Plasma donation

[Ottakee]

What can you tell me about this? We donated blood Saturday and nowy son is interested in donating plasma as a way to get extra money.

 

Is the money reportable as income on your taxes or not?

[plansrme]

Theoretically, yes, it is reportable as income, but unless the plasma place pays him over $600 (I think it's $600 now) in a calendar year, they are not going to issue a 1099.  So whether he reports it is probably between him and his conscience.

 

I remember there being lots of ads in my college newspaper for plasma donations.  I jokingly referred to them in a conversation with my dad once, and he was appalled that I would think of donating plasma for money.  I wasn't actually considering it.  His reaction surprised me, though.  I didn't (and still don't) see anything wrong with it.

[Lady Marmalade]

No, it is not reportable because it is not income and the plasma donation center will include that information on your first visit.  I donated plasma for a few years not too long ago.    

 

I really enjoyed donating plasma.  It got to the point where I could churn out a donation in 40 minutes if I was well-hydrated. That was 40 minutes that I could sit and enjoy a book while pumping my fist.  Very easy money, and I paid for a few Christmases with my plasma money.  I had to stop after two years because I was having trouble keeping my protein levels high enough for donating.  I had too many negative draws over a certain period of time and they wouldn't let me donate any more.  

 

The plasma center does not collect your social security number for reporting purposes, and you definitely don't get any kind of 1099.  For their purposes, they are giving you a cash gift for your time.

 

I read somewhere once that because you are donating the plasma, on top of not having to claim the money on your income taxes, that technically a tax-savvy person could deduct expenses to do a donation (wear and tear on vehicle, fuel expenses, etc.), but haven't dug any deeper into that idea.

[Slache]

I used to do it and I was sick all of the time. When I stopped I was no longer sick.

[vonfirmath]

My dad is concerned about us donating plasma because he thinks it lowers our resistance to illness.  We've never actually done it partly due to his caution. But I had friends who made grocery money by both donating plasma on a regular basis.  And they didn't seem especially sickly

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

No, it is not reportable because it is not income and the plasma donation center will include that information on your first visit.  I donated plasma for a few years not too long ago.    

 

I really enjoyed donating plasma.  It got to the point where I could churn out a donation in 40 minutes if I was well-hydrated. That was 40 minutes that I could sit and enjoy a book while pumping my fist.  Very easy money, and I paid for a few Christmases with my plasma money.  I had to stop after two years because I was having trouble keeping my protein levels high enough for donating.  I had too many negative draws over a certain period of time and they wouldn't let me donate any more.  

 

The plasma center does not collect your social security number for reporting purposes, and you definitely don't get any kind of 1099.  For their purposes, they are giving you a cash gift for your time.

 

I read somewhere once that because you are donating the plasma, on top of not having to claim the money on your income taxes, that technically a tax-savvy person could deduct expenses to do a donation (wear and tear on vehicle, fuel expenses, etc.), but haven't dug any deeper into that idea.

 

I couldn't find anything on-line to back this up.  Do you have a link or something?

[mominco]

I just wanted to say Thank you to all those that donate.

My son needs immunity and gets iv plasma every 3 weeks.

His life depends on it.

 

SO thank you thank you thank you !

[Ottakee]

Both my Ds and I are interested. I need to.figure out the legalities though of the tax stuff as he is on disability and we can't mess that up. We could do it though until the $600 limit. I have read conflicting things on the tax stuff.....we want to be legal but if we don't have to.report it and pay taxes on it then that would be a huge plus.

[umsami]

I had friends who used to do it for spending money in college.  I don't think they ever reported it.

[plansrme]

Both my Ds and I are interested. I need to.figure out the legalities though of the tax stuff as he is on disability and we can't mess that up. We could do it though until the $600 limit. I have read conflicting things on the tax stuff.....we want to be legal but if we don't have to.report it and pay taxes on it then that would be a huge plus.

The $600 limit is when they are supposed to issue you a 1099, but it is taxable at dollar 1. The IRS has issued a private letter ruling on this exact topic. There have been arguments to the contrary, but the presumption is that everything you receive is income, and that presumption applies unless there is a specific exception. The plasma (or egg donor) companies will tell you you are selling a service, but that doesn't make any difference--selling services is how MOST of us make our money. Anyway, if the plasma company does not issue a 1099, your chances of being caught are almost nil.

[plansrme]

And the relevant PLR.

[marbel]

I thought about donating plasma in college, but it takes a lot of work just to get enough blood out of me for a test, so it seemed like a bad idea.  I am glad there are people who can do it.

