IRS to examine ticket reseller data as taxable income

The IRS will be collecting data from sellers on ticketing platforms who sell more than $600 worth of event tickets.

StubHub, Ticketmaster, and others will hand over the data of sellers who met the threshold to the department from this year, and they will have to fill out a 1099-K form. Then, the IRS will determine which of the resellers made profits, in order to declare it taxable income. Those who resold their tickets at a loss will not be allowed to deduct that loss.

SOCIAL SECURITY UPDATE: DIRECT PAYMENT WORTH $914 ARRIVES IN SEVEN DAYS

The $600 threshold is new this year per the American Rescue Plan under President Joe Biden. The plan included a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill to help local, state, tribal, and federal governments soften the economic fallout from the pandemic, which included giving stimulus checks to citizens who lost their jobs or were unable to pay rent because of a lack of funds.

Previously, the IRS only monitored the reselling data of those who had over 200 transactions and boasted profits of over $20,000. Now, the threshold has been lowered to meet that of gig work such as DoorDash, Uber, Amazon, and the like, no matter how many transactions a reseller completed.

According to research company QuestionPro, Taylor Swift fans spent about $1,300 on average to attend her Eras Tour this year. Ticketing platforms hosted the sales of other pop stars such as Beyonce, George Strait, Van Morrison, and others.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

While the tax change was initially slated to begin in 2022, the IRS postponed its implementation until this year.

A bill out of the House Ways and Means Committee is currently attempting to restore the old 1099-K threshold of $20,000. This would also apply to gig work.