BR
Remember Oprah Winfrey giving everyone in her audience a brand new car, well there is a catch:
From Media Guardian:
As prizes are taxable in the US, winners will either have to pay the tax themseles, sell the car and use the profits to pay the tax, or forfeit the prize.
Thankfully, there are generally no taxes on prizes here in the UK.
From Media Guardian:
Quote:
The vehicles are worth $28,000 (£15,500) each, and while Ms Winfrey has made a career out of inspiring ordinary people to reach beyond the mundan in their daily lives, the internal revenue service takes a different approach: each recipient faces a tax bill of about $7,000 if they keep the car.
"There wasn't a question in my mind that there would be some kind of cost to me because nothing in this world is free," one guest, Tiffany Self, told the Guardian yesterday.
William Toebe, from Wisconsin, told the Chicago Sun-Times he might not keep the car.
"Some of the people who know me [saw that] my smile looked a little bit forced," he said. "That's because paying the taxes was the first thing that popped into my head."
Harpo Productions, which makes The Oprah Winfrey Show, said the winners were entitled to decline the vehicles, or sell them if they used some of the money to pay the tax. It said gameshow prizes were normally taxable.
"There wasn't a question in my mind that there would be some kind of cost to me because nothing in this world is free," one guest, Tiffany Self, told the Guardian yesterday.
William Toebe, from Wisconsin, told the Chicago Sun-Times he might not keep the car.
"Some of the people who know me [saw that] my smile looked a little bit forced," he said. "That's because paying the taxes was the first thing that popped into my head."
Harpo Productions, which makes The Oprah Winfrey Show, said the winners were entitled to decline the vehicles, or sell them if they used some of the money to pay the tax. It said gameshow prizes were normally taxable.
As prizes are taxable in the US, winners will either have to pay the tax themseles, sell the car and use the profits to pay the tax, or forfeit the prize.
Thankfully, there are generally no taxes on prizes here in the UK.