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Ticket resellers to be taxed in the US

Previously, sellers only had to report earnings if they made more than $20,000 and at least 200 transactions a year

By James Hanley on 26 Sep 2023


People who make more than $600 (€566) a year from reselling tickets in the US are to be taxed under new regulations drawn up by the Inland Revenue Service (IRS).

Previously, sellers only had to report earnings if they made more than $20,000 and at least 200 transactions a year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that under the law companies such as Ticketmaster and StubHub will now have to report if customers sold more than $600 in resale tickets annually. The requirement forms part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which came into effect at the start of the current financial year.

“Payment apps and online marketplaces are required to file a Form 1099-K if the gross payments to you for goods and services are over $600,” says the IRS in a statement.

“The $600 reporting threshold started with tax year 2023. There are no changes to what counts as income or how tax is calculated.”

The move could go some way to cracking down on ticket scalping, with the last 12 months having seen a flurry of demands for tougher regulation of the ticketing market.

Some of the UK’s leading music companies recently joined a fresh campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting

Fix the Tix, a coalition of 30 US-based organisations across live entertainment, unveiled its plan for ticketing reform back in June, while the extraordinary worldwide demand for Taylor Swift tickets led to calls for stiffer punishments for touting in Brazil.

After local media reported that tickets were being offered for sale in-person and online at up to 10x face value,  congresswoman Simone Marquetto proposed the “Taylor Swift Act”, which would increase the maximum sentence for ticket touting from two to four years in prison, and fines of up to 100x the original price of the tickets.

Elsewhere, in Australia, the New South Wales and Victorian governments moved to crack down on touting after resale prices in excess of $3,000 were listed for the Eras Tour, with the latter designating the concerts as “major events,” triggering anti-scalping provisions in state legislation.

And some of the UK’s leading music companies recently joined a fresh campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting. Led by FanFair Alliance, the campaign is urging MPs to introduce new legislation to “protect British consumers from unscrupulous and exploitative traders who operate on controversial websites such as Viagogo and StubHub”.

WME, CAA, ATC, 13 Artists, Kilimanjaro, FKP Scorpio and One Fiinix are among the parties to back FanFair Alliance’s three pro-consumer measures regarding legislative action, tech action and industry action.

 


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