Sold Taylor Swift concert tickets online? You may have to pay taxes

Over the summer, Swifties were willing to shell out notoriously high prices to get a seat at the Taylor Swift “Eras Tour.”

Now, Uncle Sam wants to collect on those who resold their tickets on online marketplaces.

This year, the Internal Revenue Service is requiring third-party businesses, like Ticketmaster, StubHub and Ebay, to report when users make more than $600.

That means those companies will file a Form 1099-K with the IRS and send you a copy if you received more than $600 in gross payments on a sale.

“If you received more than $600 from concert ticket sales during calendar year 2023, expect to get one of these forms,” said Shelly Hogans, managing consultant for Empowerment Financial Advisory Services, Inc. in Monroeville.

“This new provision was part of the American Rescue Plan Act in early 2021 that essentially lowered the Form 1099-K reporting threshold that was previously $20,000 or more in revenue and greater than 200 transactions,” Hogans said.

The change was supposed to go into effect for the 2022 tax year but was delayed until 2023. It also happens to be occurring during a year of blockbuster live events that drove huge markups on the resale market as people who couldn’t attend — or wanted to make some cash — hawked their tickets to see musical artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

At StubHub, Taylor Swift and Beyonce accounted for 57% of the reselling platform’s total summer concert sales globally.

In fact, female artists were outselling male artists, StubHub found.

“We’ve never seen a summer like this in our history and we can, without a doubt, contribute this to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé,” said Adam Budelli, a Stubhub spokesperson. “We are seeing the top female artists commanding higher ticket prices — the average ticket price for top female artists right now is $660, compared to $245 for top male artists.”

That was just the average.

The day before Swift performed at Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore in June, the lowest ticket prices clocked in at several hundred dollars: $789 (VividSeats), $846 (SeatGeek) and $857 (StubHub) as of 1 p.m. Saturday. By 6 p.m. Saturday, the lowest prices were $687 (SeatGeek), $745 (VividSeats) and $846 (StubHub).

Jean Stull, owner of Jean Stull CPA in Leechburg, said not everyone who resold tickets on third-party sites will be subject to the tax.

“It depends on whether the actual profit is above $600,” she said. That means you made more on the deal, minus any fees.

If you bought a ticket for $150 and sold it for $300, you fall below the threshold,” Stull said.

Hogans noted that taxpayers will use the 1099-K to figure out whether they have a gain or loss on the sale of personal items.

“If you have a profit, meaning if the amount you resold the tickets for is greater than the cost including fees you paid for the ticket, you have a gain and must report it,” she said. “That ‘gain’ is taxable income. For example, if you purchase concert tickets for $400 but resell them for $1,100, you have a profit of $700 and that gain is taxable income to you.”

However, if you sold the personal item for a loss, that loss is not deductible.

“For example, if you purchased concert tickets for $400 and last minute could not attend but sold them for $250, you have a loss of $150 which is not deductible for tax purposes.”