IRS Lowers Threshold to Tax Ticket Resellers for Sports, Concerts

The International Revenue Service (IRS) has significantly lowered its threshold to tax ticket resellers, impacting those who have resold tickets to sporting events or concerts on marketplaces such as Ticketmaster and StubHub.

Ticket platforms will now be required to report information on sellers’ proceeds to the IRS if their ticket sales in 2023 surpass $600. The previous IRS threshold applied to ticket resellers who reached $20,000 in revenue and more than 200 transactions, but the new law can be applied to just one transaction if it’s more than $600, according to Fox Business.

Regardless of whether resellers earned a profit, ticket platforms must send users who sold more than $600 in tickets a 1099-K form to fill out for the IRS. However, sellers will only owe additional taxes if they made a profit on their ticket by selling it for more than they bought it for.

The lowered threshold from the Biden Administration comes as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour—which began in March and is scheduled to continue through November 2024—is breaking records for ticket sales. CNN reported last month that Swift’s tour is estimated to gross $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time. SeatGeek said the average resale price of an “Eras” ticket was $1,607.

Resellers capitalizing off the “Coach Prime” effect could face tax implications from the IRS as the Deion Sanders-coached Colorado Buffaloes became college football’s hottest ticket, with tickets for this past Saturday’s road game against Oregon being more expensive than most NFL matchups. But with the Ducks handing Colorado a 42-6 beatdown for the Buffaloes’ first loss of the season, ticket demand for Colorado could slow down depending on their performance.