History Main / TaxmanTakesTheWinnings

* In ''Champagne for Caeser'', Ronald Colman is on the verge of bankrupting a soap company through their game show and is being shadowed by two sinister men in dark suits. Since the company president has already tried to sabotage him he's naturally paranoid about them. Finally, he confronts them and finds out they are from the IRS. When he asks how much he'll owe, one says "Let's just say you're in the battleship class."

* ''Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow'' When Oprah gave out cars to all audience members at an airing of her show as a publicity stunt, they all owed several thousand dollars in tax on them and either sold the cars or paid from their own pockets. This is because Oprah filed the cars on her tax return as "prizes", meaning the recipients are the ones who have to pay the taxes on them. When asked why she didn't file them as "gifts" (since the show makes it seem as if they are), she pointed out that she shouldn't have to pay taxes for the cars on top of giving them away. The problem is, she didn't actually buy the cars. They were donated by the manufacturer specifically to be given away. Thus, Oprah gets free publicity and a tax write-off.

* ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'': In a close variant, "Paradise Cove" revolved around the discovery of buried gold ingots under Jim's trailer. To Angel's dismay, these are promptly confiscated by the feds on the grounds that it was illegal to privately own gold bullion. Unfortunately for the show, [[ArtisticLicenseLaw private gold ownership had actually been legalized five years before the episode aired]] (the same year the show premiered in fact).

* This is the dark side of talk shows that randomly give away prizes to the audience. Most audience members don't realize that they owe taxes on anything they get on the show.
** When [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]] gave out cars to all audience members at an airing of her show as a publicity stunt, they all owed several thousand dollars in tax on them and either sold the cars or paid from their own pockets. This is because Oprah filed the cars on her tax return as "prizes", meaning the recipients are the ones who have to pay the taxes on them. When asked why she didn't file them as "gifts" (since the show makes it seem as if they are), she pointed out that she shouldn't have to pay taxes for the cars on top of giving them away. The problem is, she didn't actually buy the cars. They were donated by the manufacturer specifically to be given away. Thus, Oprah gets free publicity and a tax write-off.
** A short-lived Canadian version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' used this as a selling point: since the Canada Revenue Agency does not take any taxes from lotteries or game show winnings, Creator/{{CTV}} was quick to point out that a top-prize winner could actually ''be'' a millionaire and keep all their money.
** The November 7, 2017 episode of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' had a playing of Let 'Em Roll where the contestant bailed out on the first roll with $1,500 instead of trying for the car. While he was roundly ridiculed for what was seen as a stupid decision, some have pointed out he probably did so to avoid paying the taxes on the new car.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Cartman inherits one million dollars in one episode and a good part of it is taken by tax collectors. The rest is taken as a damage settlement for the [=McCormicks=] due to Kenny dying at Cartman's amusement park.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "The Man in the Bottle". The Castles' second wish is for a million dollars in cash. After they give away some of the money, an IRS agent shows up and gives them a bill for the taxes (Federal and state) they owe on it. This leaves them with only five dollars. Why exactly they don't just wish for an even greater sum of money and not give it all away before taxes come is never addressed.

* ''Anime/OutlawStar: In one episode, the Outlaw Star crew actually manages to score a treasure. However, when Aisha asks for her cut, a morose Jim tells her that it's nothing, because after paying the docking fees, taxes, and upkeep on their SuperPrototype spaceship there was no money left.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' story "The Galleon Ghost" (Gold Key #2, June 1970) dealt with the gang coming across a band of pirates in a Florida swamp. They are unmasked to be gypsies who were only trying to keep the gold they found a secret for fear that the IRS will take it. Fred assures them that the IRS will only take part of the gold, leaving the gypsies well off after all.
* In one early ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' storyline, the Judges quell a riot by granting everyone involved a small sum of money - only to later take it away again (plus a bit of extra to cover expenses) in taxes.
* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse:

