The Price Is Right Winners Reveal Battle With High Taxes

Previous winners of The Price Is Right have revealed that when they won on the show, they were then laboured with a hefty tax bill too.

Andrea Schwartz, who won $33,000 worth of prizes, which included a Mazda 2 compact car, a pool table, and a shuffle board table, on the show has been discussing her experience on the show.

Schwartz told Yahoo! Shine, “It’s a whirlwind, they kind of shove you around, and then you are suddenly in the parking lot, saying, ‘I just played Plinko’.”

She then continued her tale with the AV Club, revealing that the taxes she inherited because of her prizes shocked her. Schwartz remarked, “Yeah, you don’t just drive off the back lot with the car like I thought the entire time I was growing up. After the show, you fill out some paperwork and basically sign your life away.”

Schwartz continued, “You say that you’re going to pay the taxes on it. If you win in California, you have to actually pay the California state income tax ahead of time.”

Schwartz went on to add, “Then they give the okay to the dealers and to the vendors that are supplying the prizes. The you deal with those people. I had to deal with the Mazda dealer in L.A.”

She also noted, “He had it shipped to the dealer in Reno, and they give you the car. Then you have to go pay the taxes and the registration on it. It was more like an investment, really.” Schwartz revealed that she had to pay $2,500 in taxes.

Schwartz then concluded, “I think a lot of people don’t understand what they’re getting themselves into. They’re just like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to win a bunch of stuff,’ and then they’re going to have to forfeit prizes because they can’t afford to pay the taxes on them.”