Oil Lease Sale

[jadams7145]

Received Oil Gas Lease as a gift.  Sold it within a week.  I paid a 26K bill for the person who gave me the gift.  Can I deduct this as a expense?  Is this considered other income?

[Carl]

I paid a 26K bill for the person who gave me the gift.

You need to elaborate more. Doesn't look or sound like a gift to me, if you paid $26K to the person you got it from. Paying a liability for that person is no different than you giving that person the money, and they pay their debt. THis would mean your cost basis on the lease is $26K. If you sold it for more than $26K then you have a taxable gain. If sold for less than $26K, you have a loss.

[jadams7145]

Thanks - the sale was 45K and paying the debit off was a condition of the gift.