Google’s “Oprah Moment”: An Android Phone For Everyone At Google I/O

Re:Google’s “Oprah Moment”: An Android Phone For Everyone At... by cstejerean on Wednesday May 27, 2009 @05:37PM (#629240)

The tax on the phone however is significantly lower than the tax on a brand new car and most people shouldn't notice the impact on their tax return documents from a several hundred dollar gift.

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Re:Google’s “Oprah Moment”: An Android Phone For Everyone At... by Retric on Wednesday May 27, 2009 @09:10PM (#629524)

You don't pay tax on gifts only winnings.

In the US giving someone that does not work for you up to ~12k/year is tax free, but the person giving the gift needs to pay tax on gifts larger than that. With some paperwork there is a lifetime exception up to 1 million but it comes out of the estate tax exemption.

So, if Bill Gates gave his child 1 billion Bill would need to pay ~400 million to the IRS. However, there is an exception for anyone you are married to, and I think educational / heath care gifts are also excluded.

PS: I don't know if it counts as a "prize" or a "gift" if you hand it out to everyone that shows up, but I just wanted to make the difference clear.

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