Got Ticketmaster refund without having to give my SSN - sharing this win!

So I sold a concert ticket back in November because I couldn't attend the show anymore. I listed it for exactly what I paid (around $225) - definitely wasn't trying to make any profit or anything. After the sale, Ticketmaster kept emailing me requesting my Social Security Number so they could process the refund. They sent like 4-5 emails over a couple months. The messages seemed kinda sketchy, and I was really uncomfortable giving my SSN through email, especially for such a small amount. I decided to just ignore the requests and wait to see what would happen. I figured if it was legit, they'd find another way to contact me. Well guess what? This Monday I checked my credit card statement and noticed Ticketmaster had processed the refund automatically without me ever providing my SSN! I also never received any 1099 tax form or anything like that. Just wanted to share this experience in case anyone else runs into something similar with ticket resale platforms asking for your SSN. Sometimes waiting it out works!

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19 comments

Leeann Blackstein

Tax professional here. You made the right call being cautious about sharing your SSN. Companies like Ticketmaster are only required to issue a 1099-K if you have more than $600 in total transactions for the year AND you're making a profit on the sales. Since you sold at face value (no profit) and it was under $600 anyway, there's no taxable event to report. The SSN request was likely their standard procedure for all refunds, but their system eventually processed it correctly without the information. Always good to be protective of your personal information like SSNs - identity theft is a real concern with how many data breaches happen. If you ever do receive a 1099 from them for some reason, you can report the income but also report the equal expense of purchasing the ticket, resulting in zero tax impact.

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Leeann Blackstein

If you sold tickets for more than face value, yes, that profit is technically taxable income. The IRS considers this a capital gain - you bought something and sold it for more than your purchase price. You should report the profit on Schedule D of your tax return. It doesn't matter which platform you used to sell the tickets - Ticketmaster, StubHub, etc. The tax obligation is based on the profit you made, not where you sold it. However, different platforms have different reporting thresholds for when they'll issue a 1099-K form. But remember, you're supposed to report all income regardless of whether you receive a tax form.

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Carmella Fromis

Just wanted to share my experience with this exact situation! I was skeptical about providing my SSN too and found a really helpful service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me understand when I actually need to provide my SSN for ticket sales. After uploading my Ticketmaster receipt to their system, they explained I wasn't required to provide my SSN for this type of transaction since there was no profit involved. The tool even generated a custom letter I could send to Ticketmaster explaining why I wasn't legally obligated to provide my SSN in this case. Super helpful when companies try to collect more info than they need!

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Carmella Fromis

Yes, it works for pretty much any tax document situation! You can upload receipts, 1099 forms, W-2s, or even screenshots of emails asking for tax info. The system analyzes what you provide and tells you what your actual obligations are. It's saved me from oversharing my personal info multiple times. The service uses bank-level encryption and doesn't permanently store your documents. They're only used for the analysis and then automatically deleted from their servers after 30 days. You can also request immediate deletion after you get your answer. I was skeptical too at first but their privacy policy is really clear.

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AaliyahAli

I was in a similar situation with StubHub where they kept asking for my SSN for tickets I resold. I was super skeptical about it but decided to try taxr.ai that someone recommended here. The tool actually identified that StubHub was incorrectly applying the reporting requirement to my case! Turns out they only needed my SSN if I'd sold over $600 in tickets AND made a profit, which I hadn't. Their system generated a letter citing the specific tax code sections that I forwarded to StubHub's support. StubHub stopped asking for my info within 48 hours of me sending that letter. Such a relief not having to share my SSN unnecessarily. Definitely worth checking out if you're getting these requests.

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Ellie Simpson

Warning to anyone dealing with these ticket platforms: if they're being pushy about your SSN and you can't get answers, try using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). When Ticketmaster was hounding me about my SSN for a similar situation, their customer service was absolutely useless - couldn't get through to anyone who understood tax rules. I used Claimyr and got connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes who confirmed I didn't need to provide my SSN for that type of transaction. Just sharing the phone call recording (they let you record the call) with Ticketmaster's support team was enough to get them to back off. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - saved me hours of frustration!

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Ellie Simpson

The service works by using their callback technology. Basically, they have a system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an IRS agent finally picks up, it connects that person to your phone. So you're not actually waiting on hold - you just get a call when an actual human at the IRS is ready to talk. It's definitely not a scam. I was super skeptical too which is why I tried it. They use the same technology that some large companies use for customer service callbacks. The difference is that they've optimized it specifically for government agencies like the IRS where wait times are ridiculous. Average wait time went from 2+ hours to about 15-20 minutes for me.

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Raúl Mora

I take back what I said about Claimyr. After our conversation here, I decided to try it because I've been dealing with this EXACT Ticketmaster situation for weeks and getting nowhere. Not only did I get connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes (while I was just going about my day), but the agent confirmed that Ticketmaster was incorrectly applying the reporting requirements. They explained that since I sold the ticket at face value and it was under $600, no SSN was required. The call recording feature was clutch - I emailed it directly to Ticketmaster's support team and they processed my refund the next day without the SSN. Saved me so much stress and protected my personal info. Sometimes I'm too quick to assume something's a scam!

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Leeann Blackstein

Not exactly. If you're regularly buying and selling tickets, even at face value, the IRS might consider you to be running a ticket reselling business. At that point, all your transactions would need to be reported as business income on Schedule C, even if each individual sale had no profit. The occasional sale of personal tickets you can't use is different from regularly engaging in ticket sales. The IRS looks at patterns of activity, frequency, and intent when determining if something is a business or hobby. If you're doing enough volume to question whether it's reportable, it probably is.

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Javier Hernandez

This is such a helpful thread! I had no idea about the $600 threshold and profit requirements for 1099-K reporting. I've been paranoid about selling a few concert tickets I couldn't use, thinking I'd have to deal with tax paperwork for small amounts. @Leeann Blackstein - your explanation about the difference between occasional personal sales vs. regular business activity is really clarifying too. It makes sense that the IRS would look at patterns and intent rather than just individual transactions. For anyone else dealing with pushy platforms asking for SSNs, it sounds like the key is knowing your rights and not being afraid to push back when they're overreaching on their data collection requirements.

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