No Charity Goes Unpunished
April 16th, 2005 | by Todd W |Tax bills high for reality TV winners - Apr. 15, 2005
I’ve seen more than a few episodes of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”. They select a particularly needy family, usually facing some sort of hardship with a disabled child or something equally devastating, and they either remodel or completely rebuild their home to accommodate whatever problems the family faces. It’s a feel good show, and while I’m sure the networks make a profit, it is nice to witness such charity.
At least until the government comes for a reckoning.
One Illinois husband and wife, according to the entertainment industry publication, discovered it owes $529,000 in taxes after Fox-hired contractors tore down their old house and built a new one with special accommodations for their paralyzed son. The renovation aired on Fox this past summer.
…
“You can ruin someone’s life by giving them everything they want,” one Hollywood producer told the trade paper. “If you take a log cabin and replace it with a mansion, there are tax consequences to that.”
Need I say more? Tell me again why the government has to get involved in a private transaction between two parties? Explain to me why no one ever really owns their own property, not when taxes are due each and every year, and the government can seize it should you fail to pay the ‘rent’?
And speak to me of how the government is the only compassionate means to provide relief for the needy. I’m listening.
