Barry Bonds Ball

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Lakeland, FL
I typically don't give a flying hoot about Sports, but this just made me :shaking:.

The guy that caught Bonds' home run ball when he broke the record said he didn't have any interests in selling the ball. Then he was told that he would have to pay taxes on the ball. He said he wouldn't be able to afford the taxes on it, so now he's selling it.

How the hell do you have taxes on something you didn't buy, and that doesn't really carry any hard fast value. At least not until it's sold for the first time.

Also, when did Bonds' or any other sports player acquire the midas touch?

discuss.
 
taxes

If you have something of value or something that might be percieved as valuable, they'll get there taxes. Maybe it's a new homerun highway tax.:shaking:
 
mbalbritton said:
Also, when did Bonds' or any other sports player acquire the midas touch?
discuss.
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I'm a big baseball fan, the home run record is "the record" in all sports . It doesn't surprise me that it would bring crazy money. As for Barry, he's a cheater..but it still requires mad skills to accomplish what he's done.
 
he has a huge head. i cant believe his hat size grew 2 sizes after the age of 35.

the government can tax anything and everything. you pay taxes when you get it, you pay taxes when you spend it, you pay taxes on what you bought with it, then you pay taxes on everything at the end of the year. makes you dizzy if you stop and think about it.
 
BIGWOODY said:
I'm a big baseball fan, the home run record is "the record" in all sports . It doesn't surprise me that it would bring crazy money.
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agreed! but it hasn't... and as of yet, it's Value is about $5 or whatever a Baseball costs... No money (that I can imagine or have heard) has passed from teh Fan that caught the ball to the Ball Field that bought the ball in the first place.
 
My first career was as an accountant. I can see both sides of this. If you win a car you are responsible for that income at the end of the year. What seems like a $20k prize is really a $20k prize with a $6k tax burden. If I get stock from work (not stock options but stock) I'm taxed on its value the day I receive it just like I would be on any other compensation.

In the case of a baseball it seems hard to measure the value. You would have to be kidding me to say that it was worth $5. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be taxed on $10m until I sold it for that much. I guess the thing to do would be to have it appraised and pay taxes on that amount. I know it's fun to say, "He shouldn't be taxed at all" but that's not how our system works.

I don't feel too sorry for the guy. If I caught a ball, sold it for $3m, but only kept $2m I wouldn't expect nc4x4 to shed a tear for me. :)
 
Unfortunately, for taxes it dosn't matter what it cost to make something, or what it's price would be under other circumstances. What matters is it's market value when acquires. And what you paid for it is irrelevant too.
For example, imagine buildin ga houseo n your own. Building cost may be $50k. But when tax time comes, guess what - you pay based on it's market value... which could be anywhere from $75k to $250.
Same thing with this ball. The moment the ball crossed over the fence, it's value changed from $5 to, er, $Lots. It was worth that when he "received" it. So, they want their 33% of $lots.

Imagine taking a $200,000 house from the middle of Winston Salem, and moving it to San Fransisco. You think that house would still be worth only $200,000?

As mentioned, it's hard to feel bad for the guy - except that it would be cool to just be able to have the ball, and that's where he's getting screwed. Even if he will get $2m from sale post-tax, that's not enough to purchase the ball - e.g. he couldn't use that same money to buy it back. That's take having $3m. So his only choice is to give up something that would be among a list of teh world's coolest thinsg to give to your kid.

This reminds me of the guys that won a ride into space with Virgin Galactic, his life's dream, being a hard-working blue-collar guy, only to have to pass it up b/c he couldn't afford the taxes on it. $hittiness all around.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16861379/
 
good comparison on the house, I'll give you that one.

It's still a $5 ball in my book, but in his shoes, I'd sell that thing in a heart beat and be glad to pay my taxes on it then. :D
 
If the guy who cought the ball had money, bring it to court and sensationalize it :) Given he will have to have ALOT of money to take the government to court over it. But that is one of those issues i owuld love to see in court.
 
mbalbritton said:
It's still a $5 ball in my book, but in his shoes, I'd sell that thing in a heart beat and be glad to pay my taxes on it then. :D
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Its stopped being a $5 ball when it crossed the fence.
Hell it probably became a $50 ball just by being hit by his bat.

Pretty rare that an object's value can increase with it height off the ground :huggy:

I bet you could make a graph of the ball's value as a matter of distance/time from being hit, lol.

