Won my fantasy football league and league members banned me from yearly league banquet. Please help?

Question

I won my fantasy football league this past week. The grand prize was $1,700, which in my state is taxable income. I’m an upstanding citizen and would not sleep at night unless Uncle Sam got his fair cut.

I addressed the other league members on the discussion board asking each of them for their social security numbers and addresses so I can list them as the sources of this additional income on my tax filing. I also advised them to report the entry fee as an expense on their own returns.

To my dismay, every member of the league responded with harsh vulgarities & even left nasty messages on my voice mail. Said I’m not welcome to play next year too!!! I can’t believe they will not disclose the necessary information & getting so angry over this.

What else can I do to get this information from them? Furthermore, I want to attend the banquet. Should I just show up?

Answer 1

Wow, you made a MAJOR blunder in trying to be honest.

You can declare the income in one line of your tax return, and you don't need anyone else's Social Security Number for that (consult your tax advisor for more details). An SSN is a very, very private piece of information that nobody should share unless absolutely necessary (like to be admitted into a hospital, or to enroll in a college, or buy a house/get something on credit, etc...), but nobody should volunteer or be asked to volunteer it under any other circumstance.

Answer 2

You are receiving money from the league, not from the individual players. So you declare the income as received from the league (which is probably a non-profit with its own tax ID number).

I understand that you were trying to do the right thing, but you really made a major blunder. You should have consulted a tax counselor before proceeding. What you did would be like a Wal-Mart employee listing the social security numbers of all the store's customers as him employers. They must have thought you were an identity thief.
But anyway, I'd suggest you contact them again and say you figured out how to declare it on your taxes, and you don't need any of their information.

Answer 3

You can list the income under other income. You do not have to declare the source. What you did was very offensive, and very insulting. They probably thought you were going to report them all for some offense to IRS. Most people do not understand the tax law and are very afraid of the IRS. I would think about joining some other club if I were you. You are a bull in a china shop. I would never let you belong to my club.