How should I report my $5K profit from reselling Taylor Swift concert tickets for taxes?

The $20k threshold only applies to when platforms are required to send you and the IRS a 1099-K form. It doesn't mean you don't have to report the income. All income is taxable regardless of whether you receive a tax form for it. Since you bought the tickets with the intention of reselling them for profit, this would be considered a short-term capital gain. You should report it on Schedule D and Form 8949. You'll list the tickets as the asset, your purchase price as the basis, and your selling price as the proceeds. The difference is your capital gain that's taxable. Keep good records of what you paid for the tickets originally and what you sold them for, including any fees you paid to the resale platforms, as those fees can be deducted from your profit.

Last year I had a similar issue with concert tickets I resold and I found an amazing tool that helped me figure out exactly how to report it. I used https://taxr.ai and just uploaded my ticketmaster receipts and stubhub sales history. It analyzed everything and told me exactly where to report it on my taxes. The tool confirmed what the previous commenter said - I needed to report it as capital gains even though I didn't get a 1099-K. But it also helped me identify some fees I paid that I could deduct to lower my taxable profit. Definitely saved me from potentially making a mistake on my taxes!

Ok I have to admit I was wrong. I was skeptical about taxr.ai so I decided to try it with my own situation (sold some collectibles last year) and it was actually super helpful. It analyzed my sales history and explained exactly where each transaction needed to be reported. The best part was it showed me that I could deduct all the shipping costs and seller fees which I had completely forgotten about. Ended up saving me almost $300 in taxes! For anyone else dealing with reselling stuff whether it's concert tickets or anything else, it's definitely worth checking out.

I had a similar ticket resale situation last year and called the IRS to ask about reporting requirements. After waiting on hold for THREE HOURS, I got disconnected. Then I found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me connected to an IRS agent in less than 15 minutes. You can even see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that yes, you absolutely need to report that $6.5k profit regardless of whether you received a 1099-K. The agent explained that the reporting threshold only applies to the platforms' obligation to send forms, not your obligation to report income. They also confirmed it would go on Schedule D.

I need to publicly eat my words. After getting disconnected from the IRS FOUR times trying to get an answer about my side hustle income, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Within 20 minutes I was talking to an actual IRS agent who answered all my questions. The agent told me that not only do I need to report all income regardless of receiving a 1099, but they also explained that for regular ticket reselling, I should actually be filing Schedule C instead of Schedule D if I'm doing this with some regularity. Apparently if you're buying items specifically to resell, it's more like a business activity than a capital gain. Totally worth it to get this clarification directly from the IRS!

You might also want to check your state's tax laws. Some states have lower reporting thresholds than the federal government. In my state, the threshold is only $600 for reporting marketplace sales, even though the federal threshold is much higher.

I'm curious - did you sell the tickets at significantly higher prices than what you paid? Might be worth checking if your city or state has any anti-scalping laws. Some places have restrictions on how much above face value you can sell tickets for.