No special reason why I want to know. I'm just simply curious...

If someone won the penny on DoND, will he or she really have to wait several weeks for a check worth one cent?

-Joe R.

I would assume that Howie would give the contestant a penny right then and there, but I don't know for sure.

I'm guessing almost certainly, for tax tracking reasons if absolutely nothing else. Unless they have some kind of special dispensation that classifies any prize under $10 or so as a gag gift, and therefore payable in cash or something.

Personally, I'd rather have a check. The novelty of a check for .01 is far more entertaining than the gumball a penny would get me.

And everyone who visits you would say, "Hey! Look at the dumbass!"
That said, I'd rather have a check than the penny too.

No, I'm guessing most of my friends would think it was pretty damn funny that I had enough sense of humor about the whole thing to frame the check and display it publically.

Although the novelty check would be pretty funny, isn't anything under $600 handled on the spot? I know that here in VA, the stores will give you a prize up to $600, although the higher amounts might be a money order.

Perhaps someone could explain that a little better.

The IRS requires notification of any winnings over $600. This is why you can handle lottery wins up to $600 at your friendly neighborhood 7-11. It also explains why Oblivious only gave a max of $600 to contestants.

Then how does Cash Cab work? I've seen wins of well over a thousand on that show.

If people are receving more than whatever the IRS cut-off is, then you can be sure that they're signing forms afterwards off-camera. They may not even be leaving with cash on the spot, no matter how it might appear on the show.

Ok, one last question. Is it up to $600, or under $600. Would a payoff of exactly $600 be IRS fodder?

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that payments worth exactly $600 need to be reported.

The latter. When you hit $600, the IRS must know about it.

The Missouri Lottery has the terminals set here to $599 or less. Anything over $599 has to be paid at the Lottery office for that very reason.

Per the IRS instructions for Form 1099-MISC (page 3, look under Box 3, Other Income - see irs.gov), a payoff of $600 or more would be reported.

Putting my tax skills to good use on this forum. (:))