Comments on: RetailMeNot.com Launched Shopping Community

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:28:29 +0000

@Yan — I actually have quite a different view on this because I don’t do affiliate marketing on OzBargain. I will post about it this week.

@noneother — well, I think ATO’s definition of “hobby” might be a bit different from yours, otherwise I will suddenly have lots of hobbies :) You might want to look up some of the example hobbies given by ATO. The very fact that I am getting a .com.au domain means I need either an ABN, an ACN or a business registration number — and that would probably rule out any chance claiming this is just a hobby.

By: noneother

noneother — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:03:31 +0000

Scott I don’t see any reason to include the income in your tax return. This site is a hobby site & any income you earnt is for upkeep of the site. The only reason I can see to include the income in your tax return is if you say it is a business ite and then claim ‘business’ expenses in the form of hosting fees/prizes etc. Assuming you you have a net profit the inclusion will result in higher tax.

By: Yan

Yan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:37:57 +0000

Hey Scott! Glad to see you are alive and kicking. The RetailMeNot coverage has brought back some interesting discussions to the “social bargain hunting” area. Would love to hear your opinion. Is sharing an exclusive coupon on a site like RetailMeNot morally acceptable? Should RMN stuff take these down? Can they possibly prevent this? If they can’t why other affiliates should suffer? Does the traditional marketing model stand? These and many other questions…

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:17:33 +0000

@Duncan — thanks for the offer. I was only joking when I asked for an interview. I rather stay low profile :)

By: Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:42:51 +0000

If you pitch and it has a Web 2.0 angle always happy to take a look.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:39:04 +0000

@Jeff,

Well. The sum — I usually only know the exact figure at around 1 week before Oct 31 — when the tax return form is due! However 8 figures — so is between 10 million and 99 million Indonesian Rupiah per year revenue ($1,167-$11,561 AUD). More likely somewhere in the middle :)

But also remember, it’s just the revenue. Weekly prizes alone cost me more than $2,000 last year, hosting more than $600, and a few other expenses. The exact sum will be reserved between me and ATO.

Oh, 40% of the profit goes to ATO as well. Damn.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:40:59 +0000

Okay Scotty:
1) I’ll do an interview with you!
2) Can you disclose the sum?