* In between the first and second ''Film/NationalTreasure'' movies, this happens to Riley Poole and at the beginning of the second film, his Ferrari is impounded by the IRS while he is signing copies of his book. [[spoiler:As thanks for the team finding Cíbola and looking something up for him in the eponymous President's Book, the President pardons the debt...and Riley promptly puts the Ferrari in the wrong gear and backs it into a parked car.]]
-->'''Riley Poole:''' ''[to Ben]'' Do you know what the taxes are on 5 million dollars? 6 million dollars.
* In ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'', Byron Hadley, the sadistic captain of the prison guard, receives an inheritance of $35,000, but he complains about taxes coming to take most of it away, even if he decides to buy something with it. The main character, Andy Dufresne, overhears him and offers to guide him through a financial loophole to allow him to keep the whole sum.
-->'''Hadley:''' Thirty five thousand. That's what he left me.
-->'''Guard:''' Holy shit, that's great! That's like winning the sweepstakes...isn't it?
-->'''Hadley:''' Dumb shit, what do you think the government's gonna do to me? Take a big wet bite out of my ass is what!
* In "Champagne for Caeser" Ronald Colman is on the verge of bankrupting a soap company through their game show and is being shadowed by two sinister men in dark suits. Since the company president has already tried to sabotage him he's naturally paranoid about them. Finally, he confronts them and finds out they are from the IRS. When he asks how much he'll owe, one says "Let's just say you're in the battleship class."
* A variation in the Soviet-Italian film ''Film/UnbelievableAdventuresOfItaliansInRussia'', in which a group of Italians are chasing a treasure hidden in [[UsefulNotes/TheCityFormerlyKnownAs Leningrad]] by the grandmother of one of the protagonists (who emigrated from Russia during the Communist Revolution). They are soon joined by Andrei, a man, who claims to be a tour guide. In fact, he's an undercover cop, who seems to be aware of what they're looking for. In the end, the treasure is found, and the Soviet police are closing in on the Italians. They are finally cornered. Andrei reveals himself and explains that, by Soviet law, all treasure found in the USSR belongs to the state, but the Italians get a finder's fee equal to 25% of the treasure's worth. Thus, the Soviet state ends up taking a 75% "tax" on their discovery.

* During the RoadTripPlot ''Literature/NoCoinsPlease'' (by Creator/GordonKorman), Artie Geller spends his road trip across the country engaging in half-a-dozen get rich schemes. One scheme involves bribing the employees closing a bankrupt factory to turn it into a disco for a night. Another is renting several cows and charging tourists a dollar a minute to milk them while egging them into competitions due to how little milk it's possible to get in a minute. The book ends with the FBI catching up to Artie and reciting a LongList of about forty things he's done wrong (not paying any taxes, not getting a license or health inspection for his milking business, using the factory without permission of its owners, selling liquor without a license, failing to pay utility bills etc.). They agree to drop the charges if Artie makes restitution, leaving him with a profit of just $2.96 from his combined hustles.
-->His usually impassive face evidenced slight distaste — coins.
* Referenced in ''Literature/PussInBoots'' as told by Creator/CharlesPerrault. The brothers had to divide the inheritance without lawyers' help:
-->A certain miller had three sons, and when he died the sole worldly goods which he bequeathed to them were his mill, his ass, and his cat. This little legacy was very quickly divided up, and you may be quite sure that neither notary nor attorney were called in to help, for they would speedily have grabbed it all for themselves.

* In the prologue of the first ''[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Knights of Bretonnia]]'' novel, the main character awards a peasant who informed on a poaching ring in the area with ownership of a stolen truffle pig. After leaving, he and his best friend note that there's no way that a single truffle pig could possibly make the man enough money to make up for the higher tax bracket he'll be placed in due to the fact that he now owns ''any'' livestock, so the peasant is effectively poorer than he was when he started, something neither see anything wrong with. This serves as an EstablishingCharacterMoment for how superficial the Bretonnian code of chivalry is. A later chapter follows up on this by showing a man-at-arms and discussing how much he made for his family by signing up to be a soldier for his lord, and honestly not realizing even after the fact that since the lord charges his soldiers for their room, board and equipment, his hiring bonus barely paid for his cheap gear, half his pay goes to his rations, and after he sends money home, he's effectively working for nothing.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "The Man in the Bottle". The Castles' second wish is for a million dollars in cash. After they give away some of the money, an IRS agent shows up and gives them a bill for the taxes (Federal and state) they owe on it. This leaves them with only five dollars. Why exactly they don't just wish for an even greater sum of money and not give it all away before taxes come is never addressed.

