
Single mother of 6 ensnared by undercover sting for selling ceviche via Facebook - finid
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/07/undercover-sting-nabs-california-mother-selling-ceviche-through-facebook-group/
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aisofteng
>She hadn’t ever looked into obtaining a permit, Ruelas said, because she only
sold or exchanged food items once or twice a month at most, as a hobby on
occasional weekends

Well, that's a business. Not a big one but still one. If I did coding for
people once or twice a month for a bit of money, I'd be operating a business.
Again, low volume, but still a business.

You might say she didn't mean any harm and didn't know - well that's why a
plea bargain was offered to everyone involved. When you get stubborn over it,
well, then you go to court, single mother of six or not.

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tmnvix
> Well, that's a business. Not a big one but still one.

Not necessarily. I don't know the specifics of her jurisdiction but the
Australian Taxation Office for instance makes a rather vague distinction
between a hobby and a business. The distinction is unclear enough that they
actually publish an online tool to help you determine if you are engaged in a
hobby or business. Simply earning money is not enough to qualify as a business
(according to the ATO).

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simonh
It's the same in the UK. There's a distinct category for small volume,
occasional transactions like this. Surely it must be the same in the US? All
those people occasionally selling their junk on eBay aren't all registered
businesses right? But then food might be different.

This is till ridiculous though. All the cops had to do was give them a warning
and I'm sure they would have just stopped. No need for a one year
investigation, fines, etc. It's an obvious case of wasteful overkill.

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DanBC
It's a little bit different because she's engaging in trade - she's creating
something with the intent to sell it. If I buy a second hand car every other
month to do up and sell I'm a trader.

In the UK we tend to warn before prosecuting. The article says a warning was
sent to the group, so they didn't seem to rush to prosecute.

~~~
tmnvix
> she's creating something with the intent to sell it.

This is something the ATO actually takes into account. However, just like
turning a profit, this alone is not sufficient to qualify as a business.

