What Does the IRS Think of Your Emails?

 

Business (or entrepreneurial) email accounts are an essential part of business. Business emails are increasingly the method of communication used with vendors and clients. In this article, learn about business email accounts and how they may differ by brand, their value, and their importance as an asset in the sale of a business or even upon the death of a business or its owner. Please remember the focus is on entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Something to think about: If you sell your business assets, including a website, buyers may want to include all your business email information and any email lists you maintain for customers and vendors. While the IRS also doesn't consider email lists a business asset, the buyer might disagree depending upon the freshness of that list. Email lists are used to generate revenue, collect feedback, and to market products and services. If a business sells its email list, the revenue is considered income if not a class asset, and reporting that income is mandatory for any entrepreneur or small business.

Your domain email names are not important when it comes to business emails. What is important is the content you’ve stashed in those emails and the responses you received in return. Take a bit of time this next month (after you’ve filed those taxes) to clean up that business email. Categorize, organize, and develop email lists in spreadsheets. With that activity, you have created a valuable asset. Content matters.

Learn more about how your email is married to your business with this article at Hyperdivergent.