Just think of all the poor balls that came before it, that were *almost* worth more than $5. And, all the previous homer balls he hit that just decreased in value. Sucks for their owners.
 
this is bullshit, and is nothing more than the government sticking its fat hand into anything it can. i can't believe some of you are actually defending this. do you just like giving away whatever these assholes ask for?

i love the game of baseball, and can't stand it when it gets a black mark from crap like this. the guy was going to do the "right" thing and cherish the ultimate souvenier he got from a game. now he's basically being forced to get rid of it? why don't we go after every other poor SOB that happens to catch a ball at a game?

i hate stupid, greedy tax practices and this is a prime example of that.

[/rant off]
 
I wonder, if he donates it to a certified charitable trust if it could then become one hell of a tax deduction.

Or of it could be donated to the Hall of Fame and on display at his house until his time of death. Or he could pass ownership to the HoF and maintain possession through a 100 year lease. With no income etc.

I had a 3 hour conversation with my CPA about this, he says with no uncertainty that he could keep the ball and not pay. He has done very well by me, but im not sure he is ready to take on the fed...
 
RufusTheRam said:
i can't believe some of you are actually defending this. do you just like giving away whatever these assholes ask for?
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Woah there bucko.
Whom have you seen defending any of this? I haven't seen anybody here say this was a good idea or fair. I, for one, was just stating the facts, how the system works. Not my opnion of it or how it should be.
It's a travesty no matter how you work it. Hence bring up the similar case w/ the would-be space rider.

i think SkyHi is on the money with the work-around.
 
agreed, the word "defending" was probably too far.

i guess i was just surprised at the lack of opposition to such an idea, with most of the posts having a "well, that's just the way things are, nothing we can do about it" theme.

personally, i'm outraged at this. i could MAYBE see where it's coming from (yet still wouldn't agree with it) if the guy was trying to turn a max profit off of the thing and was only interested in the money. that's obviously not the case though.
 
What anyone has failed to mention is everytime he hits another one out, the price of 756 drops...the last one will be the money ball.
 
hmmmm so theoretically, if you paid said taxes, could you then lose the ball in a home fire and collect insurance?



****Edit, I understand I would actually need a ball rider on my HO policy, I'm just sayin'...


Huh huh uh huh I said "ball rider"
 
ok then when you go to sell it, after you 'found it' again... Your back here to the same delema...

IMHO its right in line with the inheritance tax that I disagree with.. Some hard working family member worked hard, paid taxes and the money was all free and clear, now because its being given away to someone else as an inheritance its taxed again ??? FWIW: People who fall into this suffer from poor planning..

but its like paying tax on a used car... you resell it, its taxed again.... repeat..
 
yager said:
ok then when you go to sell it, after you 'found it' again... Your back here to the same delema...
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actually NO! and that's just it. NOTHING was BOUGHT or SOLD!

yager said:
IMHO its right in line with the inheritance tax that I disagree with.. Some hard working family member worked hard, paid taxes and the money was all free and clear, now because its being given away to someone else as an inheritance its taxed again ??? FWIW: People who fall into this suffer from poor planning..

but its like paying tax on a used car... you resell it, its taxed again.... repeat..
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and that's why it's time for a tea party! :D
 
I'd pack the thing with plutonium and send it to the IRS! Fucking ass holes everyone of them. As a country we need to vote everybody in public office out at the same time and vote in regular people.
 
mbalbritton said:
actually NO! and that's just it. NOTHING was BOUGHT or SOLD!
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Actually, I think this may be where you're getting hung up.
You are corect, nothing bought or sold here (yet). Sales tax does not apply.
The tax being applied is probably either (a) gift tax or (b) property tax. Which are essentially the same thing, just one is applied when you receive it, the other can be continual on stuff you already own (e.g. cars, houses, boats etc).

Basically, you can't receive anything of any decent value w/o the government getting a chunk of it.

The gift tax is also a way to keep people from avoiding the much-hated Estate Tax mentioned above. E.g. Grandpa is on hiss deathbed, he might want to suddenly give everything to his kids, to avoid the estate tax. Guess what? That's a gift... and if it's over $??5k???, gets taxed anyway.

Basically they've got it all wrapped up nice and tight so they get it one way or another.

mbalbritton said:
and that's why it's time for a tea party! :D
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I'm in.
 
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