"August 13, 2006 -- A CRACKDOWN by the Internal Revenue Service could doom the practice of handing out "goodie bags" to celebrities at all of the televised award shows.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recently sent out letters to presenters and nominees scheduled to appear on the Aug. 27 Emmy Awards advising them they will be responsible for paying income taxes on the freebies in their "very special Gift Bag," worth between $27,000 and $33,000.
Every celebrity who received the warning was asked to sign and return a letter to the Academy acknowledging, "You are aware of this obligation . . . We will not be able to present a gift bag to any individual for whom we have not received this signed letter in advance."
The Academy hinted it might be forced to turn over a list of its swag-bag recipients to the IRS. It warned in a letter to the TV talent: "We are presently researching the income-tax reporting requirements surrounding gift bags. We will make a determination later this year as to the Television Academy's income-tax reporting obligations to the IRS and state and local tax authorities."
This year's Emmys telecast will feature Kiefer Sutherland, Felicity Huffman, Chris Meloni, Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, Evangeline Lilly, Jon Stewart, Dennis Haysbert, Mariska Hargitay, Jeremy Piven and Denis Leary.
Tom DiLorenzo, who manages "Desperate Housewives" actress Kathryn Joosten, said she will probably opt to decline the gift bag. "My client has gotten these goodie bags in the past, and she doesn't even want half the stuff. But it's all or nothing," DiLorenzo said. "There's no line-item veto."
Most stars won't have the time for all the free trips in the bag, including holidays in New Zealand, Hawaii and the Bahamas. And they certainly don't want to be liable for taxes on trips they never took.
"This is the end of the goodie-bag era," predicted one insider. "Who would want their name on a list sent to the IRS?"
A spokeswoman for the Academy said, "Hopefully, the recipients will make whatever decision is right for them."
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