Oprah and the (in)Famous Car Giveaway

[FiveMonkeys]

Remember when Oprah gave everyone in her audience a brand new car? Well, according to my brother's friends (real official, I know), many audience members were forced to give up their cars because they had to pay taxes on them. Allegedly, some people even went bankrupt, somehow.
I thought I smelled an UL right away, but I could be wrong. Any truth to this?

[Eddylizard]

Never heard of it, but here's an article.
I've no idea how one could go bankrupt as a direct reult of winning such a prize though - all you have to do is sell the car, which is presumably worth more than the tax, and pay the taxman. Whatever is left over is still a nice little nest egg. Unlessyou abso-positively-lutely refuse to give up the car and then can't stump up the tax.

More articles for your perusal.

[Chris J]

Car Winners Finding Out There Is No Free Lunch

[FiveMonkeys]

Wacky.
Thanks guys. Apparently my Google skills are teh suck.