You didn’t win the Oscar? It gets worse

This year's Oscar losers could hang out with George Clooney at his Italian villa instead
This year's Oscar losers could hang out with George Clooney at his Italian villa instead
First prize at the Oscars: a gold statue. Second, third and the rest: a goodie bag and a big tax bill

Pity the poor losers at the Oscars in Hollywood’s Dolby theatre later this month. Not only must they contend with the world’s gaze as somebody else heads up the famous steps to pick up the US film industry’s highest honour, but they may find themselves facing a whopping tax bill, too.

Every year, nominees who fail to go home with a gong receive an unofficial Oscars goodie bag from the US marketing firm Distinctive Assets.

This year’s $275,000 selection includes a three-night stay at the Lost Coast Ranch in north California, worth $30,000, a 10-year supply of oxygenating makeup products ($65,000) and 10 sessions with celebrity trainer Alexis Seletzky ($2000).

There’s also a six-day holiday in Hawaii, in a luxurious villa on the sun-kissed south coast of Kauai, and three days at the $1400-a-night Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como, Italy. Just the place to stay if you feel like dropping in on George Clooney.

But there’s always a catch. The goodie bag is unofficial because Academy chiefs stopped handing out an Oscars-branded version in 2006 after a ruling by the US Internal Revenue Service.

Investigators ruled the lavish mementos should be treated as income since they were not given “solely out of affection, respect or similar impulses”.

An Academy spokesperson told CNN: “It seemed a little inappropriate to offer a gesture of thanks that then carried with it a [tax] obligation.”

In truth, the gift bags were, and are, about promoting the ultra-high-end products contained within, which is why a lucrative independent industry – led by Distinctive Assets and its flamboyant founder, Lash Fary – has sprung up to plug the gap in the market.

Last year, after turning a blind eye for about a decade, Oscars chiefs threatened to sue Fary and his company for copyright infringement after the 2016 goodie bag raised eyebrows with gifts including sex toys, a 10-day VIP trip to Israel (which drew complaints from pro-Palestine groups) and something called a “vampire breast lift”.

This year’s bag appears to have been toned down. There’s not a vibrator in sight.

Still, there remains the matter of that tax bill. Distinctive Assets’ selections continue to attract IRS attention, and $275,000 in extra income could trigger a fair old payout to the public purse.

However, recipients can avoid stumping up if they are prepared to make a significant sacrifice and donate the bag’s contents to charity.

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