* The 1993 remake of ''Series/Route66'' starts the plot like this. Nick's estranged father dies and leaves him everything; after inheritance taxes and lawyer fees, he actually owes a little money, leaving him with nothing except his dad's classic Corvette.
* In many American game shows, contestants that win any prizes (money, a car, a vacation, etc) will have to pay taxes for it since the prizes are considered to be taxable under U.S. laws. Contestants usually sign a form before the show acknowledging the possible taxes. Sometimes, a person who wins a prize can opt to take the monetary equivalent instead and use some of it to pay off the taxes so that they can walk away with at least something.
** The showrunners of Nickelodeon's ''Series/{{Double Dare|1986}}'' anticipated this: since they knew kids would be more excited about the prizes (which were chosen for intrinsic value to the kids instead of monetary value) over the money, they built the games in such a way that the cash prizes could be used to pay the taxes on the ''real'' prizes.

* This is the dark side of talk shows that randomly give away prizes to the audience. Most audience members don't realize that they owe taxes on anything they get on the show. So, when [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]] gave out cars to all audience members at an airing of her show as a publicity stunt, they all owed several thousand dollars in tax on them and either sold the cars or paid from their own pockets. This is because Oprah filed the cars on her tax return as "prizes", meaning the recipients are the ones who have to pay the taxes on them. When asked why she didn't file them as "gifts" (since the show makes it seem as if they are), she pointed out that she shouldn't have to pay taxes for the cars on top of giving them away. The problem is, she didn't actually buy the cars. They were donated by the manufacturer specifically to be given away. Thus, Oprah gets free publicity and a tax write-off.
** A short-lived Canadian version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' used this as a selling point: since the Canada Revenue Agency does not take any taxes from lotteries or game show winnings, Creator/{{CTV}} was quick to point out that a top-prize winner could actually ''be'' a millionaire and keep all their money.
** The November 7, 2017 episode of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' had a playing of Let 'Em Roll where the contestant bailed out on the first roll with $1,500 instead of trying for the car. While he was roundly ridiculed for what was seen as a stupid decision, some have pointed out he probably did so to avoid paying the taxes on the new car.

* In an episode of ''[[Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody The Suite Life on Deck]]'' Cody wins a check in a yo-yoing competition, only for Moseby to take it to pay off the damages that Zack accidentally caused with a homemade towel gun.
** In the original series, Zack and Cody started a nightclub that was highly successful, only for things to start going wrong during a "theme night" that ends up with all of the money going towards covering various medical expenses, paying the entertainers, and more, leaving the boys with 300 dollars, which Moseby then takes to cover the half of the damages that it would pay for due to the damage done to the hotel's showroom by the party.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': "Who is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions_Act_tax Fica]] and why is she getting all my money?"
* In ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', an episode focuses on Bridget getting her first job. When she receives her paycheck, the check is blank and she owes the store she works for money because she bought so many clothes and "forgot about tax".

* In Peter Schickele's ACappella piece ''Go for Broke'', an IRS agent shows up to claim much of John Q. Public's lottery winnings, followed by state and city taxmen singing in counterpoint.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': Dilbert and Wally are very well aware of this trope. When they have to give a new worker their first paycheck (a person who previously got paid in full for her jobs), they donned earmuffs to block out her screams of anguish when she saw how much was deducted. It didn't save their coffee, though.

* A ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'' videogame sums up its plot as "Get our heros[sic] to Abominable Mansion, and collect Bullwinkle's inheritance!". The victory screen shows our two protagonists with a single dollar bill and an IRS agent with a "$" bag.

