Facebook fundraisers may be taxed. One do-gooder got a 'huge shock' after a $16000 tax bill

CLOSE Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to raise money and determine demand. But did you know there’s more than just GoFundMe? So you want to hold a fundraiser on Facebook? Don’t forget to read the fine print.Louis Goffinet, a Connecticut middle school teacher who began a fundraiser on Facebook last year to help buy groceries for families in need as the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread, learned that the hard way. What began by asking a few Facebook friends for $200 in donations quickly went viral. Goffinet eventually raised more than $41,000 to purchase and deliver groceries for more than 100 families in his hometown of Mansfield Center, Connecticut, as well as help pay rent and buy gas. He was hailed as a hero for putting together not one, but two fundraisers where he spent days, nights and weekends helping others. Then, Goffinet got a huge surprise in January: The Internal Revenue Service sent him a letter with a 1099-K form saying what he’d raised is taxable as income.An early estimate indicates he could owe more than $16,000 in taxes. “It was a huge shock,” the 27-year-old Goffinet told USA TODAY on Monday. “It’s a big amount, especially in the context with me being a teacher who does not have $16,000 idly waiting to pay taxes.”It started when Goffinet went…
Read More