[Closed] Secret millionaire & tax.

Cynic 😉

Mind you, one of the ones they did reached worryingly close to where I live

One of the donees close to my home is a scammer who drives a beemer and has several houses. Knowing that put a different perspective on watching them come across all grateful when the cheque book came out.

lol both of these replies have been suspicions I've held for a while.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but the recent episode with the scrap merchnt on it had its cheques paid from a business account. Am I just too cynical?

Do the recipients have to pay income tax on the gift?

Never seen the programme but I'm guessing it is a gift

To off-set as charitable contributions don't they have to be made to registered charities, otherwise what is to stop everyone 'donating' anything above their tax threshold to spouse or other family member to look after?

Does no one know the definitive answer?

I have not seen this program. However, as mentioned, charitable donations have to be made to charities and not to random sob-stories to qualify for any tax relief. If these payments are going to get treated as expenses I would have thought they would be accounted for as expenses sunk into brand promotion through TV exposure. The charity thing is probably a red herring.

And I doubt the recipients pay any income tax. A one-off gift is very unlikely to be treated as income.

Cheers BD, sounds about right knowing how some people ask for stuff to be invoiced. But I think most of the lucky recipients are registered charities.

I've watched this program a few times & I think the premise is that the Millionaire gives his/her own money to what they consider to be a just or deserving cause.

The fact that the cheques the Millionaire hands over are maybe from a business account doesn't necessary mean that the business will claim this amount as a genuine business expense. Most high net worth individuals operate as Directors through Limited companies, just in case it all goes Pete Tong, as such the amounts handed over as gifts should be deducted from their Directors loan account.

Correct.

Crispy, are you saying the money they give still costs them significantly less than the amount the cheque was written out for?

Crispy, are you saying the money they give still costs them significantly less than the amount the cheque was written out for?

No. If they write out a cheque for 50K then 50K should be deducted from their Directors loan account - effectively the amount is coming out of the Millionaires own pocket albeit via the vehicle of the Directors loan account.

Personally I feel the program has now lost it's 'edge', as any new stranger in a deprived area rocking up with a cameraman in tow looking for a good cause to help out has got to be suspicious as a potential 'Secret Millionaire'. IMHO ever since that Les geezer from London gave away 250K the rest have all seemed to be miserly in comparison.

I know someone who has worked on the program (honestly, I do, not bullshitting for the sake of forum boasting). You'd be surprised just how good they are at creating a good back-story when the millionaire comes to town. She did say there were close moments but they managed to keep it a secret all the time. When you think about it, there are so many reality TV programs being made, any old bizarre story is believable.

IMHO ever since that Les geezer from London gave away 250K the rest have all seemed to be miserly in comparison.

I wouldn't say that was really the case. The scrappy lad for example. When he gave the war veteran the £10k to give to the charity of his choice I think that was one of the best gifts given on the programme.
It's not all about the zeros on the cheque but the story and how heart felt the donation is imo.
The big money does have the wow factor though.

OK for the record, in case anyone wants to make me a charitable donation, it is ALL about the zeros on the cheque.

Glad we cleared that one up 🙂

Tax,/No Tax ….. Truthfully, what does it matter,

Personally I quite like the premise of the show and can’t really see how it does any harm.

As far as what the millionaires get out of it I reckon its best summed up like this … Some time back on a degree course, we were having a discussion in lecture about motivation and the premise of that was that we all do things because we get something out of it…. One fella, properly got up in his high chair and actually bellowed the following ….. “I run a mountaineering club for kids, I don’t do it because I get anything out of it, I do it because I enjoy it!” …… to be fair he did work for the Post Office, but it fairly sums it up. I’m sure they do get something out of it, but does it actually matter that much?