The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

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The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by makeup »

So I don't know if it's just me, but for years, when I was watching Elle and Blair's closet tours, I always thought it was weird and overly OCD of them both to keep boxes filled with every single receipt of everything they purchased. Like, who does that? I remember Elle would lift the lid, and it would be this huge box stuffed with receipts. And she'd say something like, "whenever I buy something new, I just throw the receipt in there to keep track of what I buy, and in case I need to return something." When I watch Blair's videos, she says the same thing about returning clothing that still has the tag on it, and recommends other girls do it too to be organized.

Well it didn't really hit me until I was watching beautybaby44's closet tour and Lindsay showed a huge ziplock bag full of receipts and mumbled "I need to save these for tax reasons." It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. So THAT'S why they keep all their receipts! Returns, my ass! That reason always seemed fishy because do Elle or Blair seem like the kind of girls who ever go and return anything? Elle has even said before in videos that she will never ever return makeup because she "feels too bad about it," even if it is expensive department store makeup that you CAN return, and even if she doesn't like the product.

So why keep all their receipts? Well, first of all, when you make a certain amount of money per year, you have to pay taxes to the government. It is not normal for a teenager in high school to be paying taxes, but if you're making 6 figures a year doing youtube videos, even a 16 year old has to pay taxes. Justin Bieber has to pay taxes. People who have somewhat unique or unusual jobs often get special tax write-offs. My older sister works at a modeling agency and she is able to write off clothes that she buys as "wardrobe essentials" for her job, because it is important to her job that she dress a certain way. She is able to expense "dinners with clients" even if it is just a model who is a friend of hers. I used to date a Hollywood screenwriter, and he always saved his movie stubs, because he was able to write write them off on his taxes.

So guess what? With all the bitching that we do on here about how Elle and Blair have sponsored videos and get all their products sent to them for free, because of their job titles, even the makeup that they purchase "with their own money" gets paid for as a tax-write off. Pretty sneaky!!! I felt really stupid when I realized that was why they kept all their receipts and that they'd been disguising the truth for so many years.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by jbee33 »

This isn't really anything new. I know its been discussed here before about them using their purchases for tax write-offs. To be honest, its nothing that millions of other people do every year on their taxes. Is it wrong.. possibly, but what can you do?

Besides, I have to disagree with you about being taxed when you are young. It is completely normal for a teenager in high school to be taxed if they are working at a job. Doesn't matter if its an ice cream shop, mc Donalds.. if you are over 16 and work in a business, you have to pay taxes.. even if you make a few thousand a year. Taxes are not meant for people who make 6 figures. Not sure if that is what you meant to say, but thats how it came off.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by fauxfox »

And the write-offs don't mean that the stuff becomes free...but it does typically "reduce" your base salary (to a point) so you pay less in income tax overall. It's their job, so it's not surprising that they do this. People with their own businesses can deduct the costs of office supplies, software, etc., that are used for their business. Standard stuff, but interesting to think about from a YouTube perspective.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by Angie V »

It's not really sneaky, people do it all the time. If you want to, you can write off the most miniscule or the most outrageous things if you have your own business, if you ARE your own business, if you work from home, if you rent an office space, etc. It's normal.
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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by epc »

jbee33 wrote:Besides, I have to disagree with you about being taxed when you are young. It is completely normal for a teenager in high school to be taxed if they are working at a job. Doesn't matter if its an ice cream shop, mc Donalds.. if you are over 16 and work in a business, you have to pay taxes.. even if you make a few thousand a year. Taxes are not meant for people who make 6 figures. Not sure if that is what you meant to say, but thats how it came off.
You have to make something like $5,000/year to have to pay taxes. A teenager working a part-time job usually doesn't make that much.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by jbee33 »

epc wrote:
jbee33 wrote:Besides, I have to disagree with you about being taxed when you are young. It is completely normal for a teenager in high school to be taxed if they are working at a job. Doesn't matter if its an ice cream shop, mc Donalds.. if you are over 16 and work in a business, you have to pay taxes.. even if you make a few thousand a year. Taxes are not meant for people who make 6 figures. Not sure if that is what you meant to say, but thats how it came off.
You have to make something like $5,000/year to have to pay taxes. A teenager working a part-time job usually doesn't make that much.
Well I've worked since I was 16/part time and made barely anything (maybe around $3,000 or $4,000) and I had to pay taxes. Both federal and state taxes. I actually ended up OWEING the government after I did all the paper work. Besides, even if you don't have to do tax returns because of making a certain amount. You still have taxes taken out each week on your check. State, federal, social security. Those are all taken out even before you get your final pay for the week/2 weeks. Either way, you are still being taxed. No one gets off scott free. This is the US government we are talking about after all! lol

