City of Chicago Going After Ticket Scalpers

The City of Chicago figures that it is losing upwards of $16 Million a Year in Ticket Taxes that would have been collected if these tickets were not scalped and resold on StubHub. So they are suing StubHub/eBay for the lost revenue.

Ticket Scalping is illegal in some places – North Carolina, for example – but, it is doubtful that we can ever stop it…. So take a hint, Chicago remembered Elliot Ness and decided if you can’t arrest them TAX THEM.

It’s a good idea, except that once the tickets have been sold, the taxes were paid. It’s difficult to determine where tickets are sold on the Internet. It will be interesting to see if this ever gets to court.