Getting another credit card - impossible

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I list the Etsy as "income" even though it's really not? I don't file a tax return.

So let's say I get $600 in payments from Etsy, and I owe $300 in fees. I then take the remaining $300 and "give it" to my dad (he does pay me, so we just take that $300 off of what he owes me). He doesn't claim the money he pays me, and I don't claim it as income. I think of it as a gift, lol.

I just don't want to lie and get myself in trouble because I say I have income but I don't file taxes from it since the money is for our business, and my dad files taxes for that on his own.

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Your Etsy sales are, indeed, income and it's a really bad idea not to file a tax return on that income.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

You have 2 credit cards, I don't see why you need more at this time in order to build a credit history.

What you need is a job. A part time, student job. Working for your parent isn't a job. Its not counting towards your number of years of work when Social Security starts calculating your benefits when you retire. Your 'job' isn't being reported to the IRS. Its not building a good job history for the resume you'll need to write when applying for your first full time job.

You must realise that when you apply for a full time job, they will want to check your references. And your parents can hardly be expected to give an unbiased review of your work. Whereas even the manager at a burger joint can give a glowing review of how reliable you are, how you volunteer to fill in when co-workers are out sick, how well you do your job, etc.

Your parents, and their brothers and sisters, and all their friends had to do the same thing when they were your age. This isn't really going to come as a surprise to them.

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I understand your points and I don't want to go way off topic but your advice certainly doesn't apply in all situations.  We have no idea where she is going to school, her course load and how much free time she has to go work in a pizza parlor.  Depending upon the degree she is getting, what part time job she might or might have had while in college is about the least of any background that a potential employer is going to be concerned about.  There are many college grads who get very good and high paying jobs without having 'worked' during their college years..  

Its ts not up to us to decide whether she needs more credit.  She asked what she could do to get a Mastercard or Visa and the secured card is still her best option.

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Thank you!! I am going to the University of Vermont, planning on a Bachelor of Science in Biochemisry with minors in Statistics and Nutrition/Food Sciences. I am already busy enough dealing with our website, eBay, Etsy and our social media stuff. I certainly don't have time to get a "real" job, even this summer I'm taking 3 sessions of summer courses to get ahead.

But yeah, I just want to know what my options are. No one really mentioned cosigning, so either this ability is going away or no one really has any experience with it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I list the Etsy as "income" even though it's really not? I don't file a tax return.

So let's say I get $600 in payments from Etsy, and I owe $300 in fees. I then take the remaining $300 and "give it" to my dad (he does pay me, so we just take that $300 off of what he owes me). He doesn't claim the money he pays me, and I don't claim it as income. I think of it as a gift, lol.

I just don't want to lie and get myself in trouble because I say I have income but I don't file taxes from it since the money is for our business, and my dad files taxes for that on his own.

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Your Etsy sales are, indeed, income and it's a really bad idea not to file a tax return on that income.

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But my dad claims that money on his business taxes. So I don't claim it. No need to file taxes on the same income twice. That would be insane.

I am just the person who handles the money. All the Etsy money that comes in and goes out gets claimed on my dad's taxes. If I bring in 600 and pay 300 in fees, I owe him 300. We do our taxes through an accountant and this has never been an issue.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I list the Etsy as "income" even though it's really not? I don't file a tax return.

So let's say I get $600 in payments from Etsy, and I owe $300 in fees. I then take the remaining $300 and "give it" to my dad (he does pay me, so we just take that $300 off of what he owes me). He doesn't claim the money he pays me, and I don't claim it as income. I think of it as a gift, lol.

I just don't want to lie and get myself in trouble because I say I have income but I don't file taxes from it since the money is for our business, and my dad files taxes for that on his own.

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Your Etsy sales are, indeed, income and it's a really bad idea not to file a tax return on that income.

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But my dad claims that money on his business taxes. So I don't claim it. No need to file taxes on the same income twice. That would be insane.

I am just the person who handles the money. The all the Etsy money that comes in and goes out gets claimed on my dad's taxes.