 

But if people are getting paid for it, aren't they selling it rather than donating it?

 

Just a language nitpick, I know.   But I've wondered that before, and now we're talking about it so it seems like a good time to ask.

 

 

[shawthorne44]

What is the going rate for plasma?   

[G5052]

I thought about donating plasma in college, but it takes a lot of work just to get enough blood out of me for a test, so it seemed like a bad idea.  I am glad there are people who can do it.

 

But if people are getting paid for it, aren't they selling it rather than donating it?

 

Just a language nitpick, I know.   But I've wondered that before, and now we're talking about it so it seems like a good time to ask.

 

Getting paid means that it's income, period. 

 

If you babysit for pay, technically that's income. Teenagers typically don't make enough at it to file taxes, but if you're an adult with other household income and file jointly, technically you're supposed to claim it, no matter how small.

 

There are rules about occasional yard sales and ebay that make that income exempt as long as your selling your stuff at a loss. If you start buying things, making a profit, and doing it regularly, you should claim.

 

Some years ago I taught for a local group where the leader never handed out 1099's even though most of us were making over $600. This happened over three years, over-and-over even though some of us asked about it. Some of the teachers didn't claim that income because of the mistaken idea that it wasn't taxable, and some of us did and paid taxes on it.

Edited June 7, 2016 by G5052

[BlsdMama]

I did it for a few months a while ago... I really didn't mind it at all.... However my hair started falling out heavily. I really think there are health if you do it more than occasionally.

 

Clean facility and, for the most part, if you go early in the AM, soccer moms. Lunch hour tended to be white collar guys.

[Lady Marmalade]

I couldn't find anything on-line to back this up.  Do you have a link or something?

 

I searched all over the website of the center I used to donate at, looking for this information,and it is not there.  It was in the packet of paperwork that I brought home with me that it was not income, and I was also not "selling" my plasma.  They were very specific about the language used.  You could try looking on the website for your nearest center. 

[Lady Marmalade]

I thought about donating plasma in college, but it takes a lot of work just to get enough blood out of me for a test, so it seemed like a bad idea.  I am glad there are people who can do it.

 

But if people are getting paid for it, aren't they selling it rather than donating it?

 

Just a language nitpick, I know.   But I've wondered that before, and now we're talking about it so it seems like a good time to ask.

 

Yes, the language nitpick.  The plasma centers are very specific about the language they are using.  At the center I used, they specifically said that they were compensating donors for their commitment to the donation program.  They never call it "getting paid", and they are very careful to say that people are not selling their plasma.  They get pretty specific about that stuff at a first donation orientation.

[G5052]

Another source saying that it is taxable (this is more readable than IRS documents rulings IMHO):

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2342656-plasma-donation-as-taxable-income

Edited June 7, 2016 by G5052

[SparklyUnicorn]

Another source saying that it is taxable (and more readable than IRS documents):

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2342656-plasma-donation-as-taxable-income

 

Yeah I found several tax sites that say you are supposed to.  Being brutally honest I wouldn't claim it unless they sent a 1099 because if they do that, they have reported it to the IRS and so they will know.

[Lady Marmalade]

What is the going rate for plasma?   

 

Varies by area, but the going rate here is $20 for the first donation of the week, $30 for the second.  Then on top of that weekly amount, they frequently run specials, like "donate six times this month, and on your seventh donation receive a $50 bonus".    There has to be two days in between donations, so sometimes getting that second one in is tricky.  I used to do it while my kids were at dance classes.  I would drop them to dance and go donate.   I hardly ever managed to go every available day during the month, but when I did, I could take home up to $280 once bonuses were added.

 

Re: The sickly stuff.  I never felt like I got sick more frequently during the time I was donating.  However, the few times I did get sick, it seemed like it took me a little longer to recover, and I wondered if it was because of the plasma donation. My brother has been donating on and off for years and has never been sickly in his life.  Still isn't, and he is thankful for the plasma money because that is his fun money to spend as he wants without his wife dictating where it will go.  :) 

[Katy]

That's funny, I got sick much less often when I was donating.  I've since been concerned about auto-immune issues though, I wonder if it helped my health.  I hope it didn't hurt whoever got the plasma.

 

I donated for several years after someone I knew was severely burned and needed plasma.  Then I moved to an area where it was more difficult to donate and stopped.

[marbel]

Interesting (about the donation/selling thing).  I would assume it is taxable as really any income is taxable. One year I claimed about $250 on our joint return because I'd done some babysitting.  

