The rules have changed once again when 1099-K is issued for online ticket sales and other transactions.
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- The new rules are again on sale online for ticket sales and other products and services for 2025.
- Sellers who flagged as “business” or “professional” sellers on the platform may obtain 1099-K forms at lower internal thresholds, experts say, even if they don’t reach federal restrictions.
- If casual sellers lose money on ticket sales, they shouldn’t expect tax cuts.
There’s no better time than the end of summer to be optimistic about our sports teams. Season ticket holders who are passionate about covering high costs can start thinking about selling tickets on profits to recover their costs.
However, sellers should be careful: it is recommended to take a timeout to check the tax rules.
We are talking about one of the more confusing changes in tax regulations related to paperwork in recent years. And if it flashes in 2025 it has changed again thanks to the tax rules involved when it issued 1099-K this year for online ticket sales this year, and the provisions on the tax and spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law this summer.
In the first minute of 2025, fans were warned that they could issue a traceable tax form if they were left in football cash by reselling NFL game tickets at an extraordinary price that was far greater than their original value. Now, forget about that. Certainly, it spins your head.
Without a doubt, you can borrow taxes on those ticket sales even if you don’t receive the 1099-k.
Taxpayers are legally required to report profits from ticket sales, whether they receive 1099-K or not, said Scott Klein, senior manager of tax policy and advocacy at the CPAS American Association.
“If you sell tickets with profits, you’re taxable, minus the profits – the sale price and excluding the original cost, including the fee,” he said.
Klein noted that failure to report income could result in an IRS audit, which could result in taxes, penalties and interest.
His suggestion: Take your time to maintain a detailed record of ticket purchases and sales. Sellers must keep receipts, reviews, or screenshots of all transactions in case the IRS requests certification. You will pay taxes on profits that exceed your costs.
Occasionally ticket sales are generally treated as a sale of personal items, Klein told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today network.
“Losses from resale of tickets purchased for personal use cannot be deducted and cannot be used to offset the profits from selling other tickets.”
If you purchase tickets with the intention of reselling regularly, the IRS may classify this as a business activity, Klein said. In such cases, you may be eligible to deduct related expenses from Schedule C. The IRS takes into account factors such as frequency of sales, intention to make a profit from an activity, and determining whether it is a business or not.
How 1099-K Form Works
First, some history: just a few years ago there was a very high threshold for issuing a tax form called 1099-K. Tax forms were sent only to those who received more than $20,000 from a sale and made more than 200 transactions on third-party payment processing platforms prior to 2023.
These platforms have sent copies of 1099-K to both the IRS and taxpayers.
The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act had to revamp the reporting requirements for third-party networks, and trigger 1099-K if there were transactions over $600.
The lower threshold meant a larger paper mark for the Internal Revenue Service to track taxable transactions.
However, I never saw a 1099 ks flood at the $600 threshold. The IRS continued to delay implementation of the $600 threshold, instead better managed the administrative challenge of issuing millions of tax forms to people who have never received them, step by step, step by step, at different thresholds.
For example, earlier this year, ticket sellers were warned that if they sell tickets, other products, or online online, in 2025, they would receive 1099-K from credit card companies, payment apps and online markets during next year’s tax season.
The threshold was set to plummet to more than $600 in 2026 sales.
But wait, like I said, the rules are changing again.
When you are issued 1099-K now
The tax and expenditure package signed into law this summer has changed reporting requirements for Form 1099-K.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the future,” said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting in River Woods, Illinois.
These thresholds are important.
For example, a change in the rules means that if sellers are short on any component (for example, if they win a sales of between $15,000 and $50 per year), then the total sales are not generating 1099‑ K, and Tom O’Saben is a tax fund and government relations agent and director of government relations for the National Association of Tax Professionals.
“Casual ticket resellers, such as ticket holders for the Lions Season, will not receive the 1099-K unless they cross that high and high-portion threshold in a year,” Osaben said.
However, Osaben warns that there may be some issues. Some payment processors could choose to issue 1099-ks below legal thresholds as a conservative measure to simplify compliance and maintain uniform reporting, he said.
He then warned that mistakes will occur in false records, duplicate accounts, or misclassifications that can generate forms of amounts under thresholds.
Additionally, Osaben said a few states have a lower own 1099-K threshold, including Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia. In these states, for example, sellers could still see 1099-K under $600, regardless of federal law.
Although each platform reports separately, Osaben said that if the seller is close to the thresholds of different platforms, the platform may issue forms, even if each platform is under the $20,000 and 200 transaction marks.
Sellers flagged as “business” or “professional” sellers on the platform may obtain 1099-K forms at lower internal thresholds, even if they do not reach federal restrictions.
O’Saben said it’s best not to ignore 1099-K even if you get 1099-K, because 1099-K also received the documents, even if you receive 1099-K.
1099-K shows only your receipts and not profit. Therefore, the numbers displayed in 1099-K may not be entirely taxable. That’s why you need a good record.
Prepare to be confused
Without a doubt, taxpayers may be more perplexed than ever, especially if they pay attention to previously announced changes to the 1099-K rule that are not currently being made.
Luscombe said the IRS has announced that it will not adjust the 1099 form for changes to the mega tax bill until 2026.
“If the IRS does not update the 2025 1099-K instructions, the 1099-K instructions could be confusing for taxpayers as they could refer to the 2025 $2,500 filing threshold if the threshold is actually much higher,” Luscombe said.
According to Luscombe, the same $20,000 and 200 transaction thresholds will apply in 2026. Things aren’t too confusing as the IRS has pledged to update the 1099-K form when you file your 2026 tax return in 2027.
The IRS had yet to update some of the 1099-K tips as of late August, weeks after Trump signed the law on his tax and spending package.
Again, the new rules do not change what counts as income or how taxes are calculated.
Technically, profits are taxed, whether you receive 1099-K or not. Whether you’re talking about selling college soccer tickets or choosing a closet, you can borrow taxes on income that exceeds the cost of what you sell.
“Whether you receive Form 1099-K or not, the IRS states online: “You must report your income on your tax return, which includes payment for the items you sell (including personal items such as clothing and furniture) or the services you provide.”
If you sell an old leather blazer for $150 and originally paid $600, you won’t face a tax bill, for example. You lost $450 in that transaction and casual sellers cannot claim losses to reduce their tax bill.
Reselling platforms such as StubHub, Ticketmaster, Etsy, and eBay all list information online online about when to send 1099-K. But you need to look at your numbers and know more about when you are about to borrow taxes and when you are not.
Please contact Personal Finance Columnist Susan Tom Paul: stompor@freepress.com. Follow himr x @tompor.
