Tax
Apr. 14, 2023
Good news, you found something valuable. Bad News, IRS will tax it
You might be surprised at how many academic and not so academic debates there are between tax professors, accountants and tax lawyers about catching a valuable baseball. Most have never caught one, but they (we) sure like to talk about it.
Robert W. Wood
Managing Partner
Wood LLP
333 Sacramento St
San Francisco , California 94111-3601
Phone: (415) 834-0113
Fax: (415) 789-4540
Email: wood@WoodLLP.com
Univ of Chicago Law School
Wood is a tax lawyer at Wood LLP, and often advises lawyers and litigants about tax issues.
According to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board, money or valuables you find are taxable, even if you just happen upon something by pure luck. In fact, you are taxable on the value of the item based on its fair market value even if you don't sell it to turn it into cash. Perhaps that is just one more facet of the seemingly ever-present rule that when it comes right down to it, just about everything is fair game for the IRS.
The...
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