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Is the Etsy account in your dad's name, or your name? If the latter, the IRS will have a different opinion of the way you're handling it. Particularly since it's your credit card attached to the account.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I list the Etsy as "income" even though it's really not? I don't file a tax return.

So let's say I get $600 in payments from Etsy, and I owe $300 in fees. I then take the remaining $300 and "give it" to my dad (he does pay me, so we just take that $300 off of what he owes me). He doesn't claim the money he pays me, and I don't claim it as income. I think of it as a gift, lol.

I just don't want to lie and get myself in trouble because I say I have income but I don't file taxes from it since the money is for our business, and my dad files taxes for that on his own.

---

Your Etsy sales are, indeed, income and it's a really bad idea not to file a tax return on that income.

---

But my dad claims that money on his business taxes. So I don't claim it. No need to file taxes on the same income twice. That would be insane.

I am just the person who handles the money. The all the Etsy money that comes in and goes out gets claimed on my dad's taxes.

---

Is the Etsy account in your dad's name, or your name? If the latter, the IRS will have a different opinion of the way you're handling it. Particularly since it's your credit card attached to the account.

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The Etsy account is in our business name.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I list the Etsy as "income" even though it's really not? I don't file a tax return.

So let's say I get $600 in payments from Etsy, and I owe $300 in fees. I then take the remaining $300 and "give it" to my dad (he does pay me, so we just take that $300 off of what he owes me). He doesn't claim the money he pays me, and I don't claim it as income. I think of it as a gift, lol.

I just don't want to lie and get myself in trouble because I say I have income but I don't file taxes from it since the money is for our business, and my dad files taxes for that on his own.

---

Your Etsy sales are, indeed, income and it's a really bad idea not to file a tax return on that income.

---

But my dad claims that money on his business taxes. So I don't claim it. No need to file taxes on the same income twice. That would be insane.

I am just the person who handles the money. The all the Etsy money that comes in and goes out gets claimed on my dad's taxes.

---

Is the Etsy account in your dad's name, or your name? If the latter, the IRS will have a different opinion of the way you're handling it. Particularly since it's your credit card attached to the account.

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The Etsy account is in our business name.

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In that case, not a problem. 

[jsucool76]

I'm gonna go ahead and say jobs are really a necessity in terms of credit. Or at least reportable income of some kind. 

As far as secured cards go, you can try. Just because the card is secured though does not guarantee you approval. 

Cap1 will let you put up to 3k in a secured account, and it will be reported as a regular credit card (not a secured card) but you still wont have any income, so it really isn't going to do anything for you. 

BoA has a secured card as well, which also offers rewards. 

Without a reportable income, I'd say your options are EXTREMELY if not ENTIRELY limited. $750 credit limit on a $500 listed income is good. Just make multiple payments a month if you need more credit, or push money from your bank to your credit card to give you a negative balance, letting you charge a bit more onto it at a time. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

You have 2 credit cards, I don't see why you need more at this time in order to build a credit history.

What you need is a job. A part time, student job. Working for your parent isn't a job. Its not counting towards your number of years of work when Social Security starts calculating your benefits when you retire. Your 'job' isn't being reported to the IRS. Its not building a good job history for the resume you'll need to write when applying for your first full time job.

You must realise that when you apply for a full time job, they will want to check your references. And your parents can hardly be expected to give an unbiased review of your work. Whereas even the manager at a burger joint can give a glowing review of how reliable you are, how you volunteer to fill in when co-workers are out sick, how well you do your job, etc.

Your parents, and their brothers and sisters, and all their friends had to do the same thing when they were your age. This isn't really going to come as a surprise to them.

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I understand your points and I don't want to go way off topic but your advice certainly doesn't apply in all situations.  We have no idea where she is going to school, her course load and how much free time she has to go work in a pizza parlor.  Depending upon the degree she is getting, what part time job she might or might have had while in college is about the least of any background that a potential employer is going to be concerned about.  There are many college grads who get very good and high paying jobs without having 'worked' during their college years..  

