Some civil servants are just like my loved ones.
A new film “presented by Leonardo DiCaprio” purports that, according to DiCaprio, “we face a convergence of crises.”
The talking points from the movie include this statement:
Energy is the key to solving our environmental crisis. Energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind need to be massively integrated into our life. Modern life needs to be redesigned.
Gulp. Precisely who is going to be redesigning modern life on my behalf? And what powers does this person (or committee) need?
… is taxable income if you’re the one who catches it (WSJ):
Some professors, such as Alice Abreu of Temple Law School, feel strongly the answer is clear. “It’s taxable income” to the fan the instant that person catches the ball, Prof. Abreu replies. How come? “It’s accession to wealth,” and nothing in the tax code specifically exempts from taxation a Barry Bonds-propelled baseball. Lawyers say this view logically stems from cases saying that someone who finds a “treasure trove” owes tax on it right away.
But other lawyers disagree. They also say it’s highly unlikely that the IRS would be willing to risk the wrath of a baseball-loving nation by taxing the fan right away.
But here’s the thing: The IRS stood by ready to mess with the guy who caught Mark McGwire’s record-breaking home run. Amity Shlaes details the case in The Greedy Hand:
A world ordinarily as away from tax as one can get–the world of sports–saw an example of this in the summer of 1998. In the beginning of September, it became clear that Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals stood a good chance of breaking Roger Maris’s season record of 61 home runs. When McGwire tied that record, speculators began calculating the worth of the historic sixty-second ball, which some sports experts put at $1 million. Before the game, the consensus in this, the best-hearted of sports, became clear: any fan who caught the million-dollar prize ought to nonetheless give it to McGwire, the man who earned it.
In stepped the tax experts. It emerged that receiving, and then giving, such a ball might mean that the bleacher fan would be subject to a $145,000 odd bill for “gift taxes.” In the mini-firestorm of outrage that ensued, Congress moved to pass a special dispensation for the lucky fielder, and the IRS backed off. It issued a statement assuring that it would not dun any fan who instantly gave the ball back to McGwire. And indeed, the stadium staffer who retrieved the ball instantly returned it, telling reporters: “I just don’t want to be taxed.” A bright moment of summer serendipity dimmed as fans across the nation pondered this heretofore unimaginable thing: a tax on joy.
Go figure.
Should this lead me to believe that RC Draft Cola is coming back? Dare I dream?
