It was an awfully nice gesture: The New York Yankees fan who caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th career hit thoughtfully returned the ball worth he could've auctioned to pay off school costs. The Yankees rewarded Christian Lopez with a gift of box seats, bats and balls. But it appears the IRS may be getting a good reward: taxes.
Yankees fan Christian Lopez didn’t auction the home-run ball off. He paid it forward: His girlfriend had bought the NY Yankees fan tickets for his birthday -- and in turn, he simply returned Derek Jeter's home run ball that also happened to mark a career record. In a show of appreciation from the New York team, New York fan Lopez was given three bats, three balls and a team jersey -- baseball collectables that were all autographed by Jeter himself. Christian Lopez also received four box seats at Yankee Stadium. Those would be very special seats, in the president’s box -- a prized spot reserved for the fan, throughout the rest of the baseball season .
It was a praised act when Lopez -- a guy who owes $150,000 in student loans -- thoughtfully returned Jeter's hit #3000. Unfortunately it appears kindness doesn't always pay off, depending on who you ask. For the IRS, virtually everything pays off -- and the agency plans to collect about $14,000 in IRS taxes in return for those gifts the Yankees provided its loyal fan.
Lopez says he's just waiting for the IRS to call -- but isn't going to let the thought ruin his good time. He's enjoying himself, still. He says he's sure the Yankee Stadium wasn't thinking about possible taxes or repercussions when issuing him the gifts. What a sweet guy. They certainly weren't thinking about potential tax write-offs either.