Hypothetical discovery question

[fistfulladirt]

“A chair worth money that you bought at a yard sale or grandpa had in his house which you now own is not "income".

Agreed, although, if the yard sale made a profit over the original purchase price, that is taxable income.
An item should not be taxed until sold.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Which IMO is total BS and should be stricken from the guide as it makes the citizens of the U.S. look like complete idiots.

How can something be taxed if it isn't sold yet. this is absurd to think you will pay tax on it TWICE.

Most items don't have a value UNTIL its sold... until then it is only speculative as to a true and definitive value.

This law IMO should be re-written to only apply to items SOLD.... ONLY THEN can it be considered "income".

A chair worth money that you bought at a yard sale or grandpa had in his house which you now own is not "income".

ONLY when it is converted to cash could a "value" be placed on ANY item.

It is what it is... until it isn't.

Not under the law... but plain dumb ole common sense.

Good luck convincing IRS that. LOL That was why I said "keep your mouth completely shut."

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

AARC, your post was based on you owning the chair to begin with, not found treasure you never owned to begin with that was lost or abandoned

Law "If you find and keep property that does not belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure-trove), it is taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it is your undisputed possession,’ states the IRS’ 2013 tax guide."

If you are given or inherited the chair it is neither abandoned nor lost so would not fall under "treasure trove law." Selling the chair for say $1000 would fall under normal income tax law if it is sold for more than it was bought for IF you reported the sale.

 

[ARC]

Welp... I am still looking for a "treasure trove"... AND that 1000 dollar chair. heh

Prolly sat in one though :P

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Welp... I am still looking for a "treasure trove"... AND that 1000 dollar chair. heh

Prolly sat in one though :P

You and me both my friend. When I enlisted in military in 1967 my mom went through house and threw out all my and my brothers comics and other collectibles, since I grew up in the 50s and 60s we had 1st issues of many of the golden age of comics
I told her she threw away thousands of dollars of comics,

 

[ARC]

You and me both my friend. When I enlisted in military my mom went through house and threw out all my and my brothers comics and other collectibles, since I grew up in the 50s and 60s we had 1st issues of many of the golden age of comics
I told her she threw away thousands of dollars of comics,

Heh... similar here... I had tons of Star Wars things when I was a kid...

Mom tossed them as well.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Mom threw out my collection of “magazines”.

 

[ARC]

Mom threw out my collection of “magazines”.

lol

And you would have thought those would have been worth much more than comics and Star Wars.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Heh... similar here... I had tons of Star Wars things when I was a kid...

Mom tossed them as well.

I feel your pain. The only thing that I could find from my childhood, was my old Boy Scout uniform. Dont know what she did with the Cub Scout uniform. Probably went in the garbage with everything else I had.

 

[TheCoinKid]

My Mom was the complete opposite. After I left and later married, I did a pretty good job of taking what I wanted to keep. A couple of things left behind were a worthless pair of lime green gym shorts and a Notre Dame T-shirt full of holes. They set in a dresser drawer in my room for years. When the room was finally converted to a study, they disappeared. Much later, while we were cleaning out the house after she passed, I found them in a plastic bin, stored separately in a plastic bag, along with my other worthless junk left behind.

 

[PaleIO]

Definitely tell no one. Not even your closest friends. I would sell it piece by piece as I needed it.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

lol

And you would have thought those would have been worth much more than comics and Star Wars.

I had Playboy issue #1 the one with Marylin Monroe that was worth some $ until my dog ruined it.

 

[TheCoinKid]

I found a Marilyn Monroe Playboy (don't know if she was in more than one issue) in an apartment trash bin back in the 70's. Thought I might have something until I realized some of the pages were stuck together!!

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I found a Marilyn Monroe Playboy (don't know if she was in more than one issue) in an apartment trash bin back in the 70's. Thought I might have something until I realized some of the pages were stuck together!!

Yeah that one wasn't worth anything but to someone it was. LOL. Yeah I found mine at a yard sale no stuck pages. But my dog peed on all my books that were collectables I had some collectable comics in the box also. But he needed to be inside as it was freezing outside and he wasn't housebroke.