* In ''AudioPlay/LeDonjonDeNaheulbeuk'', the 8000 GP reward the team won after two difficult seasons is drastically cut short in the season finale. First, the level 8 warrior who briefly helped them during the adventure (though they never asked her in the first place) come and claims her 3000 GP mercenary payment. Then the "Dungeons Fund" claims the mandatory 25% tax, and so does the League of Thieves and Assassins, and they end up with only 1000 GP.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures'' episode "Joker's Millions", the Joker earns an inheritance of several million dollars from a rival gangster who passed away. However, after living it up and partying with his new fortune [[spoiler: he learns that most of the money the gangster gave him was fake. As part of the gangster's plan for revenge against the Joker, he set him up to blow through the legitimate part of the fortune so that when the IRS came to collect taxes, he wouldn't be able to pay them. Thus, Joker could either fess up to being tricked by a dead man and become the laughing stock of Gotham's underworld, or end up in prison for tax fraud.[[note]][[ArtisticLicenseLaw In reality]], inheritance taxes are deducted at the source and after the IRS verifies the inheritance's actual value, meaning they would have found the counterfeit money and simply taken their cut from whatever real money was left. Of course then [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality we wouldn't have an episode]].[[/note]]]]

* ComicStrip/BeetleBailey gets a telegram saying he inherited his uncle's $10 million estate in "The Heir." He, Cosmo and Zero go into town on a spending spree when Sgt. Snorkel shows up with a talking bird in a cage with a note attached: after the numerous taxes (including a tax on the tax), all Beetle is left with is the bird.

