DescentBB

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/22/news/ne ... tm?cnn=yes

That just doesnt seem fair to me, that the government can tax sh*t that you recieve as a gift. So now these people who got these brand new cars have to either fork over 7K, Sell the car and pay the taxes on it with the profits, or forfeit the car. Thats just bull$h*t. It shouldnt be counted as income unless its sold as cash.

Stuff like this makes me wanna kick uncle sam right in the nuts.

I wonder why O wouldn't pay the tax too...I mean if she wants to give someone the gift of a car because they cannot affoard a car themselves, why not just pay for everything? What kind of a gift is that?

The "gift tax" used to be 50%...might still be.
This is only taxed at their income tax rate which is probably less than half the gift tax rate.

The government takes more than it should that's for sure but these people should shut up and just say thanks. Or, sell the car and pocket the net profit. Or, take out a loan on the car! A new car loan on aproximately $7000 taxable value of the car over 4 years would be a very low payment, sub-$100 per month!

One word to 'em: quitcherbitchen.

Common misconception: Oprah gave cars

Reality: Pontiac gives all cars to Oprah audience.

I never said Oprah gave them.

I'd like to know how that's defined as income. Someone's reading the wrong dictionary.

Absolutely pathetic.

Testiculese wrote:I'd like to know how that's defined as income. Someone's reading the wrong dictionary.

Car's an asset. Increase in assets is income.

Nobody said you did, vad Kufy did.

She did. Just because Pontiac may have donated the cars doesn't mean Oprah didn't give them to her audience. Pontiac wouldn't have done it without the clout of O behind it; it was probably her idea, or one of her marketer's (probably hers). None the less, she put her face behind it, she gave the go ahead. It was her giving them away, and in my poinion, she should have given them without strings attached. I mean, when I give gifts, I give gifts. I give them wholly. She surely knew there would be heavy taxes; why choose a lot of "poor" people and give them a car knowing they would have to pay close to the amount of a NEW CAR IN AND OF ITSELF just to keep it? Yah, sure...they could quit bitching and sell it and keep whatever profits, but dang eh?! what a haggle.

The big O needs to eat more too from what I can tell.

Bah. I don't think anyone should whine a shred about the gift.

$7000 is close to the amount of a new car? Not from where I'm standing...

CNN Money wrote: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.

A bit of simple math calculates the income tax on the car as asset = ~24.56%

They paid most of the fees. Income tax as a gift isn't something covered.

If they didn't think they had to pay that, then they are stupid. Even game show contestants are responsible for paying taxes on all winnings, including cash value prizes from such gameshows as "The Price is Right."

heheheh

sorry but this is funny stuff.

you get a FREE car and then have the audacity to complain about having to pay?

Sorry ladies.. maybe if you had a JOB instead of sitting on your fat ASSES writing into Oprah about how you need a new car (without working for a damn thing, and expecting boytoy to pay for everything) you'd be able to pay for it.

Maybe you shoulda checked into that stuff beforehand ya dumb b1tch.



If you think I'm wrong, do this: go to a supermarket at ten AM, find a woman shopping for food, and ask her what her favourite daytime show is. more often than not the name 'Opreh' will come up.

Top Gun wrote:$7000 is close to the amount of a new car? Not from where I'm standing...

3 letters for you

kia

They're not cars. They're cardboard cutouts .

I've heard of incidents around here where someone won a new corvette, and was forced to immedately sell it or else they would go bankrupt from the taxes. After all the taxes were done they had made about $7000 from the $50,000 dollar car. When you win big, uncle sam wins bigger.

I think the bigger crime here was giving away Pontiacs. :p

It's a similar thing to most state lotteries.

The state takes a portion of the lottery funds to pay for government services.

When a person wins a $40 million lottery, the state then decides to take a $20 million cut of that as well.

I don't know about you, but I call that double taxation.

The whole gift tax thing is bogus. I can understand a lottery grand prize tax, but a tax on accepting a car that you won in a contest ore recieved is bogus. The car has either been paid for and had sales tax paid on it once, or was given away at a loss by the car company. either way, someone already lost money on that car in some way so why should the government get a check for $7K when you win a $24K car?

Because we no longer control the government.