Income taxes on gifted wedding that was televised?

January 30, 2004 5:54 PM

Are Ryan and Trista from the Bachelorette going to have a very very bad April 15th?

What I mean is-the ABC network gifted them with a wedding worth 4 million dollars, which was then televised. I have seen speculation in print that they may actually owe income tax on that amount. Any tax experts out there willing to weigh in on this?

posted by konolia to Law & Government (3 answers total)

IAN(Morgan Stanley), but usually in these cases, the gala is funded by the networks. Part of the expense is covered by the sponsors of the broadcast, who hope to recoup their investment via a strong viewer turnout.

Disney/Capital Cities/ABC would mainly have to worry about paying a gift tax to the IRS.

Most of the jewelry and clothing will likely be provided as a loanout by designers for the ceremony; the vehicles will likely be rented, and complimentary accomodations will be furnished for their honeymoon. The couple may end up paying the Fed a hefty sum, but not enough to leave them worse off than they financially were. (Though given some celebs' spending habits, we may not immediately know for sure.)
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:44 PM on January 30, 2004

"All undeniable ascensions to wealth" are taxable income, according to Glenshaw Glass opinion.


A strict tax ruling would suggest that their increase in wealth (by getting all that stuff for free and not having to pay for an alternative) is taxable income.
posted by Seth at 2:18 PM on January 31, 2004

Is there no concession in cases of true love?
posted by yerfatma at 2:59 PM on January 31, 2004