Common sense has prevailed (or as much as it can when the US Tax System is involved) in the saga of the Super Bowl MVP Chevy truck.
The Super Bowl MVP award, which comes with a shiny new car or truck from the sponsors, is normally decided by the press voters with about a few minutes to play in the fourth quarter which leaves it open to any number of shocks. This year, the voters decided to give the award to New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady for leading his team back from a 10 point deficit, but with 20 seconds remaining, and the Seahawks threatening to score and win the game, rookie Cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass by Russell Wilson to seal the game.
Brady, who earns approximately a gazillion times what Butler makes on the rookie minimum, obviously has much less use for a shiny new truck and so in a nice gesture, that was extremely popular with his fans, decided to donate his prize to the unofficial MVP of the last 20 seconds. Due to quirks in the US Tax System involving gift taxes, donating the $35,000 dollar truck in this way would have cost Brady almost $25,000! While this isn’t a large sum of money to someone who earns what Brady does, it’s ridiculous that he could almost buy another truck for that. Chevrolet have stepped in and made sense of the situation, however, and are going to go along with Brady’s wishes and give the truck directly to Butler instead. Butler will still have to pay tax on the prize, as it officially counts as income.
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