Juiced by the Tax Code

If you want further proof about how complicated and idiotic some of our current tax laws are, well here ya go :

Before he celebrates his windfall, the New York Mets fanwho emerged from a violent scrum clutching Barry Bonds' r ecord-setting home run ball should probably call his accountant.

As soon as 21-year-old Matt Murphy snagged the valuable piece of sports history Tuesday night, his souvenir became taxable income in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service, according to experts.

"It's an expensive catch," said John Barrie, a tax lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP in New York who grew up watching the Giants play at Candlestick Park. "Once he took possession of the ball and it was his ball, it was income to him based on its value as of yesterday,"

By most estimates, the ball that put Bonds atop the list of all-time home run hitters with 756 would sell in the half-million dollar range on the open market or at auction.

That would instantly put Murphy, a college student from Queens, in the highest tax bracket for individual income, where he would face a tax rate of about 35 percent, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball.

Even if he does not sell the ball, Murphy would still owe the taxes based on a reasonable estimate of its value, according to Barrie. Capital gains taxes also could be levied in the future as the ball gains value, he said.

How insane is it for somebody to be in the right place at the right time and catches a baseball owes over $200,000 to the federal government? For any reason? What did the federal government do to deserve that money from this poor kid?

Let's face it, the federal tax structure needs to be scuttled and started anew...