I overheard someone saying that the person fortunate enough to catch any record breaking baseballs likely worth $500K or more would be immediately subject to tax, and therefore, since most people don’t have $150K available to pay the tax on the assessed $500k or so, would have to sell the ball at auction just to cover the tax. I found one article on WSJ that discusses this, but claims the IRS refused to comment definitively, so for now, we don’t know. I think the tax should only be due upon the sale of the ball. There are no analogies that really for a good basis for comparison. At least someone going on a game show or winning a lottery knows, or should know what they are in for. Catching a ball you just can’t keep just doesn’t seem right.
JOE