The IRS is targeting this year's booming performance market. Whether it's a concert or a football game, scalpers or ordinary spectators will face stricter tax filing rules for ticket resale. A newly implemented law stipulates that the income tax declaration threshold for e-commerce platform users will become sales of US$600. Once the user's ticket resale income on the e-commerce platform exceeds this figure, the user is obliged to fill out the 1099-K (tax filing document) form, regardless of whether he or she earns profits.
However, the new rules state that the additional tax will only be paid if the seller makes a profit on the price.
This regulation may make various audiences who purchase and transfer tickets in 2023 anxious, especially this year. Taylor Swift's concert was once regarded as a miracle in driving American consumption. Messi's transfer increased the ticket price for Inter Miami games from US$30 to US$255, and even tickets for a key game were sold for up to US$11,700 each.
Previously, ticket resale was also subject to IRS supervision, but the tax threshold was more than $20,000 and the number of transactions exceeded 200. This standard is more like a set for "professional scalpers", while the new regulations are more like an indiscriminate attack.
Perhaps this is the charm of the top class. The White House is increasingly unable to ignore the chaos in the ticket resale market and the fans and fans who are taking advantage of it to make a quick buck. After all, one of Swift's tickets once commanded a high price of $7,000, while the face price is usually just under $500.
Sell one and earn a quarter
According to ticketing website StubHub, there are an unusually large number of fan ticket resellers on the platform this year, with resale accounting for 70% of Swift's Eras Tour performance orders, twice the company's estimate. In addition, a similar situation occurred in Messi's game.
One reseller, Jon Steele, said that he and his wife are both season ticket members of Major League Soccer's Orlando City. Due to their busy work, they resold their weeknight game tickets.
In last Sunday's game, due to Messi's attendance, he sold two tickets for $1,100, but in fact each ticket cost less than $50.
He happily said he had used the money to buy season tickets for next year. He also revealed that fans all want to watch Messi play, and if they resell this ticket, they can exchange it for next year's season ticket. This is really incredible at a time when prices are soaring.
Live performance activities are still rebounding vigorously after the epidemic, but the chaos surrounding the ticketing market has undoubtedly made consumers' enthusiasm was wasted.
Last fall, Ticketmaster crashed for thousands of users trying to purchase tickets for Swift's tour. Users who subsequently logged in found that the tickets either appeared on resale sites at extremely high prices or disappeared. The incident briefly prompted White House intervention, but the company later blamed disastrous computing models.
The White House's tightening of tax rules at this time is largely to combat scalpers. Under the new rules, proceeds from the resale of tickets will be considered short-term gains and will likely be taxed at ordinary federal income tax rates, which range from 10 to 37 percent.