hi I have TTS. If i paid a person (say independed contractor) for stock research partly via cash and partly via paypal -- what kind of documentation is required to claim it as an expense?
If you're an individual trader, you can't claim it as an expense. If you're a business you might be able to claim the expense... if you can you'd have to give the guy a 1099 and include the info on your tax return.
Consult a cpa that said if you paid more than 600 you as an individual can cut 1099 misc and send it to irs and payee. You can then claim that in your expense. The rules are vague in this as you won't find anything specific. As long as your deduction won't invite an audit you should have no problem with documents you u rely paid for service, even without 1099. 1099 is the correct way.
Thank you @Girija and @Scataphagos. confirm same with my research - needs to be documented with 1099.