The biggest prize on ‘Price is Right’ comes with one major problem the contestants never expect
“The Price is Right” is among the game shows on TV that have maintained a fan following consistently for years. One of the most special moments on the show is when a contestant wins something big such as a car. However, a lot of people might not know that there’s a whole process the winners have to go through before they get their hands on the car. It turns out that the bigger the prize, the more money one has to pay to go home with it.
The reason behind this is hefty taxes, both federal and state. One contestant who was hit by this reality was Aurora, who had appeared on an episode of the popular game show years ago. She played the Money Game and won herself a brand-new car, and later explained how much she had to pay in taxes to get the automobile on her personal blog.
“Yes, I did. I had to pay sales tax to pick up the car ($2,067). And, though it has not happened yet, since my appearance was pretty recent – I hear they send you a 1099 at the end of the year for your taxes. So, the value of everything I won counts as income, and I’ll need to pay Uncle Sam accordingly,” she wrote in a blog post.
However, that amount is nothing compared to what a contestant named Sheree Heil had to pay. The school teacher had become the biggest winner on the show at the time as she won an Audi R8 Spyder. The vehicle was worth a whopping $157,300 and the tax amount was just as hefty. She had to pay $12,000 to the state of California. As per Collider, Washington's tax on the same amounted to $14,915 and the federal tax amount was around $34,453.
But, these prizes are not taxable only when the winners are American citizens. If you’re from another country, you’d have to follow those tax laws too. That’s what one contestant named Steven Moores realized when he won multiple prizes on “The Price is Right.” Moores is a Canadian but has always been a huge fan of the show.
It was a dream come true when he competed and he even managed to win a six-night trip for two to Revelstoke mountain resort in B.C. valued at $9,000, an e-reader, ski wear, a fireplace, a chaise lounge, and a 2019 Fiat 500. For an American citizen, all these would bring a tax liability of $12,000 as per Yahoo News and Moores had to pay that initially. However, he was able to recover some of his money.
According to Canadian taxation laws, lottery winnings and game prizes aren't taxed, as they're considered "windfalls.” As per the rules over there, these kinds of unexpected earnings fall in the same category as gifts or inheritances. “I was able to file taxes in 2020 and get the 30 percent of the federal tax back, though California is a little tougher and I have to fight for that last 7 percent,” Moores explained.
