If i win on a game show do i have to pay the taxes before i can collect my winnings?

Question

i'm signing up for the millionaire show , wish me luck

Answer 1

Richard Hatch of Survivor didn't have the taxes taken out of his winnings. Course he also didn't declare his winnings as income on his tax return either. And he's now in jail. If you do win any money be glad it would be cash and not a prize, you'd have to pay taxes on winning a prize just as if you had won cash. Lot's of people on game shows have won prizes and they ended up having to sell the prizes they won to pay the taxes on the prizes they had won, and sometimes weren't able to sell the prize for the supposed value of it.

Answer 2

If you win over $600, they will give you a 1099 form showing your total winnings, so you WILL have to declare the income on your tax return. They may withhold 20% or so for taxes, but that might not be enough to cover all the taxes due, so if you win $10,000 or more, I would make sure you have 35% either withheld and or put aside to pay come tax return time

Answer 3

You don't have the pay the taxes before you collect your winnings (Just ask Richard Hatch, who is now in prison).

Richard got into tax trouble for not reporting his winnings... So make you you pay your taxes if/when you win, because the IRS will be looking for you if you don't.

"Hatch, 45, won the CBS reality program's $1 million jackpot in 2000. He was convicted of tax evasion and filing a false income-tax return, both related to his show winnings and earnings he gained through his "Survivor" fame. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison in May of this year."

His defence was esentially "I thought the show already took taxes out of my winnings" or somthing like that.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Hey, good luck.

Yes, they'll withhold taxes from your prize check. What they withhold might or might not be enough to pay the actual taxes - if it's not enough, you'd have to come up with the rest.