Winning a "Free" car Costs a lot
People who were given a free car on this years season premier of the Oprah Winfrey Show have to dig deep in to their pockets. The Value of these cars must be counted as income and could cost some "winners" up to $7000. Still, 7K for a new car is agood price, but some still may not be able to afford it.
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