WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is pushing back against the new Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements that he claims are penalizing hard-working Taylor Swift fans in the Sunshine State.
During a discussion Wednesday morning in Doral, Patronis panned the IRS after a recent Wall Street Journal report suggested that the federal government could be targeting Swift fans who sold concert tickets for more than $600.
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A federal law change in 2021 requires ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster to give the IRS personal information on users who sold tickets.
"Just when you thought Washington couldn't further intrude into the lives of Americans more, the deep state has found yet another way to screw over honest, hard-working taxpayers by digging deeper into your wallets," Patronis said.
Patronis said President Joe Biden's "Taylor tax" unfairly punishes "Swifties" who bought tickets and made a profit of $600 or more from their resell.
"You can bet that the IRS will expect you to report that profit to them," Patronis said. "While Biden said he wants to go after millionaires and billionaires, turns out he wants to go after moms and dads who can't attend Taylor Swift concerts."
Swift's record-setting "Eras Tour" includes three dates in South Florida at Hard Rock Stadium in October 2024. A film version of her concert will be released in movie theaters next month.
Patronis pointed to his Florida IRS transparency portal, created for individuals, private businesses and nonprofits "to report evidence of discrimination by IRS operatives" that "would help Florida identify patterns of discrimination where specific agents are targeting certain political causes."
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Florida's CFO said the information is used "to inform our efforts in building state laws to fight back against the IRS for the upcoming session."
The policy change also impacts online sales via Venmo, PayPal and Cash App.
"Taylor Swift is her own economic development engine and has done more good for the economy than Biden ever will," Patronis said. "In this economy, people do everything they can to afford record-high inflation. If for some unforeseen circumstance occurs and you have to resell your concert tickets, you should be able to do so without any repercussions."
