Potato Salad

If you don't immediately know what this post is about, then you are really missing out.  Here is the kickstarter campaign. I used a kickstarter question on my tax exam last year so a student sent me this. Then I found this article about the hysterical reaction. I sent it to my student, who thought if it happened to him he would appear on TV with a new rolex and carrying the potato salad in one hand, making the following entrance:



Yes, that looks just about right.

Tax Foundation has already posted an analysis concluding that the cash is taxable income. I disagree: though that is the presumption for kickstarter campaigns, presumptions are rebuttable with different facts and circumstances. In my view this campaign clearly sparked individuals to give out of detached and disinterested generosity, and therefore the full amount is excludable from income as a gift for tax purposes.