Is schedule C required for NFL season ticket expenses and sales/losses?

[DawnC]

If you are in the business of buying and selling tickets, yes.   But if you just resold some of your personally owned tickets, you can enter the sale in the investment sales section of TurboTax.  You can't claim a loss on the sale of personal items, but if you made money on the transaction, you can enter it as an investment sale.   You only pay tax on the gain portion of the sale.   

If you received a 1099-K, use these instructions.

If you did not get a tax form, use these instructions.  

Reporting Personal Items You Sold Online or at a Yard Sale

[Deb727]

Thank you due the response.   Season ticket holders have to pay for their tickets  at the beginning of the season so where would you claim the monies paid?  Abs where would you identify losses for tickets not sold or sold less than what was paid?

[ThomasM125]

You would enter the ticket purchases in the Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold section of your business entries. Indicate that you have inventory to report, and enter the cost of tickets purchased and the beginning and ending inventory of tickets at cost. TurboTax will determine your cost of tickets sold based on these entries. The losses on tickets would be reflected in the cost of your ending inventory. 

[Opus 17]

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@Deb727 wrote:

Thank you due the response.   Season ticket holders have to pay for their tickets  at the beginning of the season so where would you claim the monies paid?  Abs where would you identify losses for tickets not sold or sold less than what was paid?

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Be careful here.  Unless you are in the business of reselling your tickets, you can't deduct losses and you should not use schedule C.  You would simply allocate the season price to the price per game/per ticket, and if you sell for more, that is gross miscellaneous or hobby income, and if you sell for less, that's just a loss, not deductible.

There are a number of factors to be a legitimate business, and if you are claiming to be a business when you are not (so you can deduct losses that should be personal and not deductible) that can be an audit issue resulting in back taxes and penalties.  Here are some of the factors to help decide if the activity is a business.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-hobby-and-a-business-for-tax...

[Deb727]

I added the 1099-K for the NFL season ticket reseller but never found where I was supposed to enter what was originally paid for the tickets...The help says this:  For 2024 the IRS does not require you to report these payments separately. TurboTax will not give you a separate field for the amounts reported on your 1099-K(s), so be sure that you visit the other income topics to report any income that you received via credit cards, debit cards, or electronic payments in 2024.

Where are the "other income topics"?

I'm using 2024 home and business. 

[JamesG1]

so be sure that you visit the other income topics to report any income that you received via credit cards, debit cards, or electronic payments in 2024.

I think that the software is referring to the other income stream options that are available within the self-employment activity on Schedule C.

In Home and Business:

1. Select Business, then Business Income and Expenses.
2. Select I'll choose what I work on.
3. Click to the right of Profit or Loss from Business.
4. Edit the self-employment activity.
5. Click to the right of Business Income.

@Deb727