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by clandestine »

Tax part aside, why is it so weird to imagine someone keeping their receipts? Its a smart move (for not tax related issues). I keep most of my receipts whenever I buy clothing. Just because you may not do something doesn't mean its not possible that someone else does.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by Heynow »

I have wondered how much they are able to write off and if everyone does it. Blair might be writing off all her bedroom furniture and decor since she films in her bedroom and has made it a point to film her remodel.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by DangerousAngel »

It doesn't surprise me, BUT...

What I find abhorrent is that they probably end up paying very little in income tax (if any at all) when tax season comes around. What they're doing is a classic tax evasion maneuver that the rich and self-employed people have been doing forever. They probably write off EVERYTHING: clothes, makeup, shoes, accessories, home decor (and the fees they paid their interior decorators), airfare and transportation (including gas), dinners and lunches, even such things as haircuts and coloring, manicures and pedicures (as required "upkeep" for the image of their brand). They will write up more than we'll ever see on any youtube video. Tax codes like these overwhelmingly favor corporations and the rich, not working and middle class people. It's pure greed, like I said. I don't think it's inherently right, and the wealth disparity in this country continues to worsen.

I do think Elle and Blair only see dollar signs anymore. The irony here is that when people get to a point where paying taxes isn't a burden like it perhaps would be to a middle or working class family, they end up paying much less than they would otherwise, due to clever accounting and tax loopholes.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by blameitonthealtitude »

This just screams 'no shit' to me - they're making a fortune off this, and like most businesses certain things that are bought specifically for the job can be written off on their taxes.
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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by tillwesurrender »

it makes me so mad that gurus think shopping is a part of their job, its actually borderline insane. I always here gurus justifying their $200 mac purchase because" they did it to make a haul" to be honest, being a succesful beauty guru seems like a pretty sweet deal, and for all the complaining some people do it's seriously infuriating. Anyways, elle and blair have done sneakier things, more greedy things ect. Thanks for sharing!

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by Ramarose »

Hey so no matter how much you earn you pay taxes... it automatically comes out of your paycheck. Also as a Senior in highschool I made over 8,000 working part time that year and closer to 9000 during my first year of college.. as a teenager ;)

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by sfg »

but Blair said exactly that. if i recall correctly, in her first-ever room/closet tour, she said she had that box full of receipts because her dad told her that it was a good idea to keep all receipts for tax reasons.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by Ireth0 »

Ramarose wrote:Hey so no matter how much you earn you pay taxes... it automatically comes out of your paycheck. Also as a Senior in highschool I made over 8,000 working part time that year and closer to 9000 during my first year of college.. as a teenager ;)
Normally if you make under a certain amount, you get what you paid in taxes back when you file your tax return. They sill get taken off your weekly pay, but you get that money back as a refund if you end up not making above a certain amount during the year.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by sameowthaaa »

makeup wrote:So I don't know if it's just me, but for years, when I was watching Elle and Blair's closet tours, I always thought it was weird and overly OCD of them both to keep boxes filled with every single receipt of everything they purchased. Like, who does that? I remember Elle would lift the lid, and it would be this huge box stuffed with receipts. And she'd say something like, "whenever I buy something new, I just throw the receipt in there to keep track of what I buy, and in case I need to return something." When I watch Blair's videos, she says the same thing about returning clothing that still has the tag on it, and recommends other girls do it too to be organized.

Well it didn't really hit me until I was watching beautybaby44's closet tour and Lindsay showed a huge ziplock bag full of receipts and mumbled "I need to save these for tax reasons." It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. So THAT'S why they keep all their receipts! Returns, my ass! That reason always seemed fishy because do Elle or Blair seem like the kind of girls who ever go and return anything? Elle has even said before in videos that she will never ever return makeup because she "feels too bad about it," even if it is expensive department store makeup that you CAN return, and even if she doesn't like the product.

