Won a truck, now what?

[XCRN]

Paying taxes on something that is given to you

[wed3k]

id get 45k in LS motors hahahaha

[phatdoughnut]

Man that sucks, I am so glad we don't have to pay sales tax in Oregon.

You should get a Tahoe, one of my friends got one a couple years ago and its freaking sweet, it gets pretty good gas mileage for a big SUV. The equinox sucks, I test drove it and I hate the fact that you have to push a botton to get 32mpg and when you do its fucking slooooowwww.

Congrats! at least someone is winning something!

[deevergote]

Congrats, Gary! I saw the pic on Facebook the other day!

Do you actually NEED a new vehicle at this time? Does GM have anything you particularly want? Is the Civic still going strong?

Another option is to request the cash value for the truck. I believe that is always an option, is it not? Take the $45k, pay taxes out of it, and bank what's left.

Your current tax bracket stops at $90,750. If you make EXACTLY $46,000 this year, and you are awarded a vehicle with a cash value of EXACTLY $45,000... you will be precisely $250 into the next tax bracket!
Your federal income tax responsibility will be approximately $18,500 for 2015. (nearly 4x what your tax responsibility is on your income alone.) Even if you dodge the higher bracket via deductions, the savings will only be roughly 3%.


If you do want to shell out the dough for a car, another option to consider is a Cadillac ATS. The ATS4 is just a hair over $45,000, and you might be able to talk them down (or get a demo model at a discount.) It would make for a nice ride in the Philly area, seeing as we get snow around here. Big vehicles are oddly popular here, considering the absurd amount of cars on the roads!
Plus, then we could be Cadillac buddies

[The G-Man]

Congrats, Gary! I saw the pic on Facebook the other day!

Do you actually NEED a new vehicle at this time? Does GM have anything you particularly want? Is the Civic still going strong?

Another option is to request the cash value for the truck. I believe that is always an option, is it not? Take the $45k, pay taxes out of it, and bank what's left.

Your current tax bracket stops at $90,750. If you make EXACTLY $46,000 this year, and you are awarded a vehicle with a cash value of EXACTLY $45,000... you will be precisely $250 into the next tax bracket!
Your federal income tax responsibility will be approximately $18,500 for 2015. (nearly 4x what your tax responsibility is on your income alone.) Even if you dodge the higher bracket via deductions, the savings will only be roughly 3%.


If you do want to shell out the dough for a car, another option to consider is a Cadillac ATS. The ATS4 is just a hair over $45,000, and you might be able to talk them down (or get a demo model at a discount.) It would make for a nice ride in the Philly area, seeing as we get snow around here. Big vehicles are oddly popular here, considering the absurd amount of cars on the roads!
Plus, then we could be Cadillac buddies

Well Mike, I'm not sure yet if taking the cash value is an option. I'm pretty sure I have to take delivery on some GM product with a value of $45k. The Civic is fine. Selling it isn't really an option.

More than likely my girlfriend will be moving to Philly with me and she currently does not have a car at all, so there is a +1 in keeping a car.

As for the tax bracket, I'm definitely bust that bad boy because I have a ~$400/month raise starting in May and also taxable monies will be coming in because of my move (we get a dislocation allowance along with being able to profit from moving our household good by ourselves, which will probably amount to an extra ~$4-5k at least). Being salary we can't work overtime to make extra money or get a bonus, so this is basically the only way us military folk have to make some extra dough.

As far as the Caddy idea, I never really looked into any GM cars, trucks and SUVs yes, and in fact the GMC Acadia is looking pretty nice right now. AWD, lots of room for stuff (for my move), respectable towing capacity at 5,200 lbs and for $45k I can get it loaded (in the SLT trim, not the Denali). Which I figure I keep for 1-2 years and then sell which is at a point where I will have gained another rank, and money to boot.

