I hope Jeter or the Yankees cover any tax liability (in excess of the originial amount as covering just the initial tax liability causes another tax liability) if one is levied. This guy does the right thing, and the government might fuck him. Unreal. http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/...rs-3000th-hit-may-have-to-pay-hefty-tax-bill/
OT: Yanks fan who returned ball, faces big tax bill woooooooooow no good deed goes unpunished eh? http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...l-fan-may-owe-major-tax-bill-071111?GT1=39002
So he received $50,000 worth of stuff from the Yankees and may have to pay taxes on it. Why doesn't he just sell a fourth of the tickets he got then he doesn't have to worry about having extra money to potentially pay any taxes.
I don't see the problem really, I mean yes it would be great if we could all live in a make believe land where we pay no taxes... But realistically I think it’s perfectly fair for some guy who received $50k worth of free stuff to have to pay taxes; more so then it is for somebody who earns $9/hr cleaning toilets at the stadium.
By that logic, when you had a birthday party as a kid, should you have paid taxes on your gifts? If you find someone's wallet, and they give you some cash for returning it, should you pay taxes on it? This guy gave up the opportunity to make $200-300K to do the right thing, and now the government may come after him for the Yankees' show of gratitude? At what point do we say, "enough"?
Yes all income is taxable unless specifically excluded by the tax code. A kid setting up a lemonade stand technically should be including that revenue on his or her tax return. Now most of these examples are virtually immaterial tiny amounts of money so nobody really cares how people report it. But getting $40k of stuff from the Yankees is material, and just as somebody on the price is right or any game show has to pay taxes for free stuff so does this guy. There are many people I believe are unfairly over taxed and many who are unfairly under taxed. It’s a nice story that this guy gave back the ball, but that was his choice. He isn’t being taxed on the ball. I’d rather see a tax break go to somebody who worked hard for their money then some guy who lucked into a bunch of free stuff.
I hope you paid your taxes on your bike with training wheels and your Slip n Slide. And since you're trying to use a "shades of gray" argument, what's the line at what level of gift you should pay taxes on? And why should "luck" be taxed in the first place? What gives the government the right to pry into every nook and cranny of our lives, extracting their pound of flesh? I think income, sales, property and city, county, state and federal taxes are quite enough.
Gifts are never taxable to the recipient. Gifts can be taxable to the giftor, the person giving the gift. The Fox News article speculates the items the guy received from the Yankess will not be classified as a gift. I’m not the one who decides what dollar amount taxes should be enforced at, that is determined by the IRS and a judge. If a judge says taxes need to be paid then that is the level they should be paid at, if a judge or the IRS won’t bother pursuing taxes than that is the legal threshold you don’t have to pay taxes at. A judge determines the law. It seems that you would prefer tax loopholes for people who luck into large sums of money, and people who work for their income should have to pay extra. Ideologically I would rather see taxes paid evenly by all.
Seems like a letter from the Yankees saying that it was a gift and not a prize for catching the ball will clear this up. I don't know what you're upset about, you win a prize, lottery, game show, etc you pay your taxes. Someone gives you a gift you don't. Yankees never announced to the crowd that if they get the 3000 hit ball they will win prizes. The guy who caught it gifted it to Jeter and Jeter and the Yankees gifted him back with some really nice swag.
I don't see ANY problem with this. A gift is taxable to the giver, not the recipient... and getting a birthday or slip-and-slide would probably be fine under the annual exemptions given to each of us as givers. I don't think that this is a gift, though. The Yankees received something of value, and it was almost certainly MORE valuable than what they're giving out. The dude is, at some level, lucky he's not getting taxed for the fair market value of the ball (which he then sold for less than market value) rather than the value of the goods and services he received from the Yankees as compensation for the ball. (Or the tax that he'd pay as giving the ball away as a gift to the Yankees, if he's arguing that he just GAVE it to them.) Ed O.
If it's the Yankees, then fine. If it ends up on this guy, then something is wrong with the system. I get that something my be legal, but that doesn't mean it's right.
i would have sold the ball paid my taxes, paid my student loans, bought a gun, killed jeter, sold the book rights, hired a dope lawyer, got off, and went golfing
The right thing to do would have been for him to sell the ball and pay off his student loans. Typical freeloading career student. He owes his country $100,000, has it fall into his lap, but his loyalty is to a corporation and to his own ego.
Beer Company Says It Will Come To Rescue Of Man Who Caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th Hit The saga of the NY Yankees fan who caught — and then gave back — the baseball Derek Jeter knocked out of the park for hit number 3,000 continues. First, the team rewarded the fan with memorabilia and luxury box tickets for the rest of the season. Then came reports that he could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in taxes for the freebies. Today he got some potentially good news, as the folks at Miller High Life say they'll foot the bill for any potential tax liability the guy might have. "Miller High Life believes you should be rewarded for doing the right thing, not penalized," a possibly drunk rep for the beer tells ESPN. Some tax experts have warned that the 23-year-old fan could end up owing anywhere from $5,000 to $14,000 in taxes if the IRS declares the freebies as extra income. Others have said the team only needs to classify the seats and swag as gifts and he'll be off the hook. Tax Cat is currently sleeping so we can't ask him, but we know there are some tax experts reading this. If the fan does get hit with the tax bill and Miller decides to pay, could the IRS still consider the Miller money as additional income? http://consumerist.com/2011/07/mill...f-man-who-caught-derek-jeters-3000th-hit.html