What are the tax ramifications of catching a record baseball? Is it due the yr received or the yr sold?

Question

I was reading the article about Matt Murphy having to sell the Barry Bonds home run ball he caught because he could not pay the taxes due. I thought you are taxed when the item is sold, not when you received it. What part of the tax code am I missing?

Answer 1

Correct, the kid listened to advice from idiots.
He lawfully obtained a $10.00 souvenier. This is not a taxable event by any standard under the code.
His tax liability only occurs should he choose to convert this $10 ball into a piece of sports memorabilia thru auction.
In this case, were it to sell for $500K, minus $100K for the auction house, he gets to pay 40% tax on the 400, or 160, leaving him clearing $240,000.
Not a bad day's work.

Answer 2

What you are missing is that it's not the IRS who said this. It started out with some goofy tax lawyer who apparently likes to see his name in the paper. Nowhere does Matt Murphy say that he has been advised of this by the IRS. "Several people" have told him that? Who are they?

The IRS hasn't said anything. In a prior similar situation, the IRS commissioner came out with a statement basically saying that the idea is crazy that it would be taxed immediately.

If Matt Murphy decides to sell it, then that's his choice, and the sale will cause him to owe capital gains taxes.

Answer 3

Because it's impossible to figure out what the baseball's value is before it's sold, he is not taxed at the time he caught the baseball.

Once he sells the baseball, the value is equal to the selling price. He's taxed that amount at time of sale.

Answer 4

You are not missing any. He said some friends told him that. He failed to mention if they were CPA;s or Tax Attorneys.