USA Unearned Income for Newsletter

[joego]

Hello!

I am a first time poster and hope that I can get some information on unearned income regarding a newsletter. If I had an accountant, I would call him/her, so thank you very much in advance!

I started a newsletter about 6 months ago with the following subscription time periods: annual, 6 month, quarterly and monthly.

At the time, in addition to the other time periods, I was excited that I had close to 50 annual subscription sign-ups for $500 each. I gave them a 1 month money back guarantee, which none hit me up for.

So, after the 1 month guarantee was over, I learned about unearned income.

My employer tells me that I can't touch this money until the full year is up because it is unearned income.

I understand the basic rule, but after 6 months, haven't I fulfilled half of the agreement, and can take half of the income?

If I died in a car crash today, I would guess that only half of the subscription would be refunded because I have sent them 6 months of newsletters.

From a tax perspective, how do you deal with this unearned income? Do I have to wait until the end of the 12 month period to get paid by my employer, or can I take it month by month?

Thank you for your help!

Joe

 

[kirby]

You have the right viewpoint on this.

Your problem is that your employer either a) is too dim to understand this or b) really does not intend to pay you.

 

[joego]

Thanks Kirby!

So if I hear you correctly, it is acceptable to amortize this income over time. He may not want to do it, but it is acceptable from an accounting perspective.

Once again, thank you for your reply.

Joe