So why keep all their receipts? Well, first of all, when you make a certain amount of money per year, you have to pay taxes to the government. It is not normal for a teenager in high school to be paying taxes, but if you're making 6 figures a year doing youtube videos, even a 16 year old has to pay taxes. Justin Bieber has to pay taxes. People who have somewhat unique or unusual jobs often get special tax write-offs. My older sister works at a modeling agency and she is able to write off clothes that she buys as "wardrobe essentials" for her job, because it is important to her job that she dress a certain way. She is able to expense "dinners with clients" even if it is just a model who is a friend of hers. I used to date a Hollywood screenwriter, and he always saved his movie stubs, because he was able to write write them off on his taxes.

So guess what? With all the bitching that we do on here about how Elle and Blair have sponsored videos and get all their products sent to them for free, because of their job titles, even the makeup that they purchase "with their own money" gets paid for as a tax-write off. Pretty sneaky!!! I felt really stupid when I realized that was why they kept all their receipts and that they'd been disguising the truth for so many years.
lol do you know how many people do this?? hahahaha I do it with any lotions, sheets, aromatherapy, any type of gym membership that i have.. like any job that you have if you work for yourself, you can tax rightoff anything haahhaha

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by bspatrol »

Just FYI because it was discussed. In order to write off a home/office, it has to be a designated room and be used "regularly and exclusively" for the business. So, she cannot write off the bedroom at all. But yes they do probably write off the filming room, etc. Yes, they pay big time accountants to be able to deduct any little thing they can.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by bspatrol »

bspatrol wrote:Just FYI because it was discussed. In order to write off a home/office, it has to be a designated room and be used "regularly and exclusively" for the business. So, she cannot write off the bedroom at all. But yes they do probably write off the filming room, etc. Yes, they pay big time accountants to be able to deduct any little thing they can.

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by baconpancakes »

bspatrol wrote:Just FYI because it was discussed. In order to write off a home/office, it has to be a designated room and be used "regularly and exclusively" for the business. So, she cannot write off the bedroom at all. But yes they do probably write off the filming room, etc. Yes, they pay big time accountants to be able to deduct any little thing they can.
Are you referring to their guest bedrooms? Bc both of them have said on camera that they intended to use those rooms for when their parents and sister come to visit, as well as for filming. It seems odd that they'd be able to claim the bedroom furniture that's in there as office equipment. I wonder if they can still "write it off" if they have ppl sleeping in there?

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by bspatrol »

baconpancakes wrote:
bspatrol wrote:Just FYI because it was discussed. In order to write off a home/office, it has to be a designated room and be used "regularly and exclusively" for the business. So, she cannot write off the bedroom at all. But yes they do probably write off the filming room, etc. Yes, they pay big time accountants to be able to deduct any little thing they can.
Are you referring to their guest bedrooms? Bc both of them have said on camera that they intended to use those rooms for when their parents and sister come to visit, as well as for filming. It seems odd that they'd be able to claim the bedroom furniture that's in there as office equipment. I wonder if they can still "write it off" if they have ppl sleeping in there?
good point! i forgot about that!

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Re: The REAL Reason Why Elle and Blair...

Post by bspatrol »

baconpancakes wrote:
bspatrol wrote:Just FYI because it was discussed. In order to write off a home/office, it has to be a designated room and be used "regularly and exclusively" for the business. So, she cannot write off the bedroom at all. But yes they do probably write off the filming room, etc. Yes, they pay big time accountants to be able to deduct any little thing they can.
Are you referring to their guest bedrooms? Bc both of them have said on camera that they intended to use those rooms for when their parents and sister come to visit, as well as for filming. It seems odd that they'd be able to claim the bedroom furniture that's in there as office equipment. I wonder if they can still "write it off" if they have ppl sleeping in there?
Well I guess she read my post and took out the guest bedroom option. Glad I could be of service! Looks like she will now legit take a tax write off based on her latest video (which is now in plain view for IRS tax auditors - see now my room is only for business use). LOL. Go Blair!

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