On September 14, 2004, Oprah stunned the world, by giving each and every person in attendance a brand-new, almost $30,000 Pontiac G6 in one of television’s craziest moments. But as it turns out, there was a catch.
For those of you who don’t know the story (the video is at the end of this article), on the famous “You Get A Car” Episode, Oprah gave every person in the audience a gift box and explained that “inside one of these boxes is a key to a car.” The thing was that all 276 audience members got keys. The room went nuts.
But there was a price to pay. (the article continues after the ad)
In order to get the car, each member of the audience had to pay $7,000 in taxes or forfeit the gift. According to Harpo Productions Inc., the recipients needed to pay tax on the winnings, just like any prize.
The sticker price for a new Pontiac G6 was $28,500. This amount should have been claimed as taxable income hence, depending on the individuals tax bracket, the tax on the gift could have been as high as $7,000.
The Harpo spokeswomen said all winners were given three choices. They could keep the car by paying the tax, sell the car and pay the tax with the profits or just forfeit the car.
So yeah, it may have looked incredible but as always, there was a catch.
What would you do?
If you like what you read, then you will definitely love this one: Coca-Cola Tried To Sell Bottled Water At A Premium Price Which Happened To Be Tap Water
Source: Time, CNN
Main Article Photo: OWN / YouTube
Photoshop: I’m A Useless Info Junkie
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