[deevergote]

As long as you can cover the cost of taxes (taking a loan isn't a bad idea... I mean, it's like you're getting a $45,000 car for $9,000!), then that's probably the smartest route. Honestly, in 2 years, you could still sell it for a handsome profit!
I suppose it would probably be wise to check into the resale value of various GM products.

[HenRoc]

Congrats Gary!

Speaking of wininng. A friend of mine at my work won a Honda Fit at a recent breakfast that my work annually does. They raffled off one of three cars because they met a sales goal.

Same situation. We both joked and he ended up winning.

He ended up just getting the money for it since the car was going to be a bit to much for him sales tax wise.

I'd do the same thing..just a thought.

[Chrisisiced]

This is truly an awesome win. These types of situations are often a hassle because of what it "costs" to win a big ticket item. As others have already mentioned you'll have sales tax and income tax responsibility in addition to title/registration/insurance.

You mentioned that you would take a loan for the sales tax of somewhere around $6k and that would work without a problem(although $6k is like 14% sales tax). However as Deev previously mentioned, it appears your income tax responsibility could increase by ~$10k or more depending on other factors. If you take a loan for sales tax I would recommend including what your income tax would increase by. If you could handle whatever that total loan cost would be then you should get a vehicle you want and can keep. If the loan would be too much to handle and if there are no other options then take the loan and vehicle and sell the vehicle immediately. Even though you won't be able to get $45k for it you should have no problem getting enough to cover the loan and have some $$ left over.

[J-specCb4]

my dad won a zr1 years ago, and the plan was to sell it pay the taxes and buy something else, that was until he drove it. hahah... he ended up taking a loan to pay the taxes which was something like 17k and paid it off pretty quickly. he still has the car to this day, and its like a member of the family. either way congrats!

[deevergote]

What ZR1 was that, Chris? C6 or C4?

Gary, are you still leaning toward the Acadia? I took a ride to the Boston area this weekend (AccordWarrior got himself wifed!) and I was looking around at every GM vehicle I saw, wondering which ones were priced around $45k, and which would be the best to buy. I do admit, I kinda like the Acadia, though something about the small SUVs just seems SO pointless to me!
I was also wondering... what would happen if you pick a base Chevy Spark? Do you get the rest in cash, or is the deal basically "any GM vehicle valued up to $45,000"?


It's a shame Saab is gone. I wonder if they would've been included. They were technically a GM brand!

[J-specCb4]

C4. learned to drive in that car on a road course that my dad was working/instructing when i was 14. been to countless shows/track days when i was younger with my dad in that car. kind of a family heirloom at this point.

[The G-Man]

What ZR1 was that, Chris? C6 or C4?

Gary, are you still leaning toward the Acadia? I took a ride to the Boston area this weekend (AccordWarrior got himself wifed!) and I was looking around at every GM vehicle I saw, wondering which ones were priced around $45k, and which would be the best to buy. I do admit, I kinda like the Acadia, though something about the small SUVs just seems SO pointless to me!
I was also wondering... what would happen if you pick a base Chevy Spark? Do you get the rest in cash, or is the deal basically "any GM vehicle valued up to $45,000"?


It's a shame Saab is gone. I wonder if they would've been included. They were technically a GM brand!

The thing is, the Acadia isn't really that small, it seats 8!

Also at this point I'm not sure what happens if I don't spend $45k.

[deevergote]

Just get 3 Chevy Sparks Seating for 15!

[phatdoughnut]

or that new buick shorty car. I don't know what its called. Its fugly.

[purplebomb]

The thing is, the Acadia isn't really that small, it seats 8!

Also at this point I'm not sure what happens if I don't spend $45k.

dude Acadia's are sweeet my motherinlaw has one and I love it. If I had the $ I'd have one in my drive way. It's not super fast but has power. Good mpg. And rides more comfortable then my old Vic and caprice. Has a blue tooth touch screen radio. Etc and she has had hers for awhile. She got it used and she does not believe in changing oil and it's still going strong