sales tax guide says anyone engaged in business in New Jersey must register with Form NJ-REG at least 15 business days before starting. Out-of-state sellers count own-site and marketplace sales together against the $100,000 or 200-transaction threshold.
Will I get a 1099-K if I sold less than $20,000?
The IRS says payment apps and marketplaces must file when payments exceed $20,000 and transactions exceed 200 in the year. You may or may not get one below that, but all income is reportable either way.
What if my 1099-K is wrong?
The IRS says to contact the filer named in the upper left of the form, not the IRS. If you can't get a corrected form, don't wait to file your return.
Related: Do I need to send a 1099? · Bookkeeping for ecommerce sellers · Product Seller Bundle