Oscar’s bag grab: Tax man sets sights on Academy Awards’ lavish gift baskets
By Beth Teitell
Tuesday, March 7, 2006 - Updated: Mar 9, 2006 11:08 AM EST
WASHINGTON - “The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service today wished the Academy Award nominees the best of luck at Sunday’s presentation, but he reminded celebrity recipients the six-figure goodie bags qualify as taxable income and must be reported on tax returns.”
- IRS statement on Oscar goody bags, March 3, 2006
Ha! Sorry, I don’t mean to be petty, but the movie stars have it coming. Them, with their multimillion-dollar salaries and endless Starbucks jaunts. Too uptight to laugh at themselves during Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, too cheap or lazy to donate their unused swag to charity, too, too, too.
But now, the tax man cometh. “We want to make sure the stars‘walk the line’ when it comes to these goodie bags,” Commissioner Mark W. Everson said. (Hey, the IRS has a sense of humor - who knew?)
When I read the commissioner’s statement I couldn’t help but wonder what prompted him to issue a “reminder.” Was he truly trying to help George Clooney et al. avoid an audit? Did he sense a growing public hostility toward America’s celluloid royalty and stepped in to defuse the situation - don’t be jealous, people, the freebies aren’t so free after all? Or - I hope, I hope - does the reminder, coming on Oscar Friday, signal a new get-tough approach? If so, what ticked him off? Was it one too many stories about one too many swag orgies?
Each tidbit about Oscar treats, doled out in the weeks before the ceremony like a trail of breadcrumbs through the forest, made me madder and madder, I can tell you. Watches, diamond bracelets, makeup - all free, and none for me.
Whatever, let’s treat ourselves to thinking about the $30,000 in taxes they’ll owe on the gift baskets, which are worth a reported $100,000 and filled with such dubious goodies - let’s be frank - as a three-night stay at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, a coupon for Lasik eye surgery, a $7,000 Victoria’s Secret underwear set and, of course, high-thread-count sheets.
That’s $30,000 straight into the public till. It’s not a huge amount per star, sadly, but there are a lot of them, and think of the money as a rebate for all the cash you’ve wasted over the years watching mediocre movies.
Not to look this gift horse - or gift bag - in the mouth, but to be fair, why do stars have to pay to receive gifts? Because they’re not really gifts in the IRS’ book. In order to count as a “gift,” the transfer must proceed from a detached and disinterested generosity, out of affection, respect, admiration and like impulses. Not because the giver hopes to get anything out of it - like, uh, publicity.
Let’s see, a gift given without hope of anything in return. Kinda makes you wonder, by the IRS’rules, are there any true gifts? I’d say probably not, especially expensive ones, except, should the IRS be reading this, those that were given to me.
