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Catching Jeter's 3,000th Hit Could Cost Man $14,000
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 12, 2011
Modified Jul 12, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 12, 2011
Modified Jul 12, 2011
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The man who snagged Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit—and gave it back—now may owe the IRS thousands. In exchange for returning the ball 23-year-old Christian Lopez was given front-row seats to last Sunday's game, four season tickets to the Yankees remaining home games and any postseason games as well as three bats, three balls and two jerseys signed by Jeter. Modestly that's worth about $50,000. And the taxman will want a cut.
"He's a great guy," Terry Ganer, a Yankees fan and accountant, put it this way to the Daily News: "But I'm pretty sure the tax man, unfortunately, is not a Yankee fan and will not look at this so sympathetically."
The IRS isn't talking about Lopez's liabilities, but experts say the total tally will come down to whether the stuff from the house Babe built "is a gift or prize is whether the transferor is giving the property out of detached and disinterested generosity.” And if it is a prize then Lopez could be on the hook for as much as $14,000. No small scratch for a kid who says he's got more than $100,000 in student loans. Still, he says he'll pay it.
"Worse comes to worse, I'll have to pay the taxes," Lopez told the Daily News on Monday. "I'm not going to return the seats. I have a lot of family and friends who will help me out if need be. The IRS has a job to do, so I'm not going to hold it against them, but it would be cool if they helped me out a little on this."
Meanwhile, Lopez says he is giving at least one of the bats and jersey's to his girlfriend, who bought him the tickets to Saturday's game in the first place. “Jeter said I quote-unquote owe her a lot. I’m going to take his words as advice,” he said.
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3000th hit
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