Oprah's Little Car Giveaway, causes Tax nightmares

AnnieMei · 09-23-2004, 09:14 PM

NEW YORK - Leave it to Uncle Sam to spoil the party.

When Oprah Winfrey gave away 276 cars last week to the audience of her show, images of people laughing, jumping, crying -- some hysterically -- filled the airwaves and the giveaway became stuff of legend. Late night talk show hosts and newspaper columnists are still talking about it.

But now some of those eager prizewinners have a choice: Fork over $7,000 or give up the car.

According to a spokeswomen for Harpo Productions Inc., Oprah's company, the recipients must pay a tax on the winnings, just like any prize.

For a brand new Pontiac G-Six, the model given away on the show, the sticker price is $28,500. The $28,500 would need to be claimed as income so, depending on the individuals tax bracket, the tax could be as high as $7,000. And that was after Pontiac agreed to pay most of the local charges, including state sales tax and licensing fees.

The Harpo Spokeswomen said winners had three choices. They could keep the car and pay the tax, sell the car and pay the tax with the profits or forfeit the car.

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See, nothing is given away for free. All those cars that were given away, hehe, knew it..They'd have to foot the tax bill. THANKS OPRAH!

japbike · 09-23-2004, 09:21 PM

oh shyt, I was WAITING for that.. hahahahah!! I was wondering if these ppl were going to have to pay some kind of tax on um...

I'll agree with you on the free thing, NOTHING is for free....

dennisred69 · 09-23-2004, 09:26 PM

Fill bankrupsy on the taxes on the car with a payment option there is always a loop hole.

Rascus · 09-23-2004, 09:28 PM

I'd rather pay 7,000 bucks for a New car vice 28,000

Big15 · 09-23-2004, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rascus

I'd rather pay 7,000 bucks for a New car vice 28,000

Exactly. If they can't come up with it then just sell the car and turn a profit after you pay the tax.

AnnieMei · 09-23-2004, 09:37 PM

They'd loose 7 grand off the bat. If they accept the car, the fair market value of that $28,500 car now is $21,000 (that is if they can get that price). Then from that they pay $7,000 and end up with $14,000 ?

Nice, but shit, I rather just give up the car and not wake up with the headaches when it comes April.

falco · 09-23-2004, 09:42 PM

This sounds like a whiny democrat post woe is me I was given a $28,000 car and I have to pay taxes to keep it whoa is me. Sell it on the spot for $24,000 claim a loss of assets for 4000 and your $24,000 richer and depending on your tax status, it won't be burdened much. I wish I had problems like that to worry about.

RACER X · 09-23-2004, 10:00 PM

old saying...... there's no such thing as a free lunch........

i'd imagine it's pretty easy to get a $7k loan for a $28k car.......

Justin726 · 09-23-2004, 10:07 PM

So they have to pay $7000 out of pocket for a $28,000 car. I don't really see the problem here. Man, I wish I could have a chance to pay $14,000 out of pocket because someone gave me a H2 hummer which are close to $50.000.

Mucho Gonzales · 09-23-2004, 10:28 PM

just like any game show that gives away prizes, you have to pay the tax on them. cash prizes, like jeopardy, are excluded from tax i think.

it's still nice to take a 7000 loan out on a 28.5k car.

28.5K?? holy cow!

mercutio80 · 09-23-2004, 11:02 PM

Quote:

i'd imagine it's pretty easy to get a $7k loan for a $28k car.......

Ding ding ding!!

I swear. People win the fucking lottery and still manage to find something to bitch about.

Of course, all these people were in some sort of financial problems. They may not be able to get a loan even with collateral like that.

brentsR6 · 09-23-2004, 11:24 PM

id sell it, pay the taxes and play with the money left over

Mykl · 09-23-2004, 11:50 PM

Yeah, Oprah gives several people a $23,000 coupon on a $30,000 car and they fucking complain about it...

Christ, if you don't have the cash just go to the damn bank, get a loan, and let the bank have the title as collateral.

AnnieMei · 09-24-2004, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin726

So they have to pay $7000 out of pocket for a $28,000 car. I don't really see the problem here. Man, I wish I could have a chance to pay $14,000 out of pocket because someone gave me a H2 hummer which are close to $50.000.

realize that those that got the car were IN need of one but couldnt afford one. That's why they were on the show (so if they can't afford a $28,000 car, some probably couldn't even afford a $7k one)

So they get a $28,000 car, and now have to pay $7k .. For $7k these same guys could have gotten a nice 2nd/3rd hand car (and probably a better one than the one being given them)..

Rascus · 09-24-2004, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnieMei

So they get a $28,000 car, and now have to pay $7k .. For $7k these same guys could have gotten a nice 2nd/3rd hand car (and probably a better one than the one being given them)..

How can a 2nd/3rd hand car be BETTER then a brand new car