A high school teacher received a $ 16,000 tax bill after raising more than $ 41,000 on Facebook to help his neighbors pay for food and rent during the coronavirus pandemic.
Louis Goffinet originally paid out of his own pocket to help his elderly neighbors pay for food, and went to the grocery store to get groceries for them, the Hartford Courant report.
After a while, he realized that more people needed help and set up a Facebook fundraiser, which set the limit at $ 200. Nearly a year later, he set up two Facebook fundraisers totaling more than $ 41,000 in donations.
Goffinet tracked down more than 140 grocery trips he undertook, 125 families he helped pay for dinners, gave gift cards to 25 families for Christmas, paid for 31 Thanksgiving meals and gave 5 families rental assistance with the money, according to the Courant.
Fundraisers that earn more than $ 20,000 on Facebook are taxable, according to the newspaper. Goffinet received a tax form of 1099, with a bill of $ 16,000.
“I was so shocked,” Goffinet told the Hartford Courant. ‘When I think of the spiritual place I was at the end of January, I did a second fundraiser that was a lot of work – busy weekends coordinating Thanksgiving, holiday gifts – to mail what I consider an account getting for $ 16,000 was just shocking. ‘
A certified accountant, Dawn Brolin, helps Goffinet with the form, but he still expects to pay some of the money.
“She’s going to find a way we can file my taxes appropriately,” he said. ‘It can mean a few different things. It will probably result in another kind of tax burden, but she can not quantify it until we sit down next week and record all my records. ‘
He has so far received $ 2,000 from the community to help, but has raised more and more money to cover the tax.