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The guy who caught Bonds' #756 homerun ball has to sell it because he cannot afford to pay the tax on the ball that's determined to be worth $500,000.00.
That is soooooo unbelievably, ridiculously absurd!
The guy caught it and it's a FREE souvenir!!! Why shouldn't he be allowed to freely keep it?!
This link says that the guy's auctioning off the ball because he couldn't afford to keep it:
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=216597&hubname=mlb
I seriously doubt that the "several people" who told him he'd be taxed on it just for holding on to it would even know their a$$e$ from a hole in the ground.
The government cannot tax you for holding on to a souvenir. Tax would only be owed IF the ball was sold.
Oh yeah and, F Barry.
Wrong. It's income. It's just like winning a car at a Dodger game.Quote:
Originally Posted by job
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-bonds-ball
Something tells me his credentials on tax law are pretty good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yahoo! article
When you own a house you do not pay taxes on that house for what the reasonable value is at the time. You pay taxes on what you bought the house for. The only time you pay capital gain tax is when you sell the property and any income that you made on that property above and beyond what you paid for it would be considered capital gain. A car has a certain value when you win it either on a game show or by any other means. A baseball has a value of about $15 and any capital gains above and beyond that would take place when he did sell the ball. The value of that ball may fluctuate over time. If that fan were to keep the ball and paid whatever tax's that are said to be owed on that ball and if that ball were to drop in price would the government then owe him back tax's because the value of that ball is now less than originally thought?Quote:
Originally Posted by jbruin152
lol. poor guy
This is total bs the US tax system needs an entire overhaul.
Now on a related note, I surprised that MLB hasn't made a rule that the ball is property of the team and it's up to their discretion whether or not you get to keep the ball.
BArry needs to step upa dn pay the tax for the guy. Think of the PR coup it would be for Barry and SF Giants. Would he then owe taxes on the Gift from barry ?
Not sure what the point of this analogy is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Len-Det64
The ball was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars when he acquired it.
This is not a regular baseball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Len-Det64
A Barry Bonds 756 baseball is not worth $15, no way no how.
Ask a tax attorney.Quote:
Originally Posted by Len-Det64
Wrong.
Any good tax attorney will tell you that taxes are not owed unless and until the ball is sold. The tax would be assessed based on the sale price.
No matter whom is telling him what, any good tax attorney will be able to prevent immediate taxation.
Moreso because of politics and public outcry than anything. It would similar to winning the ball on a game show, which is taxable.Quote:
Originally Posted by job
"As Mark McGwire chased the mark for most home runs in a season in 1998, IRS officials initially said the ball that broke Roger Maris' long-standing record could be subject to taxes even if it were returned to McGwire. The statements were ridiculed by politicians and quickly disavowed by the agency's top brass."
The IRS hasn't commented on it publicly, and it looks like they won't have to as the guy is going to sell it anyway.
It would make a pretty interesting lawsuit though.
