As the Internal Revenue Service moved with dispatch to indicate that it will be seeking to collect income tax from Christian Lopez, the New York Yankees fan who caught the ball that represented Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, it provides Yankees management with a great opportunity to lift interest in baseball and do a good deed while achieving a smart public relations job --- by paying the taxes for the solid fan in the stands, feels Grumpy Editor.
Lopez, a 23-year-old Verizon customer sales representative, grabbed the prized home-run ball, one of five Jeter hits at Saturday’s game, and returned it to the Yankees captain, whom he called “an icon.”
In doing so, he nixed pocketing up to $300,000 that the ball would likely fetch an auction.
As a reward for his action, Yankees management gifted Lopez with luxury suite tickets for all remaining home games and any post-season games the Yankees may play plus autographed bats, balls and jerseys.
Total value of the items was estimated at about $32,000.
Noticing that, the IRS quickly jumped in and figured Lopez would be good for between $5,000 and $13,000 in income tax.
Lopez told the New York Daily News that he’ll pay the tax rather than relinquish the prized seats. “If worse comes to worse,” said the Yankees follower, “I’ll have to pay the taxes”…“I’m not going to return the seats.”
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