--->'''Bugs Bunny:''' You don't get da dough, do ya, butterball?\\

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' has Jane and George making it big on betting in races (using [[AppliedPhlebotinum a pair of glasses that can see a few minutes into the future]]) and running away from a pair of men that they think belongs to TheMafia...only to find out that the men belong to the Intergalactic Revenue Service and that the government's cut of their winnings leaves them with only one (space) dollar.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' "The Balooest of the Blue Bloods", Baloo stands to inherit a ton of money from a distant relative, but he has to survive a night in a haunted, cursed house. After he survives the night, all the money is lost due to the "real family curse" - decades of unpaid land taxes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer wins the lottery but for plot-relevant reasons has Barney turn in the ticket for the winnings. Barney gets a GiantNoveltyCheck, and the IRS guys get another Giant Novelty Check for their portion. Unusually for this trope, the amount they're shown to take wasn't THAT big, about 30% of the winnings, but the trope is still played straight for the joke. What makes this funnier is that they plan to spend their take of the winnings on a survey to decide what to do with the money (which would have already been spent on the survey).
** "The Trouble With Trillions", set on Tax Day, has The Sea Captain stuffing the tax envelope full of jewels and gold from a small treasure chest, remarking that he wonders why he bothers plundering at all.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', season 4, "Druselsteinoween", when Doofenshmirtz inherits a Drusselsteinian castle from his great aunt, he enlists Perry to help him find a large, hidden treasure that his Great Aunt has placed somewhere within the castle. After they find the treasure, in the form of bags of money, various local officials come to his castle and make Doofenshmirtz pay a bunch of fees for owning a castle. He gives each of the officials a bag of money which leaves him penniless.
* The ''Disneyland'' television show "The Goofy Success Story" has Goofy receiving a paycheck for appearing in his first movie, only for several men to collect money for taxes until Goofy has to pay ''them''.
* The WesternAnimation/HeckleAndJeckle cartoon "Pirate's Gold" has the two birds invading a pirate ship and making off with his treasure. A mousy little man who turned up frequently shows up at the end and identifies himself as a tax collector. He glomps all but one coin ("This is yours...after taxes.")
-->'''Heckle:''' ''[to us]'' Ya can't escape it. [[NoFourthWall Even in a cartoon!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'': Roxy once won one million dollars thanks to a lottery ticket she found. She lost half to the IRS.
* Paramount's Modern Madcap characters Jeepers and Creepers in "Busy Buddies" had Creepers trying to win some money in a prizefight contest so he can pay his IRS debt. He wins and pays it off, but now he still owes for the money he just won.
* Zig-zag: in ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'' episode "Ark Lark," the bears and the other zoo inhabitants are holed up in a resort island hotel room. They enter Stripes the Zebra in a horse race held on the resort (using shoe polish to disguise him as a horse) and win the $50,000 cash prize--which is immediately seized by the hotel manager for the royal suite, room service, and damages.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Roboroach}}'' one episode revolved around the recovery of a winning lottery ticket of about $1,000,000, which they successfully get, but after cashing it in, a long list of taxes are listed for it before Reg reads the amount they actually won: $2.11 .
* In ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', the corrupt Baron Von Plotz overhears the town of Acme Falls celebrating in song after Wakko returns from a yearlong journey for riches with a ha'penny (apparently a lot of money in their country). He quickly confronts Wakko in town and invents a series of phony taxes, including an "insulting the king" tax after Wakko calls the king a jerk, to take Wakko's ha'penny.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Boss Mabel", Stan and Mabel make a bet to see whether or not Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy can make more money running the Mystery Shack for 3 days than Stan can get from a game show. On the last day, the former accrue a ton of money, but after accounting for the repairs they'll need to make on the shack, they're left with $1. However, they still beat Stan after he lost all the money he gained due to failing a question with an obvious answer ("Please").
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'' had Garfield become rich after finding a leprechaun's pot of gold. Unfortunately, not only did he have to deal with an IRS agent trying to collect back-taxes, but entrepreneurs trying to get him to invest in their [[ZanyScheme Zany Schemes]] and various cats claiming to be long-lost relatives trying to get a cut of the fortune.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/IAMWeasel'', I.R. Baboon is set to receive a large inheritance from a recently-deceased uncle in a fictional European monarchy, and said country's queen tasks Weasel with grooming Baboon for life among the aristocracy. In the end, however, the queen reveals that his uncle had died penniless and in substantial debt to the crown, and as the next in line, [[ButtMonkey Baboon]] [[ShaggyDogStory has inherited the dearly departed's debt]]. She then forcibly hands him a plunger and demands he starts repaying this debt by cleaning the toilet [[SchizoTech which also doubles as a radio transmitter]].
* An Al Brodax ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon had Brutus running a gas station and milking Popeye of his money through numerous taxes for gasoline. As Popeye is left with a dollar bill:
-->'''Popeye:''' Ya sure gots a lot o' brass.\\
'''Brutus:''' (''taking the last dollar'') Oh yeah, the brass tax!

** The showrunners of Nickelodeon's ''Series/DoubleDare'' anticipated this: since they knew kids would be more excited about the prizes (which were chosen for intrinsic value to the kids instead of monetary value) over the money, they built the games in such a way that the cash prizes could be used to pay the taxes on the ''real'' prizes.

** [[http://i.imgur.com/oAB7lM6.jpg On closer examination of the second telegram]], we discover that WritersCannotDoMath, since the taxes would amount to $2,097,067.36, and $3 million minus the taxes and the attorney's fee would leave a net of $902,934.04 cents, which is somehow misprinted as $9,754.31 before the $9,756.29 attorney's fee that results in a $1.98 IOU.

-->'''Bugs Bunny:''' You don't get da dough, do ya, butterball?\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures'' episode "Joker's Millions", the Joker earns an inheritance of several million dollars from a rival gangster who passed away. However, after living it up and partying with his new fortune [[spoiler: he learns that most of the money the gangster gave him was fake. As part of the gangster's plan for revenge against the Joker, he set him up to blow through the legitimate part of the fortune so that when the IRS came to collect taxes, he wouldn't be able to pay them. Thus, Joker could either fess up to being tricked by a dead man and become the laughing stock of Gotham's underworld, or end up in prison for tax fraud.[[note]][[ArtisticLicenseLaw In reality]], inheritance taxes are deducted at the source and after the IRS verifies the inheritance's actual value, meaning they would have found the counterfeit money and simply take their cut from whatever real money was left. Of course then [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality we wouldn't have an episode]].[[/note]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures'' episode "Joker's Millions", the Joker earns an inheritance of several million dollars from a rival gangster who passed away. However, after living it up and partying with his new fortune [[spoiler: he learns that most of the money the gangster gave him was fake. As part of the gangster's plan for revenge against the Joker, he set him up to blow through the legitimate part of the fortune so that when the IRS came to collect taxes, he wouldn't be able to pay them. Thus, Joker could either fess up to being tricked by a dead man and become the laughing stock of Gotham's underworld, or end up in prison for tax fraud.]]

