Man Finds 9-Carat Diamond. IRS Finds—and Taxes—Man
27th September 2020
It’s nice to read a feel-good story like the one about an Arkansas man who found a massive 9-carat diamond in a public state park in Arkansas. Thirty-three year old Kevin Kinard found the 9.07 carat whopper in the Crater of Diamonds State Park on Labor Day. It is the second-largest ever found at the park, the biggest being a 16.37-carat stone found in 1975, which was also the biggest diamond ever uncovered in the U.S. Mr. Kinard gets to hang on to his big find, since visitors who find diamonds or other minerals at the site are allowed to keep them.
The stone has not yet been appraised, but whatever the massive diamond turns out to be worth, does Mr. Kinard really have to worry about looking over his shoulder for the IRS? Yes, that’s the not so feel-good part of the story. According to the IRS, money or valuables you find are taxed, even if you just happen upon something by pure luck, and even if you don’t sell it to turn it into cash.