The Daily Money: You better report that stolen property on your taxes

Posted by Anonymous on December 29, 2021

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Wednesday, December 29

Good morning, Daily Money readers. This is Jayme Deerwester, back with you for the rest of this short holiday week.

Tax-prep tips aren't unusual this close to the end of the year, but here's one that got our attention: Lit Capital, a growth capital fund, posted a tweet reminding readers that the Internal Revenue Service expects you to report stolen property or bribes as income on their 1040 for 2021.

"If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year," reads the IRS' provision for stolen property. Let's see how many catalytic converter thieves and Nordstrom five-finger discount shoppers follow through with that one.

Let's shift to our ...💡

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MOOD MUSIC. Some days, I struggle to find a song lyric that fits a given day's financial news. Today, the IRS story made the decision easy. It had to be "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction: "I enjoy stealing. It's just as simple as that ... When I want something, I don't want to pay for it." (And odds are, they don't want to report it on their taxes, either.)