As April 15 approaches ... more tax questions

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Posted By: Eric Brehm

I spoke to a capital gains person at the IRS yesterday and was told this:

(1) Baseball cards are definitely considered 'collectibles' as defined in section 408(m) of the US tax code. This means that long-term capital gains (cards held for more than one year) are subject to the 28% tax rate. Short-term gains are taxed at ordinary income tax rates.

(2) Baseball cards are not considered 'personal use' property; thus capital losses can in fact be deducted, or used to offset gains on other transactions.

I am listing my baseball card sales and gains/losses on Schedule D. To compute cost basis I start with the purchase price, then add costs of purchase and sale, including shipping costs, eBay fees, and PayPal fees. The capital gain (or loss) is then the sales price less the cost basis.

For a broader view on this subject, see Matt's post near the end of the above-referenced thread. I'm not sure he entirely agrees with (2) above, at least not in all circumstances.