Buyer of Shohei Ohtani's 50th HR ball exempt from tariffs

Milestone ball reportedly will be exempt from import tax because of its historical significance

Cover Image for Buyer of Shohei Ohtani's 50th HR ball exempt from tariffs
Shohei Ohtani's 50th HR ball ranks as the most valuable baseball in the long history of the sport. (Credit: Goldin Auctions)

Taiwanese investment firm UC Capital, which won the record-breaking $4.392 million auction for Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball earlier this month, will be exempt from paying standard customs duties due to the ball's historical significance, the Taipei Times reported Wednesday.

It’s standard for imported baseballs to be taxed between 3.3% and 10%, with the lower range applied to balls from the U.S., according to a customs official cited by the Times.

However, under an exemption for valuable collectibles included in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, the ball’s historical significance allows UC Capital to avoid paying what would have been a tax of nearly $130,000.

The company will likely still need to pay the 5% sales tax applied to the purchase, which comes out to around $218,000. According to the newspaper, officials are exploring if the ball would also be exempt from that sales tax under an Article included in the Customs Act, which applies to “items ranging from diplomatic gifts to relief supplies.”

If the second exemption is successful, the sales tax would also be waived, saving the company nearly $350,000 total.

The company said it planned to display the ball in Taiwan with a “high possibility” of exhibiting it at the Taipei Dome, the largest stadium in Taipei, according to Japanese sports newspaper Sponichi.

Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.