Comments on: Barry Bonds, homeruns, and taxes

By: bob

bob — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:02:13 +0000

@Taxman
Well, I like that answer the best. That seems the most reasonable to me – thanks for the insight.

By: The tax man

The tax man — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:54:52 +0000

The ball would only be taxed on its value and the buyer decides what the value is. If he buys it for 100,000 dollars then you are taxed on that. How can you be taxed on a ball that was sold to MLB for 1.00 and they belive (IRS) that it is now worth 500,000 dollars. They have power but not that much power. You are taxed on the sale not the what if he sold sale.

By: Reson8rs

Reson8rs — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:09:27 +0000

Wow, that is unbelieveable!

In NZ at the moment, the government are introducing a capital gains tax on things like houses and the like. At the moment, the housing market is booming (although that may change due to what is currently happening to the NZ dollar), and as a result, most homeowners have seen their house values double.

Surely, if there is a tax bill, common sense would mean that the tax would be applied after sale? In NZ, even if a capital gains tax is introduced, it will be settled after a sale.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:42:54 +0000

@odysseus99

The debate among tax professionals surely isn’t a joke, I hope it does work out well for the kid – I am sure it will, even if he has to sell the ball to pay his taxes – he will get a nice chunk of change…

By: odysseus99

odysseus99 — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:35:14 +0000

Is this a joke? If not, I really pity this guy. A joy turned into a financial nightmare

By: bob

bob — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:50:58 +0000

@Beepo
I agree, it is pretty crazy – The IRS wants their money!!
It will be interesting to see what happens with all this – I will try to stay up on it.

By: Beppo

Beppo — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:36:29 +0000

How can that be? It’s just a baseball! I know, it is worth hundreds of thousands because of the event, but there’s no set value for its worth until it is sold. How can the IRS set a extremely high value on an object which has a technical value of just a few dollars?

If he does have to pay taxes, he will probably change his mind on selling it. And that doesn’t seem fair.

Does this apply to all sports memorabilia? If I had some minor leaguer autograph my baseball cap and then they later become famous, am I liable for taxes even if I never sell it? If so, that’s crazy…