Its ts not up to us to decide whether she needs more credit.  She asked what she could do to get a Mastercard or Visa and the secured card is still her best option.

---

Thank you!! I am going to the University of Vermont, planning on a Bachelor of Science in Biochemisry with minors in Statistics and Nutrition/Food Sciences. I am already busy enough dealing with our website, eBay, Etsy and our social media stuff. I certainly don't have time to get a "real" job, even this summer I'm taking 3 sessions of summer courses to get ahead.

But yeah, I just want to know what my options are. No one really mentioned cosigning, so either this ability is going away or no one really has any experience with it.

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I sorta alluded to cosigning in my first post.  Other than Discover I'm not aware of any credit card companies that allow cosigners.  There probably are some credit unions that do but that's something you'll need to check up on with the ones that you're eligible to join.  It will also require your parent(s) to join.

Good luck in school.  While it's quite a few years since I was your age, I know how little free time you can have in school. 

[Anonymous]

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@jsucool76 wrote:

I'm gonna go ahead and say jobs are really a necessity in terms of credit. Or at least reportable income of some kind. 

As far as secured cards go, you can try. Just because the card is secured though does not guarantee you approval. 

Cap1 will let you put up to 3k in a secured account, and it will be reported as a regular credit card (not a secured card) but you still wont have any income, so it really isn't going to do anything for you. 

BoA has a secured card as well, which also offers rewards. 

Without a reportable income, I'd say your options are EXTREMELY if not ENTIRELY limited. $750 credit limit on a $500 listed income is good. Just make multiple payments a month if you need more credit, or push money from your bank to your credit card to give you a negative balance, letting you charge a bit more onto it at a time. 

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Yeah, I will make more manual payments when the Etsy purchases start to get larger. That's not an issue.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

You have 2 credit cards, I don't see why you need more at this time in order to build a credit history.

What you need is a job. A part time, student job. Working for your parent isn't a job. Its not counting towards your number of years of work when Social Security starts calculating your benefits when you retire. Your 'job' isn't being reported to the IRS. Its not building a good job history for the resume you'll need to write when applying for your first full time job.

You must realise that when you apply for a full time job, they will want to check your references. And your parents can hardly be expected to give an unbiased review of your work. Whereas even the manager at a burger joint can give a glowing review of how reliable you are, how you volunteer to fill in when co-workers are out sick, how well you do your job, etc.

Your parents, and their brothers and sisters, and all their friends had to do the same thing when they were your age. This isn't really going to come as a surprise to them.

---

I understand your points and I don't want to go way off topic but your advice certainly doesn't apply in all situations.  We have no idea where she is going to school, her course load and how much free time she has to go work in a pizza parlor.  Depending upon the degree she is getting, what part time job she might or might have had while in college is about the least of any background that a potential employer is going to be concerned about.  There are many college grads who get very good and high paying jobs without having 'worked' during their college years..  

Its ts not up to us to decide whether she needs more credit.  She asked what she could do to get a Mastercard or Visa and the secured card is still her best option.

---

Thank you!! I am going to the University of Vermont, planning on a Bachelor of Science in Biochemisry with minors in Statistics and Nutrition/Food Sciences. I am already busy enough dealing with our website, eBay, Etsy and our social media stuff. I certainly don't have time to get a "real" job, even this summer I'm taking 3 sessions of summer courses to get ahead.

But yeah, I just want to know what my options are. No one really mentioned cosigning, so either this ability is going away or no one really has any experience with it.

---

I sorta alluded to cosigning in my first post.  Other than Discover I'm not aware of any credit card companies that allow cosigners.  There probably are some credit unions that do but that's something you'll need to check up on with the ones that you're eligible to join.  It will also require your parent(s) to join.

Good luck in school.  While it's quite a few years since I was your age, I know how little free time you can have in school. 

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Yes I saw that, but I already have a Discover. I want a Visa or Master Card since those are much more widely accepted. I'm surprised that other companies don't do cosigning. You can do that for loans and stuff.