* This was part of King Barlow's posthumous revenge against ComicBook/TheJoker in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Joker's Millions". Barlow left the Joker a fortune, but most of the money was fake. He figured that the Joker would quickly blow through the real money, and then the government would come for the taxes, and he'd either go to jail for tax evasion or be forced to admit that he got conned by a dead man.

Mildly TruthInTelevision, as prizes are part of Other Income on US tax forms, which, unless you're obscenely wealthy or extremely bad at filling taxes out, isn't going to lose more than 30% to taxes, and inheritance taxes only kick in for the part that's above $5 million since 2011, so both would leave plenty of value for the recipient. (However, this was much more TruthInTelevision in works from the 1940s to 1980s, when marginal income tax rates were as high as 91%.) For perspective, in France, prizes are not considered income on the year you win them, whereas inheritance taxes and deductions can vary a lot depending on your relation to the deceased person, from extremely lenient if you are the widow(er), legal partner or direct descendant of the deceased, to extremely punitive for an unrelated (i.e. without family ties) stranger. France's attitude to prizes is the same thing as in the UK, where your lottery win is exactly what you get; television competitions will also often describe cash prizes as being "[Amount] in tax-free cash" for the same reason. Fiction just likes to exaggerate it for comedic purposes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewBatmanAdventures'' episode "Joker's Millions", the Joker earns an inheritance of several million dollars from a rival gangster who passed away. However, after living it up and partying with his new fortune [[spoiler: he learns that most of the the gangster gave him was fake. As part of the gangster's plan for revenge against the Joker, he set him up to blow through the legitimate part of the fortune so that when the IRS came to collect taxes, he wouldn't be able to pay them. Thus, Joker could either fess up to being tricked by a dead man and become the laughing stock of Gotham's underworld, or end up in prison for tax fraud.]]

Mildly TruthInTelevision, as prizes are part of Other Income on US tax forms, which, unless you're obscenely wealthy or extremely bad at filling taxes out, isn't going to lose more than 30% to taxes, and inheritance taxes only kick in for the part that's above $5 million since 2011, so both would leave plenty of value for the recipient. (However, this was much more TruthInTelevision in works from the 1940s to 1980s, when marginal income tax rates were as high as 91%.) For perspective, in France, prizes are not considered income on the year you win them, whereas inheritance taxes and deductions can vary a lot depending on your relation to the deceased person, from extremely lenient if you are the widow(er), legal partner or child of the deceased, to extremely punitive for an unrelated (i.e. without family ties) stranger. France's attitude to prizes is the same thing as in the UK, where your lottery win is exactly what you get; television competitions will also often describe cash prizes as being "[Amount] in tax-free cash" for the same reason. Fiction just likes to exaggerate it for comedic purposes.

Mildly TruthInTelevision, as prizes are part of Other Income on US tax forms, which, unless you're obscenely wealthy or extremely bad at filling taxes out, isn't going to lose more than 30% to taxes, and inheritance taxes only kick in for the part that's above $5 million since 2011, so both would leave plenty of value for the recipient. (However, this was much more TruthInTelevision in works from the 1940s to 1980s, when marginal income tax rates were as high as 91%.) For perspective, in France, prizes are not considered income on the year you win them, whereas inheritance taxes and deductions can vary a lot depending on your relation to the deceased person, from nothing if you are the widow(er) or legal partner of the deceased, to 60% for an unrelated (i.e. without family ties) stranger. France's attitude to prizes is the same thing as in the UK, where your lottery win is exactly what you get; television competitions will also often describe cash prizes as being "[Amount] in tax-free cash" for the same reason. Fiction just likes to exaggerate it for comedic purposes.

