All Those Free Swag Gifts Celebs Get Won't Be So Free

[Sweet_VeeVee24]

It looks like all those freebie gift baskets that the celebrities get when they attend award shows, such as the Oscars, both Daytime/Primetime Emmy awards, and the Golden Globes, won't be as free as they think .

According to People magazine (the latest issue with JonBenet on cover), the IRS are making it known that anything the celebrities accept from such awards will need to be documented on their tax forms, and any celebrity not putting it down as such will suffer being in very hot water.

Basically, it means "that any celebrity who accepst any gift basket or free mechandise must tally the fair market value of their products received, and report that amount on their income tax return", as stated by the magazine.

It's also said that the Oscars and the Emmys are talking this matter seriously, and that the Oscars themselves may just do away with the traditional SWAG tradition. The Emmys will present celebrity presenters and winners with their gift baskets on the condition that they sign a form that explains the tax laws.

The big question is: Will the celebs actually be honest enough to fess up on their tax forms come April15th

All I have to say is Big boo-hoo. I'm not at all crying for them having to do this.

[poohbear19]

I'm not either... but at the same time, it's a bit sad that free it's really free anymore. And here I thought the garage/yard sell mess from IRS was silly.

[Bree]

I think it was about time something was done about those free gift bags. Actually, I think awards should do away with them alltogether. Celebrities have enough stuff. I think any money spent on those bags should be given to a chosen charity each year.

I know George Clooney donated his Oscar gift bag to charity last year, and that was great to see.

[Sweet_VeeVee24]

Well, I know that the Oscars are debating on nixing the whole thing. To me it would make sense...Now really, how many diamond encrusted cell phones does a person need, especially when you have celebrities hitting every event that are giving them out? The Oscars alone had to shell out I don't know how much money to the IRS for all those items.

I have the same feelings about folks walking off with racks and racks of clothes that they try on for photo shoots; I can see one or two items, but being given butt loads of clothes just to cram in a over-sized closet and rarely wear.