Giving Up a Childhood Fantasy Because You Do Not Want to Sink Into Debt

This caught my eye this morning over at Yahoo. Brian Emmett won a trip to outer space, but because the IRS requires winnings from lottery drawings, TV game shows and other contests to be reported as taxable income, Emmet would have to foot a $25,000 tax bill.

From the article:

“After some number-crunching, Emmett realized he would have to report the $138,000 galactic joy ride as income and owe $25,000 in taxes. Unwilling to sink into debt, the 31-year-old software consultant from the San Francisco Bay area gave up his seat.” (I added the emphasis).

Brian Emmett is someone that all of us in debt should look up to. It took a lot for him to decline his prize.

I’m not so sure I could have done that. What about you?

Posted by Tricia on January 29, 2007 at 9:04 AM in General Debt |
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  1. Ralph responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 11:17 am

    I wouldn’t have minded accepting the $25,000 debt to achieve my childhood dream - after all, assuming you’re going to accumulate more than $25,000 of “spending money” to enjoy yourself with at some stage of your life, you’ve got to be willing and able to grab “once in a lifetime” opportunities that come your way.

    However, I wouldn’t have wanted to pay even $25K for a couple of minutes weightlessness in one of these ballistic hops. Apart from the bragging rights of being able to say that you’ve “been there, done that” I don’t think the experience would be that much better than just watching a space shuttle movie at the Imax theatre.

    I think I’ll wait and see what’s available in 20 years time…

  2. 3 things about money responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 12:20 pm

    I was so impressed when I read that — an inspiration to say the least. It seems mean to give him the prize and not funds to cover the tax hit. But whatever, he made the right choice.

  3. Jim responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 2:21 pm

    I think he made the wrong choice. He’s only 31 and will most likely work for another 30 years. A $25k tax bill is a pittance for the opportunity of a lifetime to ride on the Space Shuttle, especially if that really is his childhood dream.

  4. James responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 8:22 pm

    Supposedly being in space is a life changing experience, I would have paid the 25,000.

    Best,

    James

  5. Amanda responded:
    Posted: January 29th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

    I would have passed it up. It’s not really a prize if it costs you $25K, you know?

  6. Matt responded:
    Posted: January 30th, 2007 at 8:43 am

    I would have found a way to make it work… somehow and then I’d make sure that I had a digital camera ready to go trigger happy up there!!

    Kudos to him, I would have had a difficult time turning it down.

  7. Amy K. responded:
    Posted: January 30th, 2007 at 10:49 am

    Wow, what a tough decision!

    I have to admit, I’ve been tempted to enter the HGTV Dream home giveaway, but once I realized how $$ the property taxes would be, and that the income tax on the value of the home would be equivalent to my current mortgage, plus I’d have to find a new job… Oy! Once I realized that, I stopped entering the contests with big ticket prizes, because I’d hate to be in Brian’s shoes.

  8. Jade responded:
    Posted: January 30th, 2007 at 6:46 pm

    Wow! That really sucks that he would have had to foot that tax bil for winning a “prize”. What a hard choice to make! I don’t know what I would have done. I’m not too much into space shuttles & the like, but if it had been something that really was a childhood dream to me? I really don’t know :(

    So much for a “prize” though!

  9. Tricia responded:
    Posted: January 30th, 2007 at 10:29 pm

    It is a tough choice, especially since he probably will never have the chance again. I was thinking about it some more, and I wonder if there’s more to the story (there usually is).

    I still don’t think I could have turned it down.

  10. ROB responded:
    Posted: January 31st, 2007 at 12:56 pm

    HE MESSED UP!!
    I would have took a camera that shoots video and stills and I would have documented every thing that happen.
    Then I would have written a book and made a documentary to pay off the debt.
    He could have sold his story for at least $25,000.
    I mean, Tobey McQuire just bought the rights to the guy who auctioned off his soul for millions.

  11. Kimberly responded:
    Posted: January 31st, 2007 at 1:20 pm

    Just in case you see a bump in traffic, we selected you as a top financial blog. We tried our best to make sure that the blogs selected were actually in the state we thought they were in, so I apologize in advance if we accidentally put you in the wrong spot.
    http://www.yourcreditnetwork.com/blog/TheStatesOfCredit.aspx

  12. Lisa Knight responded:
    Posted: February 3rd, 2007 at 9:25 am

    I would have gone for it, then found a way to turn it into profit later.

    I don’t think that at the end of his life with a grandkid on his knee he will feel he made the right decision… Sometimes, once in a lifetime is worth the risk.

  13. DBlog responded:
    Posted: February 3rd, 2007 at 6:59 pm

    Yep: I would have passed on that prize as well, and the decision would not have been a hard one. The way I see it, it shouldn’t be called a “prize” since the tax bill would be $25K. In America, the only prizes that count these days are cold-hard-cash prizes.

  14. Henry responded:
    Posted: February 10th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    What do you know. A firm wanting to jump into the biz stepped up and hired him as a consultant. When they go up he’ll be a “test passenger.”

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4533405.html

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