* In many American game shows, contestants that win any prizes (money, a car, a vacation, etc) will have to pay taxes for it since the prizes are considered to be taxable under U.S. laws. Contestants usually sign a form before the show acknowledging the possible taxes. Sometimes, a person who wins a prize can opt to take the monetary equivalent instead and use some of it to pay off the taxes so that they can walk away with at least something.\\\
This is the dark side of talk shows that randomly give away prizes to the audience. Most audience members don't realize that they owe taxes on anything they get on the show. So, when [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]] gave out cars to all audience members at an airing of her show as a publicity stunt, they all owed several thousand dollars in tax on them and either sold the cars or paid from their own pockets. This is because Oprah filed the cars on her tax return as "prizes", meaning the recipients are the ones who have to pay the taxes on them. When asked why she didn't file them as "gifts" (since the show makes it seem as if they are), she pointed out that she shouldn't have to pay taxes for the cars on top of giving them away. The problem is, she didn't actually buy the cars. They were donated by the manufacturer specifically to be given away. Thus, Oprah gets free publicity and a tax write-off.

A somewhat rare variant involves someone finding BuriedTreasure, which is TruthInTelevision for a lot of countries because anything of significant archaeological value is automatically collected by the state [[ItBelongsInAMuseum in order to be studied by qualified historians and eventually placed in a museum, or so that it can be given to any descendant of its last owner who may stillbe alive, in the case of more modern hoards like modern gold coins, artwork and other luxuries.]] [[DownplayedTrope However]], in real life, this tends to include a finder's fee, paid to whoever found the goods. This is often equal or even greater than what the item would fetch at auction. Fictional examples often forget to mention this for RuleOfFunny purposes.

A somewhat rare variant involves someone finding BuriedTreasure, which is TruthInTelevision for a lot of countries because anything of significant archaeological value is automatically seized by the state [[ItBelongsInAMuseum in order that it be studied by qualified historians and eventually placed in a museum.]] [[DownplayedTrope However]], in real life this tends to include a finder's fee, often equal or even greater than what the item would fetch at auction. Fictional examples often forget to mention this for RuleOfFunny purposes.

Mildly TruthInTelevision, as prizes are part of Other Income on US tax forms, which, unless you're obscenely wealthy or extremely bad at filling taxes out, isn't going to lose more than 30% to taxes, and inheritance taxes only kick in for the part that's above $5 million since 2011, so both would leave plenty of value for the recipient. (However, this was much more TruthInTelevision in works from the 1940s to 1980s, when marginal income tax rates were as high as 91%.) For perspective, in France, prizes are not considered income on the year you win them, whereas inheritance taxes and deductions can vary a lot depending on your relation to the deceased person, from nothing if you are the widow(er) or legal partner of the deceased, to 60% for an unrelated (i.e. without family ties) stranger. France's attitude to prizes is the same thing in the UK, where your lottery win is exactly what you get; television competitions will also often describe cash prizes as being "[Amount] in tax-free cash" for the same reason. Fiction just likes to exaggerate it for comedic purposes.

Mildly TruthInTelevision, as prizes are part of Other Income on US tax forms, which, unless you're obscenely wealthy or extremely bad at filling taxes out, isn't going to lose more than 30% to taxes, and inheritance taxes only kick in for the part that's above $5 million since 2011, so both would leave plenty of value for the recipient. (However, this was much more TruthInTelevision in works from the 1940s to 1980s, when marginal income tax rates were as high as 91%.) For perspective, in France, prizes are not considered income on the year you win them, whereas inheritance taxes and deductions can vary a lot depending on your relation to the deceased person, from nothing if you are the widow(er) or legal partner of the deceased, to 60% for an unrelated (i.e. without family ties) stranger. Fiction just likes to exaggerate it for comedic purposes.