I'm lucky but need your help.

[annsteere]

I won a four day three night trip to Disney! Yippee. We'll go in April and will get to see #1 son who has moved to Florida. So far, so good.

I have to pay taxes on the win and Disney is now selling MTW but I won 4 day Park Hoppers.

So, please help me be honest but frugal. What is the least that you paid for a 4 day PH ticket? That's the amount of value I'll declare.

THANKS, I'll eat a Mickey bar in your honor

 

[imsayin]

Did you win this in 2004 or 2005? Usually the company that gives you the prize issues you a 1099 and they value the prize.

 

[ericamanda01]

Check on www.mousesavers.com and see if there is a ticket history price. It might have the price of the park hopper pass.

 

[RobinMarie]

197.00!

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Did you win this in 2004 or 2005? Usually the company that gives you the prize issues you a 1099 and they value the prize.

If you can prove the prize can be obtained for a lesser price than the amount on the 1099 you can request that it be changed. Less value = less taxes.

 

[mrskay9]

color me jealous, but congrats anyhow!

 

[FoodLover]

Maybe you could call Ticket Mania and ask if they have an old price list from last year that they'd be willing to fax you. Other than Hotwire (which required a membership, and thus probably wouldn't count), I'm pretty sure Ticket Mania had some of the lowest prices on the old 4-Day Hoppers.

crazyforgoofy is right -- if you can prove the prize was available for a lower price at the time it was awarded, you can contest the amount on the 1099 and pay less tax. (Of course, if the difference is only $5 a ticket, this is probably not worth even bothering with...)

I don't keep any kind of historical records on ticket prices, unfortunately.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[DMRick]

You definately want to check your airfare, hotels, etc and see if you get it cheaper. Our neighbor won a trip and they so overinflated the cost, the tax was way out of line. You should pretend to book it yourself and see what the value is, so you can show proof it was available for less money.

 

[believe]

I would wait for the 1099. We won a $5000.00 trip and the 1099 had it valued at $1000.00. Some of the items were probably donated.

 

[JeffPort]

Here is a link to a reseller site that is still listing the old ticket prices. It's not the cheapest site, but at least it is a tangible list you could use to substantiate your claim:

http://www.vacationservicesorlando.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PH

 

[annsteere]

Anybody else have a good price for 4 day PH?

I got the tax form this week and they claim that a flight from Chicago to Orlando costs just over $800. I fly there three times a year for business and never pay over $200.

The print out at OrlandoVacations has a 4 day PH with plusses. We won 4 day PHs with no plusses.

 

[maggiew]

If you can prove the prize can be obtained for a lesser price than the amount on the 1099 you can request that it be changed. Less value = less taxes.

Is this true??? I won 2 airfare tickets from the radio this last year and they have them valued at $750. But I had to purchase 2 other tickets for our family and they were only $175. Can I get the value changed???

Maggie

 

[annsteere]

YES. All you have to do is claim the smaller amount as your winnings on your tax form and have the papework that justifys why you say the smaller number is fair. If you get audited you just submit your rationale for choosing a different value. In your case the fact you bought two flights the same day at the lower price will do it. (Assuming that the winners did not fly first class and the others fly coach).

It is trickier if you win an object that you don't really want. Then, even if it is valued at $4000 and the best you can get for it on ebay is 2 bucks, you have to allow for the fact that it was new when you won it and used when you sold it (even if it is still in shrink wrap, with tags, etc, etc, etc).

You don't want to cheat and claim something unfairly low but you don't have to pay taxes on some inflated value either. That's why I'm on the boards trying to get fair values.

Glad these boards saved you a ton of money today!

 

[macfamily]

No tax advice from me (believe me, you don't want it!), just a CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[HM]

Be careful. I won a trip in 2002 from a radio station, took the trip in 2003 and then never received a 1099. I had to do a lot of calling around before I could get one sent to me. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't claim something...whether the IRS would have ever known about the trip. So, keep good records and if you don't get a 1099 for some reason, keep on top of it.

I'm happy for you. Winning a trip is really great! Tax time was not fun though.
We owed a bunch that year. But way better than paying actual price for the trip.

-HM