- A new law requires ticketing platforms to report to the IRS users who earned over $600 this year.
- Any sales above this amount are considered taxable income by the IRS.
- According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, $9.7 billion is at stake over a decade.
A new law will make it harder for people to make money reselling concert tickets online.
The law, introduced as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, requires sites like StubHub and Ticketmaster to turn over the information of all sellers who make more than $600 to the IRS.
These sellers must then fill out a 1099-K form, which is “a report of the payments you received during the year,” and their income is deducted from taxes.
Previously, the threshold for reporting taxable income on ticket resale sites was far higher – a user had to have had sales of over $20,000 and made more than 200 transactions, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But this year the issue of ticket resales hit the headlines as prices for major events skyrocketed.
Tickets for MLS team Inter Miami CF’s appearance, for example, rose from an average of $30 to $255 online as fans rushed to see the team’s new superstar, Lionel Messi.
The average price for a Beyoncé concert ticket averaged $380, while fans wanting to see Harry Styles live spent an average of $400, the Journal reported.
The resale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets caused the most outrage as hugely inflated prices, fake ticket sales and website crashes angered her fan base.
The average face value of a ticket for the tour is $254, Fortune reported. But after its release, the average resale price was a staggering $2,183, per TicketIQ.
One Swiftie said she even saw some ticket prices for a Swift concert go over $30,000.
“I’m disappointed in Ticketmaster and Live Nation for this complete insanity,” she previously told Insider.
Political opposition to the move continues, and a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the Senate that would lower the IRS limit to $10,000 in sales and 50 transactions.
However, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation has warned that it would reduce federal revenues by $9.7 billion over the next decade, the Journal reported.
