Seat Forward · A guide for ticket holders
Can't use
your tickets?
Plans change. Here is how to make sure the seats you can't use still mean something.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Platform rules and tax law change, and your situation is your own. Last reviewed September 25, 2026.
A work trip lands on the same night, a babysitter cancels, the weather turns. However it happens, you are holding tickets you can’t use, and the date is getting closer. The good news: you have options, and one of them turns an empty seat into someone’s unforgettable night.
Your options
Send them forward
Give your tickets to Seat Forward and we will put them to work for a young person, a veteran, or a family facing hardship who would never otherwise be in the room. It takes about three minutes. There is nothing to list and no buyer to chase, and we send a receipt for your tax records as soon as your tickets arrive.
Pass them to someone you know
Most mobile tickets can be sent to another person's email or phone from inside the app you bought them in. If a friend can go, wonderful. If not, sending them forward means the seats still get used.
Check with the organizer
If an event is canceled, the ticketing platform usually refunds you automatically. If it is only your plans that changed, refunds are rare, though some organizers run an exchange program worth a quick look.
List them for resale
Resale is always an option, but it comes with trade-offs: most resale platforms take a seller's fee, prices can fall as the date gets close, and there is no guarantee anyone buys before the doors open. Tickets that don't sell simply go unused.
Why donating is worth it
A seat that would have sat empty becomes a night someone remembers
The first concert, the first game, the first Broadway show: for many of the young people, veterans, and families we serve, these nights are out of reach. Your tickets change that.
No fees, no listings, no waiting
There is nothing to price, no fee taken out, and no refreshing a listing on the day of the show. You transfer the tickets to us, and you are done.
A tax benefit, with a receipt to back it up
The Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity, so if you itemize, your gift may be deductible, generally up to what you paid for the tickets. We send your receipt as soon as they arrive, ready for your tax records.
It is rarely too late
Even a few days out, seats can still find the right person. The sooner we have them, the better the match, so send them as soon as you know you can't go.
Already listed them? Easy
Just take the listing down first, so the same seats can never be sold and given at once. We take it from there.
Every gift keeps working
We place donated tickets directly with young people, veterans, and families facing hardship, or through community partners. When a seat can't be placed in time, or can do more good another way, our donor terms let us sell it through lawful channels and put 100% of the net proceeds back into the program. You agree to that when you donate, and it means no gift goes to waste.
How a transfer works
On Ticketmaster, which issues tickets for many New York arenas, stadiums, and theaters, sending tickets to someone else looks like this:
- Open the Ticketmaster app or ticketmaster.com and go to My Tickets.
- Choose the event, tap Transfer, and confirm with the one-time code Ticketmaster sends you.
- Select the seats and send them to the email address we give you after you donate.
- Until the transfer is accepted you can recall it. Once it is accepted, it is final.
A few things are true on most platforms:
- Transfer only appears when the organizer allows it. It can be switched off for an event or a section, or not be available yet.
- Extras such as merchandise, VIP add-ons, and ticket insurance stay with your account even when the seats transfer.
- Tickets bought on a resale site were often issued by the original platform, so they are usually transferred from that original app, not from the resale site.
AXS, SeatGeek, the MLB Ballpark app and most team apps have their own version of the same Transfer option. Our transfer help page walks through each one, checked against the platform’s own help pages. If your Transfer button is missing, start here; there is often another way, and we will say plainly if there isn’t.
Holding season tickets or a company suite with more nights than you can use? A standing release sends them forward without a fresh decision each time.
Questions about taxes
Is a ticket donation tax-deductible?
It can be, and it is one of the nicest parts of giving. The Legacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 20-4557510), so tickets you give us can qualify as a charitable contribution. If you itemize your deductions, you may be able to deduct your gift on your federal return. How much depends on what you paid and on your own tax picture, so we can't give you a number, but your tax advisor can.
How much can I deduct?
For most donated tickets, the lesser of what you paid and what the tickets were worth on the day you gave them. Tickets you have owned for a year or less count as short-term property, so any rise in value above your cost doesn't add to the deduction, and if they were worth less than you paid by the time you gave them, the lower figure applies. Starting in 2026, itemized charitable deductions count only above 0.5% of your income, and the benefit is trimmed for the top tax bracket. If you have owned your tickets for more than a year, different rules may apply. Your advisor can put the numbers together.
How does the deduction actually help me?
A deduction lowers the income you are taxed on, so your gift saves you tax at your own rate. It isn't a refund of the ticket price, but it is a real benefit, and it comes alongside something no resale can give you: knowing your seats became a night someone will never forget.
When is my gift made?
On the day the tickets arrive in our account, for example when we accept a Ticketmaster transfer, not the day you fill in our form. That date decides the tax year, which matters for gifts made at the end of December, and it is the date on your receipt.
What will my receipt say?
Once the tickets are in our account and we have confirmed they are valid, we send your written receipt. It describes the tickets you gave, gives the date we received them, and confirms you received nothing in return. It doesn't put a dollar value on them, because the law leaves the value to you. For a gift of $250 or more, you need this receipt in hand before you file.
Do I need to file anything extra?
If your noncash gifts for the year total more than $500, you attach Form 8283 to your return. If you claim more than $5,000 for one item or a group of similar items, Section B of that form applies, which requires a qualified appraisal and our signature. We sign to confirm we received the tickets; our signature doesn't mean we agree with the value.
My tickets were free, or my company paid for them. Can I deduct them?
Tickets you received for free generally have no cost to you, so for most people the deduction is zero, unless their value was already counted as your income, for example as a taxable work benefit. If your company owns the tickets, the company is the donor: tell us when you donate so the receipt is in its name, and its deduction follows the rules for business gifts. Either way you are welcome to give them, and your advisor can confirm the treatment.
Does it matter to my deduction whether my tickets are used or sold?
Usually not. Because the deduction for most tickets is limited to what you paid, it doesn't change with what we do with them. One formality: if you report a gift in Section B of Form 8283 (more than $5,000) and we sell it within three years, the IRS requires us to file Form 8282 and send you a copy.
Does the new 2026 deduction for people who don't itemize cover tickets?
No. That deduction, up to $1,000 or $2,000 for a married couple filing jointly, applies only to cash gifts. Tickets are a noncash gift, so they follow the regular rules above.
Ready when you are
Send your seats forward.
Seat Forward is a program of The Legacy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Tell us about your tickets and we will send the transfer steps for your platform right away. It takes about three minutes, and we send your receipt as soon as your tickets arrive.