Geek passes on ride to space due to 25K tax bill

mikea

mikea

Touchdown! Greaser!
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iWin
There are no free rides to outer space


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Emmett's childhood fantasy came true when he won a free trip to outer space. He was crushed when he had to cancel his reservation because of Uncle Sam.

Emmett won his ticket to the heavens in a 2005 sweepstakes by Oracle Corp., in which he answered a series of online questions on Java computer code. He became an instant celebrity, giving media interviews and appearing on stage at Oracle's trade show.

...

After some number-crunching, Emmett realized he would have to report the $138,000 galactic joy ride as income and owe $25,000 in taxes. Unwilling to sink into debt, the 31-year-old software consultant from the San Francisco Bay area gave up his seat.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-01-28-free-space-ride_x.htm
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Idjit. Get a loan, dude. People are dropping $35,000 on cars.

Somehow I think when he's 70 (and people are STILL not routinely going into space because they had loses and space tourism was killed) he's not going to think this was good decision.
 
Actually, he should have gotten a book deal and used the proceeds to pay for the taxes for the trip! :)
 
mikea said:
Idjit. Get a loan, dude. People are dropping $35,000 on cars.

Somehow I think when he's 70 (and people are STILL not routinely going into space because they had loses and space tourism was killed) he's not going to think this was good decision.
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Well MS learned from Sun, and their winner will also get a 50K check, which according to them, should cover all taxes.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Of course he will also owe taxes on the $50K check designed to cover the taxes.
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I think the 50K also covers the taxes on the 50K :P I know bad coding is a staple of MS, but I think they got around the whole infinite loop thing this time ;)
 
It's possible to get enough money to cover taxes, but it usually winds up being a whole lot more money than was originally won.

Good on MS for doing that.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Of course he will also owe taxes on the $50K check designed to cover the taxes.
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Yeah. You can catch up. Taxes max at 35%. If you want to give the guy $100,000, a check for $145,000 or so will do it.

When the top executives get a $2M bonus, they actually get $2.9M for that reason. The board wouldn't want the guy to have less in his pocket than they intended...ya know, just like it works for you and me. :rolleyes:

I am amazed how some people are so adverse to having to pay income taxes they talk themselves into being adverse to income.
 
Why not just allow a once in a lifetime sweepstakes tax exemption? Then we'd all be able to keep those AOPA sweepstake airplanes. How many bridges to nowhere will the gubmint lose?
 
Geesh get an accountant and defer the income realized from the prize until delivery of the prize err trip. Then you are still on board and don't owe anything until you actually go.
 
mikea said:
Idjit. Get a loan, dude. People are dropping $35,000 on cars.

Somehow I think when he's 70 (and people are STILL not routinely going into space because they had loses and space tourism was killed) he's not going to think this was good decision.
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Was it transferable? I'm thinking Ebay!
 
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