MANSFIELD, Connecticut (AP) – A Connecticut high school teacher who raised $ 41,000 to help hundreds of neighbors struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic received a nasty surprise over his charitable efforts – a form claiming he could owe 16,031 dollars in income taxes.
Louis Goffinet, 27, of Mansfield, began collecting groceries for elderly neighbors who feared going to the store during the early days of the pandemic, often spending their own money. Faced with the great need, he later organized two fundraisers on Facebook for a year and helped hundreds of families with groceries, rent money and holiday gifts, according to Hartford Courant, who set a $ 200 limit. .
Goffinet said both financial support for his efforts and demand for assistance ended up being higher than he first expected. He tracked 140 grocery trips on a spreadsheet, noting that he also provided Friday night dinners to 125 families, holiday gift cards for 20 families so they could buy gifts for their children, 31 Thanksgiving dinners and rental help to five families. Some local businesses donated food.
“It got dramatically bigger than I thought,” he said. “My original goal was to raise $ 200 to help a family with food. When I established this, I already doubted to myself that the people of the city would not want to pay for someone else’s groceries.
In January, Facebook sent Goffinet a 1099 form saying he owed taxes on the money he had raised. Facebook warns users that money generated with a fundraiser on the social media platform can be taxed if more than $ 20,000 is raised and a 1099 tax form will be issued.
“I was so shocked,” Goffinet told Courant. “When I think of the mental point I was at the end of January, I came out of a second fundraiser that was a lot of work (busy weekends coordinating Thanksgiving, holiday gifts) to get what I perceived as a bill for $ 16,000 mail was just shocking. “
Goffinet is now working with a local accountant to determine how best to handle the situation. His bill is due on May 17 and he expects to pay “some kind of tax burden,” but he doesn’t know how much. Meanwhile, some people in the community are now trying to help him with the tax bill, so far by sending $ 2,000 checks to a mailbox, not via Facebook.