Washington Sheep Auction Tag

[Buckjunkie]

The successful bidder is heir to the UPS fortune. I don't think he is missing any mortgage payments to buy the tag. I think his son has won the N Central Raffle five years in a row. He killed the world record archery Cali two years ago in Mt. Hull. I expect him to load the N Central Raffle again this year.

The Montana tag went to Jimmy John Liautaud (aka Jimmy John's Sub Sandwiches). I think this is the fourth or fifth time he has bought that tag. This year was the least he has paid at $305k.

we benefit from this kind of indulgence. It deserves a round of applause.

[Karl Blanchard]

Well dang.  I was hoping somebody had eyes on a giant.

[huntnphool]

Well dang.  I was hoping somebody had eyes on a giant.

  "Giant" is all relative, a 180 class Cali IS a giant.

[huntnphool]

Good for sheep, watch the price fall next year when Swakane is not included.

 And this will be the real litmus test won't it? Will WDFW stick to the plan, or now that they get a taste of the blood $, do their eyes roll back and make up some excuse
("the herd is strong and there are more in there than we had expected") and continue the auction next year?

[Dan-o]

Wow who was the fool? No sheep is worth $150,000 anywhere. 

Money like that gets spent every year on sheep tags. Just never in WA.

Yep a fool and his money are soon departed. 

Something tells me that whoever bought the tag is no fool.........   or he wouldn't have had $150,000 in spare change hanging around for a sheep hunt.

But, haters gotta hate.

Good luck to the hunter.

[huntnphool]

Man I can't help but wonder if somebody doesn't have a giant found already and that's why the price went so high.

There are some concerned that we are now auctioning our largest sheep.

 Are you included?

[jackelope]

Man I can't help but wonder if somebody doesn't have a giant found already and that's why the price went so high.

There are some concerned that we are now auctioning our largest sheep.

 Are you included?

It mostly seems to me that we are.
 

[Karl Blanchard]

Well dang.  I was hoping somebody had eyes on a giant.

  "Giant" is all relative, a 180 class Cali IS a giant.

yep

[Rainier10]

Wow, looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Glad to see that kind of coin going to conservation.

[pianoman9701]

Wow who was the fool? No sheep is worth $150,000 anywhere. 

Maybe he likes the idea that his money is going to conservation. I have a feeling he knows full well what a sheep is worth. I wish I had the kind of money it takes to donate $150K to conservation.

[coop2424]

I could be wrong on this but isn't this a write off for taxes also?  If it is true seems like a win win you get your charitable donation then on top of it you get to help the sheep out and hunt them...  Now these people defiantly are in a higher tax bracket where this amount is probably equal to a couple thousand for us..

[Bob33]

I could be wrong on this but isn't this a write off for taxes also?  If it is true seems like a win win you get your charitable donation then on top of it you get to help the sheep out and hunt them...  Now these people defiantly are in a higher tax bracket where this amount is probably equal to a couple thousand for us..

If it is donation, yes. But only to the extent the payment exceeds the fair market value of the item purchased. If the fair market value of a sheep tag is $100K and he paid $150K, he made a $50K donation. If he is in the highest tax bracket the marginal tax rate is 39.6% which means that a $50K donation would reduce his tax liability by about $20K.

[coop2424]

I could be wrong on this but isn't this a write off for taxes also?  If it is true seems like a win win you get your charitable donation then on top of it you get to help the sheep out and hunt them...  Now these people defiantly are in a higher tax bracket where this amount is probably equal to a couple thousand for us..

If it is donation, yes. But only to the extent the payment exceeds the fair market value of the item purchased. If the fair market value of a sheep tag is $100K and he paid $150K, he made a $50K donation. If he is in the highest tax bracket the marginal tax rate is 39.6% which means that a $50K donation would reduce his tax liability by about $20K.

Wouldn't it be the price of the tag if you drew it non resident or resident as the value or is it different since it is different units?  I really don't know just was wondering..  Still a lot of money no matter how you look at it..

[Bob33]

I could be wrong on this but isn't this a write off for taxes also?  If it is true seems like a win win you get your charitable donation then on top of it you get to help the sheep out and hunt them...  Now these people defiantly are in a higher tax bracket where this amount is probably equal to a couple thousand for us..

If it is donation, yes. But only to the extent the payment exceeds the fair market value of the item purchased. If the fair market value of a sheep tag is $100K and he paid $150K, he made a $50K donation. If he is in the highest tax bracket the marginal tax rate is 39.6% which means that a $50K donation would reduce his tax liability by about $20K.

Wouldn't it be the price of the tag if you drew it non resident or resident as the value or is it different since it is different units?  I really don't know just was wondering..  Still a lot of money no matter how you look at it..

The fair market value claimed by the tax filer can be whatever he says it is. The IRS may disagree, and they usually win the disagreements. The IRS may say the fair market value is what he paid for it, since it was an open bidding process.

[pianoman9701]

I could be wrong on this but isn't this a write off for taxes also?  If it is true seems like a win win you get your charitable donation then on top of it you get to help the sheep out and hunt them...  Now these people defiantly are in a higher tax bracket where this amount is probably equal to a couple thousand for us..

You have to spend money to have a write-off. And some or all of that expense may not be deductible, depending on how the IRS feels about the category it's in. But people who don't know about taxes often get confused between the terms tax write-off and tax credit. A tax write-off is when you pay taxes on your income minus the allowed amount of the donation. Someone who makes $1M a year and has $150,000.00 in write-offs will pay full taxes on $850,000.00. A tax credit (which this is not), is when the amount of tax is reduced by the amount of the credit. Someone who makes $1M a year will pay $390,500.00 in taxes. If they have a tax credit for $150,000.00, they will then pay $240,500.00. An example of this is the EITC.