 

But really I was just wondering why they call it a donation when clearly they are buying it.  Maybe to avoid having to deal with 1099s?  (Even though a 1099 is not required for income to be taxable.)  Maybe it makes people feel better about doing it?

 

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

Interesting (about the donation/selling thing).  I would assume it is taxable as really any income is taxable. One year I claimed about $250 on our joint return because I'd done some babysitting.  

 

But really I was just wondering why they call it a donation when clearly they are buying it.  Maybe to avoid having to deal with 1099s?  (Even though a 1099 is not required for income to be taxable.)  Maybe it makes people feel better about doing it?

 

Well, the buying and selling of body parts is clearly an illegal activity, and it's not a far stretch to go from body parts to bodily fluids. 

[Katy]

Well, the buying and selling of body parts is clearly an illegal activity, and it's not a far stretch to go from body parts to bodily fluids. 

 

This.  It's a legal loophole.  You're donating something much more valuable to the company than the tiny bit they donate back to you for your time.

[Tita Gidge]

I donated during college, as often as I could. I'm petite and my weight was sometimes too low or close to borderline for them to accept me. I still have a permanent scar at the draw site in the crook of my arm LOL. At the time we were paid $15 for the week's first donation and $20 for the second. We didn't declare it as income, it never occurred to us.

 

We were near two centers, one paid in cash but the other paid by check. They swabbed our fingernails with some UV paint or something so we couldn't trick each center into accepting us more than the allowable limit to donate. It was a nice little downtime. My boyfriend read the magazines we couldn't afford to buy ourselves (Time, SI, etc.) while I watched atrocious talk shows (Springer, Maury) he swore would rot my brain LOL. 

 

Neither of us noticed any related health issues. Sounds like maybe we were just lucky.

[Kassia]

When you donate, do you feel weak for a day or so like you do after donating blood?  I'm just wondering because I'm a runner and don't know if I'd need to time that around running.  

 

Thanks!

[Lady Marmalade]

When you donate, do you feel weak for a day or so like you do after donating blood?  I'm just wondering because I'm a runner and don't know if I'd need to time that around running.  

 

Thanks!

 

Not at all.

 

I have never donated blood, but once during plasma donation my machine sprung a leak.   With plasma donations your red blood cells are returned to you, and since the machine was leaking the rbc's, I didn't get them back.  I had to wait around for an hour afterwards and they fed me cookies and wanted to make sure I was okay.  It really wasn't that much of my blood that didn't come back, but it was enough.  The rest of the day I felt completely wiped out.  That's when I discovered that blood donation would not be for me, because at least with plasma donation I could pop in and out and not feel any detrimental effects.  I felt SO lethargic with just a small bit of my rbc's missing, that I couldn't imagine giving up enough to make up a donation amount. 

 

You do want to make sure you don't strain the arm that the donation was taken out of for a few hours after you donate.  Not sure if that would relate to running at all or not.   The needle that is used for plasma is good sized, and leaves a decent sized hole in your arm.  Too much stress will pop that open if it hasn't had enough of a chance to heal up. 

[shawthorne44]

with those needle sizes, do your arms end up looking like a druggies?  

[Lady Marmalade]

with those needle sizes, do your arms end up looking like a druggies?  

 

From two years of donation, I now have permanent "holes" in each of my arms from the scar tissue.  It's not particularly noticeable, but if someone were looking close, they might wonder.   They do try and use the same spots to take the plasma from. 

 

Once though I had a needle stick that went very wrong.  The phlebotomist put the needle THROUGH my vein instead of into it.  That error did not get caught until a few cycles into the donation when my machine started freaking out.  It seemed like it wasn't a big deal at the time, she tried adjusting the needle, and when it didn't sit right, we switched to the other arm and I was able to complete my donation that day.  But a few hours later, my right arm starting looking bruised and streaky in very odd places.  I stopped into the center the next day because my arm was disgusting! Black and blue all up and down my arm.  It took two weeks for that to all go away.  I couldn't donate while that was healing up and going away, and I also was very careful to wear long sleeves.  THAT was the one time I thought my arm looked like I was into some hard core drug use.  

Edited June 15, 2016 by Lady Marmalade

[Lady Marmalade]

 I snapped a pic of my right arm.  75% of the time I would use my right arm for donating because I have bigger veins than in my left arm.  Sometimes the vein in the left would roll out of the way.  The scar on my left arm is smaller than this, but this is what it looks like.  Doesn't really look much different than a chicken pox scar, and not really like a druggie, which if you've seen/known one, they are not particularly consistent on where they do their business and their arms are loaded with poc marks.

 

[shawthorne44]

Good to know, thanks.