And Now For The Bad News...Game Shows

[BeaMyra]

Here’s a good article from MSN.com about winning a game show and what they don’t tell you

http://money.msn.com/tax-planning/win-a-game-show-that-will-cost-you.aspx

Chad Foreman, 37, of Fayetteville, W.Va., had a similar experience on the same show. After winning a trip to Brazil, a recliner, video games and other prizes, he got a surprise backstage.

“They said, ‘We are offering you cash instead of this prize,’ at the end of the show when I sat in this room signing paperwork. They told me they weren’t giving me the video game systems and games or the movie tickets for a year. They were giving me the cash value of those prizes instead,” Foreman says. “So I got the cash, which totaled about $4,000.”

Danielle Matlin, a 20-year-old college student in Los Angeles and contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal,” waited six months to collect a meager $300 cash prize. “I could not receive my money until the show was aired. Once aired, they had 90 days to send me the money.”

When he was a broke college student living in California in 1987, Thom Singer, now 45, won $20,000 in cash along with a trip for two to Brazil, a sailboat and a stereo on “The $25,000 Pyramid.” He also scored several “parting gifts.”

“They taxed everything I won, including all the parting gifts, like a really ugly watch, coupons for a year’s worth of cough syrup, a case of Otter Pops, etc.,” Singer says. “I should have declined all the parting gifts, as most were dumb and went unused.”

See full story at above link

Why is nothing as good as it seems eh?

[Oakminster]

If taxes surprise you, I suggest you avoid winning the lottery, or hitting any jackpots at your local casino.

[Joey_P]

I’m surprised as well, did you honestly not know that you get taxed on all that stuff? In fact, the taxes are the reason most game shows will offer you the cash value instead of the actual prizes. A brand new giant pick up truck is great…until you have to fork over $10,000 for the gift tax to the IRS. Sure, many people are more then happy to pay $10,000 for a pick up or a few hundred for an amazing vacation but for those that can’t afford it, they give you the cash value, deduct the gift tax and you get to keep the rest.

Now, what I think is stupid is those people that when they hear “Oh, the lottery is $1,000,000 this week” they reply “Well, that’s only like $700,000 after taxes”. I like to reply “Fine, don’t take the $700,000 then” Kind of like the OP. The people are basically complaining that they got a 1/3 less then they won.

It’s not ‘bad news’ it’s just being naive about how the government works. Whether it’s because you’re young and honestly didn’t know that game show winnings are taxed, you’re older and never really gave it much thought or you thought if you through a big enough hissy fit you could get out of paying the taxes (cough Richard Hatch).

[robby]

At the end of the article, it states:

…And remember, winning big could push you into a higher tax bracket, which means you’d pay more at the end of the year on all of your income.

This seems to perpetuate the myth that tax brackets retroactively tax all of a person’s income at higher rates when one’s income makes it into a higher bracket.

Instead, only the money above the cutoff for a higher tax bracket is taxed at the higher rate.

[Hail_Ants]

I think the point of the article is to contrast the jubilant, happy, fun, over-the-top atmosphere that game shows all portray winning to be, with the cold, buzzkilling reality of, well, reality!

Wouldn’t really fit her image if Oprah shouted, “You get a big tax debt, and you get a big tax debt!” over and over again.

[Hippy_Hollow]

I’ve had to pay taxes on all my game show winnings. You’ll hear no complaints from me. Because it’s FREE MONEY!

Now you also have to report and pay estimated taxes by quarterly deadlines to avoid a penalty. I found that out the hard way. But again, I can’t see anyone getting het up over this. I feel lucky if I walk out with enough to cover my gas for the trip to the studio.

[GuanoLad]

I believe that all lottery and game show prizes here in Australia are tax free.

smug mode

[TriPolar]

@GuanoLad

I believe that all lottery and game show prizes here in Australia are tax free.

smug mode

Yeah, but then again, they’re in Australia.

American Exceptional mode

^cue Stars and Stripes Forever^

[aldiboronti]

@GuanoLad

I believe that all lottery and game show prizes here in Australia are tax free.

smug mode

Same here in the UK.

[Kamino_Neko]

@aldiboronti

Same here in the UK.

And Canada. (Not that we have any game shows worth mentioning up here - I think our version of Cash Cab may be it - but it also applies to Canadians’ winnings on American shows (or at American casinos), so…)

[shantih]

Germany, too. Mind, as an American citizen, it would count as part of my worldwide income and therefore be taxed by the US.

I think I’ll avoid all the complications and just not win big on a game show. Problem solved!

[Arkcon]

Funny, we have a thread in General Questions on just this topic. As I mentioned there, those free cars given on Oprah came with a tax burden that was sometimes way out of reach of the recipients.

[Icerigger]

I heard a rumor or maybe it’s an urban legend that the tax money for the prizes is given to you under the table. If you win a car there is an envelope in the glove compartment etc. Probably false.

[Maserschmidt]

@Icerigger

I heard a rumor or maybe it’s an urban legend that the tax money for the prizes is given to you under the table. If you win a car there is an envelope in the glove compartment etc. Probably false.

When I was on WWTBAM a long time ago they grossed up my payout for something, though I can’t recall if it was the value of the trip or the $1K prize (or both).

[Chefguy]

I seem to recall that these types of shows are required to offer you the cash equivalent in lieu of the actual item.

[Hippy_Hollow]

@Icerigger

I heard a rumor or maybe it’s an urban legend that the tax money for the prizes is given to you under the table. If you win a car there is an envelope in the glove compartment etc. Probably false.

That’s definitely false. I won a cycling trip in the Cotswolds on Wheel of Fortune… the cash value of the trip was something like $2K. My tax burden was my cash winnings plus that 2K.

So glad I did this in the modern era, instead of the old days where I’d have to buy a porcelain Dalmatian against my will, then get taxed on it…

[Jophiel]

@Hippy_Hollow

So glad I did this in the modern era, instead of the old days where I’d have to buy a porcelain Dalmatian against my will, then get taxed on it…

Plus that $12 gift certificate to Sears.

[Icerigger]

@Hippy Hollow

So glad I did this in the modern era, instead of the old days where I’d have to buy a porcelain Dalmatian against my will, then get taxed on it…

Yeah, it reminds me of the original Wheel of Fortune where you had to shop for prizes with your winnings like a $500 brass magazine rack.

[obfusciatrist]

@Arkcon

Funny, we have a thread in General Questions on just this topic. As I mentioned there, those free cars given on Oprah came with a tax burden that was sometimes way out of reach of the recipients.

Yeah, sucks to be them. Instead of “you’ll have to sell this car, give 1/3rd to the government and then keep the rest of the cash” is just a horrible way to treat random people who show up at a talk show. I hope they threw those keys in Oprah’s face and put out a cornea.

[Mahaloth]

Did Oprah pay the taxes for the cars?