August 09, 2007

Bonds Ball Tax: $210,000

At The Sporting News writes about the Met fan who caught the Bonds home run ball and the tax he is looking at:


"It's an expensive catch," said John Barrie, a tax lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP in New York who grew up watching the Giants play at Candlestick Park. "Once he took possession of the ball and it was his ball, it was income to him based on its value as of yesterday,"

That would instantly put Murphy, a college student from Queens, in the highest tax bracket for individual income, where he would face a tax rate of about 35 percent, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball.

Even if he does not sell the ball, Murphy would still owe the taxes based on a reasonable estimate of its value, according to Barrie. Capital gains taxes also could be levied in the future as the ball gains value, he said.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

what?????

Anonymous said...

that's just completly absurd

Anonymous said...

how can they get away withthis?

Anonymous said...

sell high kid

Anonymous said...

sell high isnt the word

Anonymous said...

oh my god