You can't pay income tax for someone else... well you can but it is a lot of hassle. That would be considered more income for you. Having someone else pay your taxes can get tricky, since the government counts the amount that person pays as taxable income. (A 1929 Supreme Court ruling clarified this point.) Consider the Survivor example of Richard Hatch: If Hatch owed federal income tax at a 35 percent rate, he'd have to pay $350,000. To cover that amount upfront, the producers would give him $1,350,000 instead of $1,000,000. But the income tax on $1,350,000 would be $472,500—or another $122,500 on top of what he owed before. It doesn't end there. If the producers then paid off the $122,500, he'd be liable for that money as well—to the tune of $42,875. In covering that, the producers would boost his liability by another $15,000. And so on, ad infinitum. It is possible to determine the sum of this infinite series of computations; the formula, in fact, is remarkably simple. If Hatch were being taxed at 35 percent, CBS would have laid out $1,538,461 to cover it. (Graduated tax rates can make this accounting somewhat more complicated in practice.) http://www.slate.com/id/2134674/
Well, I am sure Pontiac got free advertising/pub from the good deed, plus the fact that without the involvement of Oprah/her show, none of these folks would have ever received a free car.
long story made very very short....my chick and i are breaking up after 8 years. we aren't going to do a common law divorce, but we are doing a separation of assets agreement. i understand the tax benefits of a common law divorce, but we basically have to get married and then get divorced. she won't do that and i don't really want to either at this point. anyhow, i am getting her a house. i've talked to 3 different cpa's and each one has said i am liable for the taxes on the assets i am giving to her in this separation. not sure exactly what you do for a profession, but maybe you have some insight on my situation.
It might be cheaper to keep her. Ol' Otis knows this. he got them sprung... <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AFfOGBnpnWc?fs=1&start=45";hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AFfOGBnpnWc?fs=1&start=45";hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RqEQQFfsXHM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RqEQQFfsXHM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
agreed...she has a platform and uses it to promote products...companies give these and the receiver pays said taxes...its actually pretty smart for O b/c people think it comes out of her own pocket...now, I'm pretty sure I read she does pay some stuff out of her own pocket, but for stuff like this, its the companies that do... that said, she isn't screwing them...
