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Uncle Sam Spoils Dream Trip To Space
gollum123 writes about a dream come true and a dream dashed. Brian Emmett, a software consultant from the San Francisco Bay area, entered a contest sponsored by Oracle in 2005. He answered some questions on Java coding, won a free trip into space, and then reluctantly gave it up. The latter decision came once he had computed the taxes he would have to pay on the $138,000 prize — roughly $25,000. From the article: "Since the Internal Revenue Service requires winnings from lottery drawings, TV game shows, and other contests to be reported as taxable income, tax experts contend there's no such thing as a free spaceflight. Some contest sponsors provide a check to cover taxes, but that income is also taxable."
...all things considered.
I mean, we're talking about a trip into space. Considering the normally prohibitive cost of recreational spaceflight, $25k almost seems like a bargain. I've seen people blow that much on timeshares for goodness sake. If nothing else he could write a book about the experience and recoup some of the expense.
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I call BS. I don't think he wanted to go in the first place. Nobody with a dream of space flight would pass this up. I'm a freaking grocery/dept store clerk and I could put 31k on a credit card. Sure that is really dumb thing to do, but man, this is for space. While working my butt off for the next billion years to pay it off, I could have one heck of a story to tell.
Life still sucks more when you don't.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.